Looking for a cheap amp that'll run 3 speakers!

[Pigmy Pony]

As the title says, any suggestions? It's for my daughter's hairdressers/sunbed shop/nail bar. She has some recently bought little Wharfedale Diamond speakers, and has one in each of three rooms. So I suppose the amp will need switchable mono. Doesn't have to be a new amp.

I had bought her an old NAD "Power Envelope" amp for this purpose, and it was a nice thing. But she's pigged about with the bare speaker wires in the back and now the amp gets "very hot and smells like burning" (her words). I told her to unplug it and wait to hear back from me...

[struth]

if she had say an 8ohm and 2 times 4ohm speakers it would be easier:eyebrows:

[CageyH]

Yamaha DSP-E492 may do it.
It is 3 x 70W, but will need some fiddling with settings etc. to get all three channels in mono.
They are dirt cheap on ebay.

[CageyH]

Failing that, an Arcam Alpha 10P with the Dave module, if you can find one. I have one, but postage and condition of the amp negates mine from your search.

Another option may be an AV receiver?

[Beobloke]

The NAD should do it fine - how have you wired the speakers?

I remember running in 14 speakers at once in a judicious set of series/parallel combinations off a NAD 314 for a group test. I ran them overnight on pink noise and the amp was only moderately warm when I arrived in the office next day.

[Filterlab]

Could you just get a couple of cheap two channel amps from Amazon and use a splitter on one of the output interconnects? I'm sure it wouldn't matter a great deal if one speaker played left and the others played right (or vice versa). It doesn't sound like it's for critical listening. Even better if the source can be set to mono output.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071XQGYRJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_57D0NC4JC234X6E2F3MF

[Filterlab]

Or maybe just a good used Arcam. It's hardly going to bother it having three speakers connected.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arcam-Alpha-8R-HiFi-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier-Remote-Control-Phono-Input-/294112545076?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

[Pigmy Pony]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I think what I'm after is an amp which has a mono switch and two sets of speaker outs. The speakers will only be used at pretty low volumes. But I don't want her current amp which is actually a receiver (NAD 7220pe or 7225pe) to get binned, as it is a nice little thing, so I think I'll bring it home and try it here.

I had thought that she may have shorted something when she was dicking around with the speaker wires, so I went for a look. It was working when I left, but she later called me to say it was very hot and smelt funny.

[Filterlab]

One of these may help your cause...

https://www.inta-audio.com/monacor-smc-1-stereo-to-mono-signal-converter-p12405

Add that to the Arcam and you're all done.

[Pigmy Pony]

One of these may help your cause...

https://www.inta-audio.com/monacor-smc-1-stereo-to-mono-signal-converter-p12405

Add that to the Arcam and you're all done.

I quite like that idea, but how would it work? Would I run a pair of RCA leads from those mono outs to say, CD input of amp? And then, could I connect 2 speakers to one speaker out of the amp and one speaker from the other?

[Filterlab]

Precisely that mate.

There's two sets of speaker outputs, use an R and the two Ls to connect the three speakers. You'll get a mono signal to all the channels. Don't worry that there's a spare speaker output unused, it's not going to upset the amp at all.

Make sure SP2 is switched on, that enables the second set of speaker outputs.

[Lawrence001]

Depending on the layout of the outputs (which I assume will parallel the A and B speakers) is there not a risk that the channel with 2 speakers will be at low impedance and get overdriven? Is that what the soft clipping is supposed to help with? Presumably it would shut down before doing any lasting damage?

If the speaker impedances are different then you might be able to put two high impedance speakers on one channel and the lower impedance speaker on the other.

[Pigmy Pony]

Depending on the layout of the outputs (which I assume will parallel the A and B speakers) is there not a risk that the channel with 2 speakers will be at low impedance and get overdriven? Is that what the soft clipping is supposed to help with? Presumably it would shut down before doing any lasting damage?

If the speaker impedances are different then you might be able to put two high impedance speakers on one channel and the lower impedance speaker on the other.

She will be using it at very low volumes - it's just for a bit of background music while her clients are burning to a crisp on the sunbeds or having their nails sharpened or whatever :scratch:

Again thanks for all the suggestions, if she wants me to I'm going to go down the route Rob suggested and put a bid on that Alpha 8 amp (I think she'll like that) and get one of those stereo/mono convertors.

[Pigmy Pony]

Precisely that mate.

There's two sets of speaker outputs, use an R and the two Ls to connect the three speakers. You'll get a mono signal to all the channels. Don't worry that there's a spare speaker output unused, it's not going to upset the amp at all.

Make sure SP2 is switched on, that enables the second set of speaker outputs.

That's perfect, there is one room where she would like to be able to switch off the music while keeping the others going :)

[Jac Hawk]

Mate i'd get yourself a 2nd hand Extron or Crown pro D class amp especially if she's running in three separate rooms you're going to want to run mono

[Filterlab]

Depending on the layout of the outputs (which I assume will parallel the A and B speakers) is there not a risk that the channel with 2 speakers will be at low impedance and get overdriven? Is that what the soft clipping is supposed to help with? Presumably it would shut down before doing any lasting damage?

If the speaker impedances are different then you might be able to put two high impedance speakers on one channel and the lower impedance speaker on the other.

You'd have to run it very hard, Arcam amps are quite tough old boots. For background music at levels which one can whisper over, or even more moderate volumes, it won't be a problem.


Mate i'd get yourself a 2nd hand Extron or Crown pro D class amp especially if she's running in three separate rooms you're going to want to run mono

The mono converter will do that as per the previous posts. £22. Bargain! Leaves one free to select any amplifier from the fine array on eBay. :D

[Filterlab]

That's perfect, there is one room where she would like to be able to switch off the music while keeping the others going :)

Even better! :)

[Pigmy Pony]

Well I bought one of those mono convertors, and it looks to be a nice solid little thing, about the size of a matchbox.

I had less luck bidding on an Arcam Alpha 8R, which went eventually for £165. So straight away, (staying with Arcam as they seem to have what we need) I did a late bid on a minty looking A75 Diva, and got that for £134. New price looks to have been about £430, so I'm happy with that. Should arrive Thursday.

[Filterlab]

Brilliant! I love the Diva range, my A85 is a killer amp. Should do you a treat mate.

[Firebottle]

I used to run 5 sets of speakers in the property in France, all from the same amplifier.

It is doable provided you use series/parallel connection that doesn't present too low a load to the amplifier.
A lot of folks would (and have done so with dire consequences) just connect all speakers into the terminals without a thought, thus presenting too low an impedance and seriously stressing the amplifier.
Steve give me a ring if you want more info.

[Filterlab]

Nominal is 8 Ohms, lowest is 4.1 Ohms on the Diamonds. Not going to worry the 4-16 Ohm outputs on the A75.