First off I noticed the s/n is 100db on the Mblock 200s, while it is 119db on the 770. Is the 770 amp really cleaner than the monoblock? I would think 7 of these mblocks woudl be better than the 770.

Now on to my topic question. I currently have a Denon AVR-4800 receiver. I would like to go the seperates route over time or now if it makes sense.

Currently I have 5 channels of amplification at 143wpc with the AVR-4800. It process's THX-EX if you add a two channel amp to its pre outs. So I need to buy atleast a 2 channel amp. I can reassing the Denon for the back four channels and use the front two speaker pre outs if I want too.

My options are,

buy 2 mblocks for the front 2 channels and use the denon for the back 4 channels and center. Will this sound unbalanced since the center and 4 rears will be 75watts less powerful than the front two? One advantage in this setup is I could always sale the Denon and Get the 750 5 channel 200amp and 970 combo later on.

Option 2
buy the 755 5 channel amp and only use the denon for the Back ES/EX channels. Would this give me better sound balance across all channels, but wouldn't it be wasting my Denon away doing only 2 channels of amplifcation duties?

Option #3
Or go ahead and sale the avr-4800, get the 770 amp and 970 combo. Is the 970 a better pre/pro than my AVR-4800 would be?

As to the question of s/n differences between the 200 and the 770, SoundHound offered some thoughts on that subject in this thread . I will only add that the reports so far have been pretty positive regarding the 200's performance.

If you were to get a pair of 200's to drive your mains and have the 4800 handle center and (4) surrounds, I do not think you would have an unbalanced problem. The mains would have more headroom, and you would certainly want to re-calibrate your system, but you should not have a problem otherwise. As a real-world example, I used to run a Model 1050 receiver with a Model 750 amp -- my mains, center, and surrounds each got 165W from the 750, while the surround back channel got somewhere around 65W-80W from the 1050's internal amp.

Option 2 would also be a good approach. I haven't ever heard the 4800 to know how it sounds or how well the internal amps perform, so I don't know exactly how much impact the 755 would have. Would it be wasting your 4800's amps? Not if you liked the sound of the 755. A lot of people use receivers are pre/pros, often bypassing all of the onboard amps. You could even make note of the fact that the 4800 was used with outboard amplification for part of the time you had it when you go to sell it.

Is the 950 a better pre/pro than the 4800? That, I don't know for sure because I haven't heard the 4800, but I suspect that the 950 would match and very possibly top the 4800 as a pre/pro. The 950 offers more robust bass management as well as Pro Logic II decoding. It is a stand-alone pre/pro, which can offer some design benefits over a receiver (even a flagship receiver like the 4800).

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Question remains, what is the better amp. The 200 or 750 or 770? The 750 and 770 appear to be identical. I want the best amp for my upgrade, If that means the 750 has a better S/N than the 200 then I will upgrade to the 5 channel. I would think that the monoblock 200 would be superior to the 750 or 770 per channel? am I wrong with this assumptions?

The 755 and 770 are basically identical amps, with the 755 just having two fewer channels (the 750 was replaced by the 755 about a year ago and is no longer in production, by the way). The 200 is a fairly different design from the 770 and its siblings. I'll borrow this quote from our dear admin Scott (from this thread):



I haven't heard a 200 to know how it sounds compared to a 755 or 770. (Maybe next year I'll get a pair to drive my mains...) Someone around here may have both and can offer some thoughts on how they compare. Joeboy did say that he heard an improvement in two-channel performance when he added a pair of 200's to keep his 750 company. The 755 is pretty similar in design to the 750.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

well the thing is this. I can buy the 770 all in one amp now, and go ahead and sale the Denon, or I can get the two M200s for my front speakers and add the 755 when I sale the Denon.

The thing is if I go the M200 + 755 route would the m200 be better for the two rear speakers or keep them for the two front channels? I am just trying to find out what is the better amp for music.

If you sell the Denon, you'll need a pre/pro now. You can go with the pair of 200's now and not have to get a pre/pro now.

Will the 200 or 755 be better for the mains? According to this review , there's not a significant audible difference. Personally, I'd use trial and error to decide for myself once I had both in hand.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review