Hey there, new here so feel free to point me to any existing threads as needed. Please pardon the length of this thread.
First, I am pretty new to vintage audio, but love the designs and generally love vintage things, anyway, I have recently inherited a set of RSbs, one is missing the woofer and the other woofer is shot. I plan on finding a replacement woofer (which I have currently identified), and re-foaming the other. They come from the original owner so I know they have been heavily abused by sound in their lifetime and serviced at least once, but the boxes are clean and are also mounted on those flat metal stands. Per the "RSb Midrange Madness" thread, I will also go over the crossovers.
All of that said, I will eventually need a receiver to power these. I will take into consideration various factors for the final selection, but looking for technical synergy first so as not to blow the receiver, or the speakers, I don't want too much power or too little, I need the Goldilocks match up. I will play all types of music from Metallica to Mozart violin concertos, but mostly rock and roll.
One more item, I am not an electronics or audio tech by any means, but am quite capable and unafraid so please understand my approach to thinking about these things comes from a place of what seems right based on my research and 'common sense', but not a trained or experienced angle.
Per my research these seem to be the factors of concern, please give any input, add, or debunk as needed:
Note: My technical references are the infinity-classics.de manual for the speakers and hifiengine.com database for receiver specs
1.) RSb are 4 ohm (but may actually run as low as 3.4 per info taken from another thread/other research). my understanding of a general approach to this sizing is the 8 ohm wpc rating should basically be doubled to figure the 4 ohm power requirement, so with a 25-150 Watt RMS rating, this logic tells me I need a receiver putting out 12.5-75 watts (based on the 8 ohm X wpc ratings), but with unknown ohm variances, I may want to stay a little less than 75 watts; also, that the receiver needs to be able to handle 4 ohm speakers.
2.) I have read that these speakers may need a much higher, maybe along the lines of 100W receiver to drive them (another forum, mostly covering newer equipment). Could this be due to the fact that newer equipment vs vintage are manufactured and rated differently?
3.) I have read that these speakers require a high power amp to drive them properly, what qualifies an amp as 'high powered' in relation to this discussion?
4.) I have read that these speakers can be amp killers if not properly sized (reference to an AK thread where someone blew an Pioneer SX-950 and a Pioneer SX-828). Per my research, it seems that these should both work quite comfortably with the RSb. Any thoughts on why this might have occurred?
5.) The space for my system will not be huge, but I would like to plan for the future which may mean moving the rig outside for a yard party, or eventually moving into a much larger space . The point of this comment is that the system may end up running at a high level for long periods so needs to be able to handle that task as needed.
Receivers that seem to fit the bill include: Pioneer SX-750 and up, Marantz 2270 and up, Yamaha CR-1020 and up, I am sure there are Sansuis that will fit (and others), but I have not done as much research on those, yet.
- I don't currently have a budget, but would certainly like to keep things cheap/affordable. I don't need to do this so have time to look, will be in and out of the thrift/SA/craigslist, etc..
- Would like to find something serviceable, meaning parts are not impossible to find or impossibly expensive
- I love the beautiful silver faced gear and this is what I am looking to find, vintage, late 70's early 80's
- Of course I would like something with as many features as possible for the money, that will allow me to attach a turntable, cassette, possibly run a CD player and/or iPod if possible, loudness control would be nice, etc.
Overall I am looking for attractive, synergistic, optionable, serviceable, affordable match up for the RSbs.
Thanks for any comments!
First, I am pretty new to vintage audio, but love the designs and generally love vintage things, anyway, I have recently inherited a set of RSbs, one is missing the woofer and the other woofer is shot. I plan on finding a replacement woofer (which I have currently identified), and re-foaming the other. They come from the original owner so I know they have been heavily abused by sound in their lifetime and serviced at least once, but the boxes are clean and are also mounted on those flat metal stands. Per the "RSb Midrange Madness" thread, I will also go over the crossovers.
All of that said, I will eventually need a receiver to power these. I will take into consideration various factors for the final selection, but looking for technical synergy first so as not to blow the receiver, or the speakers, I don't want too much power or too little, I need the Goldilocks match up. I will play all types of music from Metallica to Mozart violin concertos, but mostly rock and roll.
One more item, I am not an electronics or audio tech by any means, but am quite capable and unafraid so please understand my approach to thinking about these things comes from a place of what seems right based on my research and 'common sense', but not a trained or experienced angle.
Per my research these seem to be the factors of concern, please give any input, add, or debunk as needed:
Note: My technical references are the infinity-classics.de manual for the speakers and hifiengine.com database for receiver specs
1.) RSb are 4 ohm (but may actually run as low as 3.4 per info taken from another thread/other research). my understanding of a general approach to this sizing is the 8 ohm wpc rating should basically be doubled to figure the 4 ohm power requirement, so with a 25-150 Watt RMS rating, this logic tells me I need a receiver putting out 12.5-75 watts (based on the 8 ohm X wpc ratings), but with unknown ohm variances, I may want to stay a little less than 75 watts; also, that the receiver needs to be able to handle 4 ohm speakers.
2.) I have read that these speakers may need a much higher, maybe along the lines of 100W receiver to drive them (another forum, mostly covering newer equipment). Could this be due to the fact that newer equipment vs vintage are manufactured and rated differently?
3.) I have read that these speakers require a high power amp to drive them properly, what qualifies an amp as 'high powered' in relation to this discussion?
4.) I have read that these speakers can be amp killers if not properly sized (reference to an AK thread where someone blew an Pioneer SX-950 and a Pioneer SX-828). Per my research, it seems that these should both work quite comfortably with the RSb. Any thoughts on why this might have occurred?
5.) The space for my system will not be huge, but I would like to plan for the future which may mean moving the rig outside for a yard party, or eventually moving into a much larger space . The point of this comment is that the system may end up running at a high level for long periods so needs to be able to handle that task as needed.
Receivers that seem to fit the bill include: Pioneer SX-750 and up, Marantz 2270 and up, Yamaha CR-1020 and up, I am sure there are Sansuis that will fit (and others), but I have not done as much research on those, yet.
- I don't currently have a budget, but would certainly like to keep things cheap/affordable. I don't need to do this so have time to look, will be in and out of the thrift/SA/craigslist, etc..
- Would like to find something serviceable, meaning parts are not impossible to find or impossibly expensive
- I love the beautiful silver faced gear and this is what I am looking to find, vintage, late 70's early 80's
- Of course I would like something with as many features as possible for the money, that will allow me to attach a turntable, cassette, possibly run a CD player and/or iPod if possible, loudness control would be nice, etc.
Overall I am looking for attractive, synergistic, optionable, serviceable, affordable match up for the RSbs.
Thanks for any comments!