[Big Red Machine]

I've been kicking around the idea of running my center channel speaker off a tube amp and was wondering what some of you use for that?  I have considered even a 25 wpc amp bi-amped to my bi-wireable center speaker.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Well BRM,  your title asks about the center and the mains, but your text only talks about the center.

My mains are running off a 40wpc Jolida202a. Sounds great for movies, music, gaming, etc...

Although my center channel (open baffle) is being run off the SS receiver, I do have a single side of a monoblock Heathkit A-7. I've been thinking of using that as my center channel amp. Should be more than enough for a 96dB driver. The problem is, that it's all original, and older than I am. Not sure if I want to put it into full time use until somebody smarter than me goes over it first (or I replace the caps first at a very minimum).

Good question though. I'm very curious to know if any of us are loony enough to dedicate tubes for center channel duty.
How about tubes for rear channels?  aa

Bob

[Bill Baker]

 When I had my multi channel system set up, it was tubes all around. It will be the same in the new showroom.
 I don't think it's a matter of should it be done or not rather a personal preference. Multi channel is all about tonal balance and what better way to do it than having the same amps at all channels. As long as the speakers and amps can get along..........

[Big Red Machine]

Do you think 25 watts to the top end and 25 watts to the woofers of a center channel will be adequate in a 15 x 24 x 8 HT?

[Bill Baker]

Hey BRM,
 What speakers do you plan on using for this setup? How efficient are they? That will be the deciding factor on whether or not 25 watts will be suitable.

[Big Red Machine]

Aerial CC3 center:

Frequency Response: 50Hz to 22kHz ?2dB, -6dB at 45Hz
Sensitivity: 86dB at 2.83 Vrms and 1.0 meter on axis
Impedance: 6Ω nominal, 4Ω minimum, low reactance
Power Requirements: 50 to 300 watts (8Ω rating) recommended
Woofers: Two 7.1" (180mm) cast magnesium alloy frame drivers
Damped polymer composite cones
Large vented magnet structures with long-stroke coils
Midrange: 5" (125mm) cast magnesium alloy frame driver
Damped bilaminate composite cone
Vented magnet structure with linear stroke coil
Tweeter: 1.0" (25mm) precision titanium dome
Large magnet structure with deep rear chamber
Flared pole vent and 5 surrounding vents
Crossover: 450Hz and 3.5kHz at 24dB per octave
Glass-epoxy PCB. High-purity copper wiring
Premium passive components. Silver solder
Environment and Program controls
Cabinet: Minimum resonance 1" MDF walls
Extensive internal bracing. Tongue and groove joints
Finished in architectural veneers
Connections: Four gold-plated binding posts with copper jumpers
Bi-wire and bi-amp capable

[Levi]

If you are going for tube amps for your HT, I would go with tubes all the way around.  Preferrably the amps are identical so you get uniform tonal balance across the L C R speakers.  If you are really into it, then tubes for the rear channel as well. 

I find SS amps are much better for movie watching because they have the speed, slam and low level details. That's just me.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey BRM, you could consider keeping the Jolida you're selling and use it for a rear channel amp.  aa

Bob

[Big Red Machine]

Just dial it up to full bore and let the processor take it from there?

[Bob in St. Louis]

Yip!! That's it.
Rock on Brother. 

Forget the integrated feature, just use is as a power amp. 40watts per channel of tube power is more than enough for HT rears. Put the knob at 12:00 and tweak from there.

Bob

[ctviggen]

I use a tube amplifier only on the center channel.  I use solid state on all other channels.  I use a dedicated two channel amp for the front two speakers, and then use the amps in a receiver for the other channels.

People say that you need the same amp or speakers for surround systems, but I honestly can't tell the difference.  I have used "matching" speakers for the front three (Linn, Salks, VMPS all make similar speakers but not exact to the front two), but have never had the money to buy matching surrounds.  Then again, I'm not a huge 5/7 channel music listener, and primarily only use the surrounds for movies.

For my center, I had a Lexicon/Bryston 5 channel amp, but I couldn't get a single channel of it to drive my RM30C to reference levels.  So, I switched to a Nuforce 9B to drive the center, but this seemed to revealing (every pop came through).  So, I switched to a chinese-made tube amplifier (Cayin) for the center.  I liked it better. 

I've never had the center channel on the same amps as the R/L fronts, but have never been able to tell a difference.