I need help buying a proper amplifier ! Please guide me..

Desi

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Hi,

I had bought a Sony Hi-Fi system (MHC-WZ80D) back in 2006. From last few months, the amp that came along with it wasn't working, so i contacted a Sony authorised dealer but they said they can't fix it ! So, now i need to buy a new amplifier that suits to the speakers properly (I just want to run 2 front speakers so i need a stereo amp). I'm thinking about buying a car amp cause they are cheaper comparing to the amp that comes as a Hi-Fi component. But car amp mostly available as 8 ohm or 4 ohm or 2 ohm. So will that work with 6 ohm speakers ?

I have attached amplifier specs as Image 1 & speaker specs as Image 2.

Any amp recommendation that suits perfectly to the speakers ? Good quality, better price.
 

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Hi,

I was in the same boat as urs. So, what I did was I first invested in a good quality Amplifier (AV Receiver). I used the AVReceiver with the Sony speakers for almost a year and then gradually upgraded to audiophile speaker systems like Polk etc.

I would suggest that you put some 30-40k INR and buy a AVR first.

If you want a cheaper option, you can buy any 5.1 system available.

Tks
 
If you want a cheaper option, you can buy any 5.1 system available.

Yes i want a cheaper option but want to keep those great sounding & good looking front speakers so replacing them with new 5.1, is not what i want.

AV Receivers are way more costly in comparison to car amps. So i want to go with car amps this time.

I already have beautiful handmade Focal speakers for the living room. I need a rough custom setup for my private room.

Thanks for your reply :)
 
It's okay to use car amps for 6 ohm speakers. Go for a good 2 channel amp. A Kenwood amp would be good enough. I don't think there will be much benefit in spending on costlier car amps to use with your speakers.

How are going to power the car amp? You should use a 12 volt trafo with good ampere for nice performance. Either go for a 2 channel amp or 4 channel amp that can be bridged to 2 channel. Avoid car sub amp for stereo use.

Considering overall money invested, you could get a good diy amp from fellow FM or make one for yourself if you at least possess basic diy skill.
 
I am no expert but one of the issues with using car amps for home audio seems to be the power supply. Googled "car amp vs home amp" and found many discussions. Two are below:
http://www.hifivision.com/amplifiers/24383-car-amp-home-use.html
Car amps vs "home" based amps | Audioholics Home Theater Forums

At the price you are looking at you can buy a pretty good amp from Norge (norgeaudio.com), Sonodyne. Many forum members are happy with these.
Marantz and Cambridge Audio would be a little higher.
You will find hifimart in the banner at the top of this page. Check it out.
 
I got your point. But do you know many people on net says, PSU works pretty nice to run a car amp at home instead any costly DC source.

I'm looking for 8k to 15k amp. I don't wanna buy any cheaper amp (as Hi-Fi component) within this price range. If i want something serious then i may go for TA-A1ES instead. But for my little need, i'm going to take a risk & will see what happens with that set up.

Anyway, thanks "Naturelover" for pointing out power supply related issue for using a car amp at home.
 
I think this amp is more than enough for your speakers. Either you can go with this as the price seems pretty fair or a less powerful 2 channel amp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOTjI7FpUKk

Is Lanzar OPTI500X2 good for the speaker that i have ? (I had attached speaker specs above as Image 2, Sony didn't mention the speaker power output rating though)

Amazon.com: Lanzar OPTI500X2 Optidrive 2000 Watt 2 Channel Competition Class Mosfet Amplifier: Car Electronics

Thanks much Sarith for guiding me :)
 
I am not sure if you can get decent amp for 4-5k. Trying local electronics street might be a good idea.

I searched eb india and came across this. I do not know who the seller is. I have never bought anything from this seller and hence I cannot commend on the quality and reliability of the seller or the products.

eBay
 
I got your point. But do you know many people on net says, PSU works pretty nice to run a car amp at home instead any costly DC source.

I'm looking for 8k to 15k amp. I don't wanna buy any cheaper amp (as Hi-Fi component) within this price range. If i want something serious then i may go for TA-A1ES instead. But for my little need, i'm going to take a risk & will see what happens with that set up.

Curious - why are you so insistent on only using a car amp? Do you think you will not get enough wattage or enough quality from similarly priced hifi amp? Or is there some other reason?

For what it is worth, budget hifi amps are full of compromises. However, if you look at pro audio amps, you can get extremely powerful and well built amps for as little as $200-$250 - which is in the same ballpark as your budget. Such as Behringer and Crown.
 
Q: "But car amp mostly available as 8 ohm or 4 ohm or 2 ohm. So will that work with 6 ohm speakers ?"

A: Yes, it would.

Are you still buying to get a dedicated amp for your speakers. If I was there, I would have simply picked up a pre owned Hifi audio system from Olx or something similar marketplace.
 
why are you so insistent on only using a car amp? Do you think you will not get enough wattage or enough quality from similarly priced hifi amp? Or is there some other reason?

Yes, there are some reasons for it.

1. The speakers that i have, has the kind of cable end that i can easily hook up with a car amp, instead AV Receiver which mostly supports RCA or XLR or TRS or anything like that.

2. For the price range i mentioned, i won't get any mid-range amp from Crown or similar quality amp manufacturer. Behringer & some others less known, i simply don't trust. Can be my personal thing though. If you're fine with such brand, it's up to you.

3. For the same price, i can't get this much RMS out. Just 70$ and almost 2x250 Watts RMS ! Which is even more power out than my necessity.

Lanzar - OPTIHC3502 - 2 Channel Digital High Current Full Range Power Amplifier

But as i'm not from US, i may go for some local manufacturer like Sony or JBL.

4. Car amps looks compact, rough & stylish, while low range AV Receivers looks real cheap. If i can get something which looks similar to class of TA-A1ES. I must go for it.
 
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I'm a little confused about amp stability. For example, Is a 8 ohm or 4 ohm or 2 ohm amp can be stable at 3 ohm ? Or it will just blow it self, if i use it for a two 6 ohm speakers ?
 
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