Best Buy now sells Pro Audio gear.

[Looneybomber]

Wow, talk about a step in the right direction. Granted, they will likely market it for multi-room setups where it could be possible for one, 2 channel amp to power speakers in 10 different rooms simultaneously. In any case, folks will now be introduced to economical amp power. I hope this catches on and more and more HT friendly "pro style" amps will be produced...IE more 4 and 5 channel amps instead of just 2 channel amps.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...50007

In case anyone is wondering, yes I do run Pro amps in my home system. It's the best way to power subwoofers, woofers, and line-array's.

[audtatious]

Nice...

Can still find prices cheaper online

[Looneybomber]

Nice...

Can still find prices cheaper online

Oh no doubt, but maybe this will add some awareness to those otherwise clueless consumers...I was once one of them too. Luckily I found out I could get a solid 2kw of total output at 4ohm/chan with Power Factor Correction (meaning it still puts out the same amount of power even with line sag [that's where you stop getting 115v, but instead it could sag down to 100v due to the massive draw placed on it]), and it wouldn't cost me $5,000, but instead about $550

Plus, like computers, the cooling fans on these amps can be swapped out for quieter ones. That's what I did on my EP2500 and will soon do on my CE4000.

IMO, home receivers have a little less than half the required power. 110w/chan just doesn't cut it. 220w should be mandatory, with 3-400w sitting in the ideal range. Reason being, dynamic peaks can easily be clipped by receivers due to their lack of power. While listening to music at say 91db on an average set of speakers (88db/1w) at the listening position (3M away), would require only 8w. If a 14db dynamic peak happens (105db, which is Dolby reference level), that would require roughly 200w. Since it's not good to "clip" amps or push them to their limits, factoring in another 3db of headroom is a good idea. Or, if you're like me and like loud music, the more power the better!

[audtatious]

I don't disagree. Problem with that kind of draw is that people will be popping 20amp breakers all the time and blame it on the hardware

[Looneybomber]

I don't disagree. Problem with that kind of draw is that people will be popping 20amp breakers all the time and blame it on the hardware

You know, that's a very good point.

I see pictures of people's HT amp racks with enough equipment for a strip club and a dedicated 100A main breaker and a few 220v lines. That's dedication.

[audtatious]

Yeah, but not realistic for the normal homeowner.

[Looneybomber]

Yeah, but not realistic for the normal homeowner.

Most normal home owners are bit timid (don't want to tear up walls for amp racks and/or IB or dedicate rooms to HT), un-informed (didn't know some things were possible), and conservative (not willing to drop $15-20k or more on a HT setup)

When I get my house bought, I probably won't have a dedicated HT room, but will have a well designed living room with an IB. IB is the way to go, that way there's no huge subwoofer boxes in the room. AEspeakers.com makes some nice 15's designed specifically for IB use with a Qts of .7 and an fs of 16hz. Which means flat anechoic response to 16hz...in-room will be dependent on the room obviously. 8 of those (4 in 2 different manifolds), would work very well.

But enough of this off-topic'ness.

[audtatious]

Most people don't care that much for sound.

[Looneybomber]

Most people don't care that much for sound.

Dang you and your strait forward logic.

[audtatious]

If I lied then you would never believe me again

From a home perspective I'm not all for big racks either for my system. I just like things clean at a relatively decent volume. Since my HT setup is in the basement I already get complaints about bass even when my sub is not turned on. Everything radiates upward. Plus, these cheapo tower speakers surprise me from a midbass perspective.