[QUOTE=gumby!;454944]This is the stupidest thread ever..

where do you people come up with this ???[/QUOTE

dramaaaaaa! I don't know...seems like a legitimate topic for an audio board. Certainly not the stupidest thread I've seen.

A 5 channel is however nice for a single footprint...like an amp rack.I was going to use 5 Zapco AG amps for my system......but ran out of room fast.So now I am 4 chan and Mono.

fair enough... :) I guess for me people get really addicted to the LOUD part and forget that 400-500 RMS in a daily can actually be pretty loud if you're running the right config and box... People thought I was running 800-900 on my sub with the ref 705...

To each their own

I know 5 channels have their place and can work well in many good quality systems.

I just wanted to see how polarized people are on the subject, and guess what, people are.

I liked my 5 channel back in the day... oh those were simpler times

The theoretical issues is that when the 16hz organ tone comes on hard, channel5/6 will hog all the power out of the shared supply and your comps channels may clip. Same argument applies for all multichannel amps that don't have individual power supplies.

The hope is that engineering got to put in the power supply the amp needed, not the one accounting said they could afford... :sly:

My only real problem with a 5/6ch amp is that if you nuke a channel it all goes in for repair at once.. :ohwell:

Perhaps part of the problem with this thread is the title of the thread: Never is too strong of a word . . . it is an absolute statement which indicates there are absolutely no exceptions to that statement. This is part of the reason why I try to stay away from absolute statements like "never" and "always." In almost all circumstances someone will be able to find the exception to the absolute statement and thereby undermining the credibility of many other things that you have said or written.

Perhaps the title should read - 5 channel amps should be avoided. Should indicates the general idea that they tend not to be great (for the reasons mentioned above) but still leaves room for people to point out the ways that they have proven their greatness.

^^ ooooo mark the calender I agree with Dukky nothing inherently wrong but it is an opportunity to under build

Heyyy - we agree quite often I thought... just don't mention cables :D

Personnaly, I can see many uses for the 5 channel amps out there, mainly for footprint issues, or making wiring a bit simpler. I probably wouldn't use it myself, because, as was mentionned many times, upgrading can be an issue if your amp can't work with your new speaker setup, and I myself am one to swap things out maybe once a year or so.

But, for someone who has their system planned out and won't likely be changing anything anything anytime soon, then multichannel is probably the way to go. I've considered using a pair of 5 channel amps for my setup myself. Fronts on tweeters and midrange, rear bridged onto midbass, and sub on the sub. And each amp would take care of one side of the car ! :P