Powering Your AV upgrade

Multichannel power amps are expensive, right? Emotiva is changing that with its A-700, says Ed Selley

- Ed Selley

In the last few years, the one-box AVR has almost completely replaced the more specialist processor/power amp combination at all but the loftiest price points. The greater convenience of a single chassis and the increase in capability that we've seen at various price levels has squeezed out the double-device concept. In processing terms, there is little to stop a one-box unit matching a dedicated processor, but in the case of dedicated multichannel power amps, there's more debate.

The reason for this is simple enough. With the squeeze being put on manufacturers to give us more features at each price point and more channels of amplification being required for newfangled sound formats, the strain on that amplification becomes more severe. While an AV receiver might specify that it has seven, nine or even eleven channels of, say, 100W amplification, this will drop considerably when all the channels – or even just a few of them – are under load, driving speakers. This is where the Emotiva A-700 comes in.

As a dedicated seven-channel power amplifier, the headline figure of 110W per channel is not significantly – or indeed any – better to that claimed by many AV receivers at £1,000 and up. Where the Emotiva differs is that as well as this figure – which claims a 0.1% THD and is measured with the amp in stereo mode – it also boasts a claimed power output of 80W into 8 ohms with all seven channels in play, again with a low distortion. This is a healthy spec and comfortably in line with that offered by high-ticket AV receivers. And the A-700 costs an inviting £770.