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Pied Piper
 Join date: 2009-11-11
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Posts: 17
 | | Subject: amplifier for 6 speakers Fri Mar 11, 2011 7:55 pm | |
| Can any one suggest to me a amplifier that I can use for 6 speakers, not an AV amp but a normal amplifier that will allow me to connect at least 3 pairs of speakers?
TIA, PP |
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dvv
 Join date: 2009-10-20
Trade:
Posts: 3262
Location: Serbia
Age: 58
| | Subject: Re: amplifier for 6 speakers Fri Mar 11, 2011 9:22 pm | |
| | Pied Piper wrote: | Can any one suggest to me a amplifier that I can use for 6 speakers, not an AV amp but a normal amplifier that will allow me to connect at least 3 pairs of speakers?
TIA, PP |
Sure - buy a Krell Reference and don't worry.
NOT kidding you, you have a TALL order. You see, even assuming the speakers are full 8 Ohms, connecting three in parallel per channel will divide those 8 Ohms by 3, giving you an operating impedance of (8:3) 2.67 Ohms. In the real world, where nominally 8 Ohms speakers drop to below 4 Ohms in places, you would be asking the amp to operate at full power into what that amp would see as a practical short circuit.
This would surely trip its protection circuits, blow fuses, and overheat the amp all at the same time.
Forget it, that won't work unless you move up over the 50,000 mark, pounds or euros. |
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Pied Piper
Join date: 2009-11-11
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Posts: 17
| | Subject: Re: amplifier for 6 speakers Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:11 pm | |
|  I didn't really have Krell in mind. |
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malteser
Join date: 2010-01-04
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Posts: 1178
Location: UK
Age: 48
| | Subject: Re: amplifier for 6 speakers Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:05 pm | |
| Your other option is to buy a 6 channel (or more likely7 channel) power amp ensuring the amps have both inputs and outputs per channel. This allows you to daisy chain the three right hand channels together (and the 3 left hand ones for that side) while seeing the correct load from each set of speakers.
Typically this means a 7-channel power amp designed for a matching surround sound processor, or three separate stereo power amps. If you have a preference for one zone over the others, you could use a better amp for that. All you'd need then is a stereo preamp to feed the 'first' power amp.
I think I remember reading somewhere of an amp made by Copland which had 7 channels but was entirely analogue. So you could set the relative levels between the channels in the analogue domain. That too would do. |
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dvv
Join date: 2009-10-20
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Posts: 3262
Location: Serbia
Age: 58
| | Subject: Re: amplifier for 6 speakers Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:36 pm | |
| Certainly a multichannel amp would do the job, but one has to be very careful when choosing. They are most different regarding inputs, quite a few have single channel inputs only, which means the preceeding preamp would need to have a set of three outputs - again, a tall order.
Another alternative could be one a set of three stereo power amps, and there are many around for even reasonable money. Most are from China, but I'm sure with some care, a reasonable quality could be obtained. |
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mike80
Join date: 2009-11-19
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Posts: 17
| | Subject: Re: amplifier for 6 speakers Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:42 pm | |
| Not a pro audio amplifier?, they usually cater for me than 1 pair of speakers. I would take a trip to a pro audio store. |
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dvv
Join date: 2009-10-20
Trade:
Posts: 3262
Location: Serbia
Age: 58
| | Subject: Re: amplifier for 6 speakers Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:23 pm | |
| | mike80 wrote: | | Not a pro audio amplifier?, they usually cater for me than 1 pair of speakers. I would take a trip to a pro audio store. |
Mike, "pro" is just as misused these days and the word "musical".
There was a time when "pro" meant audio engineers and people who worked in recording studios, radio stations, etc. These days, "pro" also includes country fair bangalong musicians, who don't give a damn about quality, so long as it works and it's loud.
The typical fare sold as intended for "pros" complies with the bangalong musicians, not the sound professionals. It's all very cheap and not at all cheerful. Most of it sounds anything from awful to bloody awful.
It appears that the customary cost/benefit analysis still works - pay little and you'll get a little. |
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Pied Piper
Join date: 2009-11-11
Trade:
Posts: 17
| | Subject: Re: amplifier for 6 speakers Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:57 pm | |
| It was only for a pub/bar so i wasn't looking for serious, wow listen to that man, type of quality. |
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dvv
Join date: 2009-10-20
Trade:
Posts: 3262
Location: Serbia
Age: 58
| | Subject: Re: amplifier for 6 speakers Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:31 pm | |
| | Pied Piper wrote: | | It was only for a pub/bar so i wasn't looking for serious, wow listen to that man, type of quality. |
You should have said in the first line of your initial message. It's a key pointer.
If so, then most commercial integrated amps of greater power outputs (because they want it so, not me), say from 100W/ch upwards, could be candidates. The most important part here is that they do have links for 3 sets of speakers, and that you can activate all three at once. This is because the average power levels you will use, if you don't want thunder and brimstobe in your pub, rather small, so even if the overall impedance is low, the actual power levels will also be low.
Given the current trends, you may have to look in the vintage section, for some say Yamaha, Kenwood/Trio, or some such product from yesteryear.
Also, you will be just fine with two pairs of speakers in a pub, so long as you stick to reasonable volume ambience music. This widens the choice rather dramatically. |
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malteser
Join date: 2010-01-04
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Posts: 1178
Location: UK
Age: 48
| | Subject: Re: amplifier for 6 speakers Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:43 pm | |
| You want a multizone amplifier which will allow you to set relative volume levels differently depending on the zone. These amps are quite rare nowadays. Rotel used to make one. Not sure who else. |
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