New 5 Channel Amp

Hey All,

This is my first post at Outlaw, but I've been reading the boards for a while now. It seems like a genuinely nice and receptive community to take part in. I look forward to getting lost in the message boards for some time.

The reason I'm posting is because I noticed a dearth of 5 channel amps at Outlaw. The Outlaws have five different 7 channel amps, but only one 5 channel amp. While I'm looking to make the jump into separates (because my MK Sound speakers are 4 Ohm), a 200 watt/channel amplifier would be overkill in my room. While I'm guessing there are people out there who have a situation/desire similar to mine, I can't understand why Outlaw doesn't have a 5 channel amp with specs like the 7125 amp.

Outlaw just introduced the 975 Processor, but both of their budget amps are 7 channels. There have to be many of us who only have room for/allowed to have five speakers which means we don't have large rooms or need a massive amp like the 7500. I may be wrong, but I thought most home theater consumers still have 5.1 setups. I believe the 7125 amp weighs in at 40 pounds and costs $1000. I would think there would be a market for a 5 channel amp weighing about 35 pounds and costing $700-$750. While I'm sure Emotiva makes a nice product and has a couple 5 channel amps, I know Outlaw makes a better amp. Plus, I would love an amp made in the U.S. of A.

I think there would be a real market for this product especially if it was combined with the 975, but I wanted to hear from you guys to see if my thought process made sense. If Outlaw made an amp like that, they could introduce the separates market to a new demographic.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Jay

Even though the 7125 has 7 channels you don't have to use them all. Many people use the extra channels to drive another zone or to bi-amp their main speakers. The outlaw amps are different than receiver amps in that they are all discrete channels. Under the hood of the 7125 are 7 separate amps which can be used to feed anything you want. The 7125 also provides some degree of future proofing. You may only need 5 channels now, but what if you move and can support 7 channels in your new digs. Depending on the efficiency of your speakers, the 7500 is a great 5 channel amp with lots of reserve power even for those that need a lot of power. The 7700 is the same amp as the 7500 but with 7 channels. The 7200 is similar to the 7125 except for output power. In the past I have made the suggestion for one amp to combine all the capabilities into one box. 2 main channels from the 7900, 2 surround channels from the 7500 and 3 support channels from the 7125 for the center and the rears. For the record the 7125 weighs 51 lbs and the 7500 comes in at 80 lbs.

It's an interesting thought though. It wouldn't take Outlaw too much effort to just not populate two of the amplifier boards in in a 7-channel chassis, plug the outputs, slap a new front plate on (actually just the silkscreen) and viola, a 5-channel amp.

But how many would they sell compared to the 7125. Emotiva already has an amp just like that and at a pretty good price at that.

Emotiva has three 5 channel amps, and the one I'm proposing would fit in well between their bottom two lines. The XPA-5 has 200 watts/channel and the UPA-500 has 80 watts/channel (all into 8 Ohms). While I know there are many companies that have amps with numbers similar to what I'm proposing, there aren't many at all in the price range I was suggesting.

While I understand each channel can be configured to run anything, for my setup (and I'm sure many others) the 2 extra channels of the 7125 would never be used. I would think a lot of people would look elsewhere for an amp because they wouldn't see the need for the additional channels. It is nice to have the ability to upgrade later, but for a lot of us, they would just be taking up space. With a new, smaller 5 channel amp, it would take up less space, weigh less, and be able to be integrated better into your setup. Plus, most wives never object to something that is smaller when it comes to our HT gear.

X-Man: I was intrigued by your idea of different amp channels for different speaker channels. I would make the center channel more powerful though as I know it gets a lot of audio information sent to it. The only difficulty I can see with your proposed amp is it might have an even smaller demographic of buyers than my proposed amp. I would think you would have to really spell out what kind of speakers you need for each channel. If you're looking for something like that, I'm surprised you haven't just got a bunch of different sized monoblock amps for your channels. I know space is an issue, but that would be one way of tackling it. I definitely can understand getting some mammoth monoblocks to run some full range front L/R speakers...

THX, I am sure that the demographic for my "ideal" Outlaw amp would be small. I would also expect that a 5 channel version of the 7125 would also not generate a lot of customers. If you scale the 7125 cost down to just 5 channels you have a $700 amp with "only" 5 channels. I bought my 7125 back in 2008 and only use 5 of the channles in my HT. However, about 6 months after I bought it, the surround left channel went out. I swapped over to the spare channel and kept on like that for about 6 months until I bought the 7500. I put the 7500 in the system and sent the 7125 back to Outlaw for some TLC. Having that spare channel really made life easier for those 6 months. I like the idea of having 2 spare channels for zone 2 duty or Bi-amp duty if needed. I am using those two channels for whole house duty at the moment as I have them feeding a speaker switch box that I can use to power multiple speakers around the house.

Correct me if I am wrong but Emo does not appear to have but one 7 channel amp and its rated at 80 WPC. Sounds like a difference in philosophy between the two companies where Outlaw has gone more towards 7 channels and Emo has leaned toward 5 channles and less since they also have mono, stereo and 3 channel amps. Personally the 7 channel amps are more flexible in the future than the five channels specially with systems not having the capability of more than 7 channels

Hey X-Man,

I hope you had a good Easter.

I can see your argument for seven channels, but for those of us with limited space, a smaller amp would be great. I can also see the market philosophy of Outlaw in being a 7 channel amp leader (I don't think anyone else offers as many as they do), but there is a "void" in the market my proposed amp could fill.

Maybe Outlaw will surprise me and build my proposed amp...it would make my life a lot more fun.

As far as space goes the 7500 5 channel amp is physically bigger than the 7125, 7200 or the 7700 seven channels amps. The Emotiva 5 channel is even bigger than that. The Outlaw multichannel amps are built by ATI here in the US and they may have a 5 channel amp which has a smaller footprint.

http://www.ati-amp.com/products.php

Are you certain the Model 7500 is physically larger than the Model 7700?
I thought they were the same amps, with the same size cabinet, but with the 7500 having two less channels compared to the 7700.

Jeff

You are correct. My point was that the 5 channel amp does not save you any space compared to the 7 channel amp. And the 5 channel Emo is even larger. Unless Outlaw contracted with another company to build another 5 channel amp I am afraid what ATI builds is what we get. Even though my 7125 is in a 5.1 system I use the other two channels for zone 2 duty and my five channel 7500 is only using 4 channels in a 2.1 system. I plan on making that system a 3.1 system with the addition of a Magnepan center channel.