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Three channel amps

Wino

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For home theater, I'm a fan of ATI. I've been running 1505 and 1502 in 7.1 and now 5.2.1. Never had a problem with them. I think I bought my 1505 about 20 years ago and added a 1502 in 2013. I find they over deliver on price/performance.
 

Rockman2

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Well, after reading a lot on this site and others I ordered a Monolith 3 channel amp for my new system. This did not go well. It was in stock and showed it would ship same day. It did not. Took a number of days to ship and then the shipment was delayed by the freight co. (not their fault) When I received it the box was labeled B Stock re certified. So I am sending it back. I asked that someone in the US call me but they did not. I received a call this morning from a guy in the Philippines. He said that was all that was in stock so I am just getting a refund. Customer service to the point has been ok but not timely. Disappointing their website does not show B-stock as they claim that is all they have in the warehouse. I guess I will be ordering an Emotiva. I like the look of this better but I hope it sounds good also.
 

DonH56

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Well, after reading a lot on this site and others I ordered a Monolith 3 channel amp for my new system. This did not go well. It was in stock and showed it would ship same day. It did not. Took a number of days to ship and then the shipment was delayed by the freight co. (not their fault) When I received it the box was labeled B Stock re certified. So I am sending it back. I asked that someone in the US call me but they did not. I received a call this morning from a guy in the Philippines. He said that was all that was in stock so I am just getting a refund. Customer service to the point has been ok but not timely. Disappointing their website does not show B-stock as they claim that is all they have in the warehouse. I guess I will be ordering an Emotiva. I like the look of this better but I hope it sounds good also.
I have several Emotiva Gen1 amps I have been happy with, but reports on reliability have been more spotty on the current Gen3 models (not necessarily bad, maybe just more folk posting now than 10 years ago). Unless you must have them right now, I would save and get ATI or Buckeye Amps.
 

Rockman2

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I have several Emotiva Gen1 amps I have been happy with, but reports on reliability have been more spotty on the current Gen3 models (not necessarily bad, maybe just more folk posting now than 10 years ago). Unless you must have them right now, I would save and get ATI or Buckeye Amps.
Thanks the ATI looks good. That is the company that builds the monolith, correct? I have not looked a reviews yet but i'm guessing they would be as good as the monolith if not better.
 

DonH56

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Thanks the ATI looks good. That is the company that builds the monolith, correct? I have not looked a reviews yet but i'm guessing they would be as good as the monolith if not better.
Rumor has it. I would prefer to go to the source and just get an ATI amp. ATI is well-respected and has been for many years (formed in the mid-1990's). One of their engineers is a frequent poster here as well. They have a recent (OK, recent to me) line of class D amplifiers in addition to their class AB lines. They are not exactly cheap, but in this day fall into the "value" category to me in the sense of high performance, great build quality, and a company of long-standing repute. ATI makes their amps in the USA if that matters to you.

That said, I am not up on all the latest amplifiers (there always seem to be a myriad of them about), but ATI would be on my short list. I did purchase a four-channel Buckeye Amps Hypex amplifier a few years ago to power my overheads and it has been doing great as well. Buckeye Amps (Dylan) is also an active ASR member and very responsive.

HTH - Don
 

Chrispy

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Thanks the ATI looks good. That is the company that builds the monolith, correct? I have not looked a reviews yet but i'm guessing they would be as good as the monolith if not better.
Also some of the Outlaw amps. And contract manufacturer for a variety of other brands as well. Hard to go wrong with an ATI built amp, whether their own badge makes a huge difference, don't know.
 

Shanman

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I find it crazy you were sent a B stock amp without any indication, bizarre. That being said, I wouldn't give up if you are tight on funds. Get three Outlaw 2220's, try to get another Monolith X3, or go right to ATI like others have suggested. There was a nice Anthem 3 channel I kept looking at when I was 3 channel shopping myself, looked solid.

I only sold my Buckeye(Ghent case) because it didn't have a trigger which I needed and basically got my X3 for free.

I would have zero reservations recommending a Buckeye 4 channel with the 502 modules. Your ears will give up far before the amp ever will. Light, runs cool, well priced. Good combo!
 

Rockman2

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I find it crazy you were sent a B stock amp without any indication, bizarre. That being said, I wouldn't give up if you are tight on funds. Get three Outlaw 2220's, try to get another Monolith X3, or go right to ATI like others have suggested. There was a nice Anthem 3 channel I kept looking at when I was 3 channel shopping myself, looked solid.

I only sold my Buckeye(Ghent case) because it didn't have a trigger which I needed and basically got my X3 for free.

I would have zero reservations recommending a Buckeye 4 channel with the 502 modules. Your ears will give up far before the amp ever will. Light, runs cool, well priced. Good combo!
Thanks for the input. I asked about them sending me another Monolith but they claim they only have B Stock at this time. Not sure if that is accurate but that is what I was told. Trying to squeeze out a little extra for an ATI they do look better. I like the case and speaker connections better. Still may end up with an Emotiva because of cost though.
 

Rottmannash

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Thanks for the input. I asked about them sending me another Monolith but they claim they only have B Stock at this time. Not sure if that is accurate but that is what I was told. Trying to squeeze out a little extra for an ATI they do look better. I like the case and speaker connections better. Still may end up with an Emotiva because of cost though.
Do you have an aversion to Class D amps? They run much cooler, are much lighter and the Hypex and Purifi modules perform extremely well.
 

Rockman2

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Do you have an aversion to Class D amps? They run much cooler, are much lighter and the Hypex and Purifi modules perform extremely well.
No aversion just have never looked into Class D. Had read so many posts praising the monolith I ended up ordering it. Since ATI makes the monolith I figured I would go with ATI. The case looks better and the binding posts look better. I would think there are dealers that would give some sort of Forum discount on some of these amps but I have not seen that either.
 

Webninja

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I’m running the Buckeye 502 six channel, bridged for LCR. Use daily, no problems, just lots of clean power.
 

Wino

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With ATI, I would have no problem buying used. They are tanks that will last forever. To save some money check out Ebay or USA Audio Mart. Might be able to pick up a 5 or 7 channel for less and grow into it. Just a thought...
 

Shanman

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For what it's worth, I didn't even need a 3 channel but when I was paying attention to specs in the Monolith amps I noticed something interesting. The 3 channel gets a bigger toroidal than the 2 channel which makes sense. I chose to get the 3 channel to have the extra beefy toroidal for my 2.1 music setup, and allow future upgrades if I went with a center channel.
 

Rockman2

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Well.....pulled the trigger on an ATI AT1823. Hope it is good. Emotive has a sale going but after speaking with them on the phone to answer a couple questions, I chose not to order from them. I also like the 7 year warranty on the ATI!
 
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