Help me find an amplifier!

[N. Abstentia]

I need an amp to compliment my new Outlaw 990 pre/pro!

Problem is...I need specific things and I haven't found one with everything I need. Here's my IDEAL amp:

1) 7 channels, at least 100 watts per channel
2) Level control for EACH channel (this is the most important thing)
3) Balanced inputs with input 'sharing'.

Here's what I need to do...I need an amp to drive my center speaker and 2 rears. I also want to bi-amp them, so I need six channels. This is where the 'input sharing' comes in. One cable needs to feed two channels. I'm not even sure if such a thing exists, so I might have to forget about the balanced inputs and just use regular inputs with a Y adapter.

The most important thing is having a level control for each channel so I can control the level of the tweeters seperately. Even if it's not a 7 channel I could make it work with a 5 channel (bi-amping the rears is not a requirement, but bi-amping the center IS) or a 3 channel amp (actually two of them). But the level control seems to be a rare thing on new amps.

I'm probably going to look used for moneys sake, I'm just not sure which models to look for.

[topspeed]

Gad, I sound like a broken record (or a closet shill), but the reality is the only mc amp that I know of that you can vary the gain from channel to channel is the PS Audio GCA-MC. You can even choose wattages for each channel, which may be very adventageous for your particular app. The only downside is they ain't cheap, however I doubt you'd ever find a need to replace it. Think of it as a long term investment :).

http://psaudio.com/products/gcamc_multichannel_amplifiers.asp

http://psaudio.com/cart/images/products/84-display.jpg

[Feanor]

Hi, N.Abstentia,


Something you might consider is an active crossover between the pre/pro and the pairs of low/high amps; something like this Behringer ...
http://www.behringer.com/CX2310/index.cfm?lang=ENG

It has gain controls for each output, and it uses balanced connectors. A crossover as the added benefit of sending only the appropriate frequency ranges to each amp and hence speaker -- but some experimentation would be necessary to match the unit's crossover frequency with the speakers' own, built-in crossovers. If the speakers' built-ins are designed for a large or nonsymetrical overlap of the drivers, there could be a problem. Or you might by-pass the speakers own crossovers. Or you might get Behringer's digital crossover that permits overlapping frequency ranges, (I think) ...
http://www.behringer.com/DCX2496/index.cfm?lang=ENG

[N. Abstentia]

Yeah the only problem with that PS Audio...it has one too many zero's in the price! $5000 for an amp...I don't know. I could get 6 monoblock Outlaw amps for 1/3 that :)

I've been eyballing Rotel and B&K amps in the $500 range which offer what I need except for the balanced inputs..which I may have to forget about to bi-amp anyway. Even Sunfire amps won't combine the balanced inputs so I guess nothing will.

Adding a crossover is an interesting idea. Maybe I can find a cheaper, simpler one just to experiment with.