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Just starting out.. receiver and amp combo

M

Mkoithan

New Member
I have 2 MTX monitor 12 floor speakers that are rated 250 watts rms/ 500 watts max. I am deciding on receiver/ amp combo i just want to make sure I understand what I should be looking for. I believe, from what I’ve gathered, I want 1.5-2.5x the rms wattage going to the speakers.

Q1. If I had receiver that was 100w I would want 225-575 from my amp. So a 300-400w per channel amp to power them? (600-800w 2channel amp)

Now my surround sound speakers are 150w, instead of getting a large 5+ channel amp i was planning on getting a separate amp for the surrounds.

Q2: Is it best to run along the lines of 5 channel 100w/ channel for surrounds and possibly a 3rd amp for the subwoofer if necessary.

I know the amount of sound from these are tremendous, the idea is to do a badass set up that I could use in any space in the future. The last set up i didn’t have amps to the speakers and eventually fried my receiver in a glorious mini mushroom cloud puff of smoke. I like the receivers that have AB selection (A front and B for surround) that can work separately or together.

Q3: I don’t known much about preamps and not sure if this should be included? Is that similar to a capacitor in car audio?
 
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A1. Your speakers are supposed to have 94db sensitivity so in theory a 64wpc amp or receiver should push those speakers to 112db and I doubt the sound would be enjoyable pushing them that loud (For each 3db increase in sound pressure you need to double the wattage, so if you want to ruin your ears with 115db then 128wpc will do the trick in no time at all).

Focus on quality of watts not the quantity of watts. Given the choice between a quality 60wpc amp and a average 120wpc amp I would choose the quality 60wpc amp every time. Hearing damage occurs very rapidly over 100db, so unless your desire is to walk around saying "WHAT?" for the rest of your life a quality 60wpc amp would be my suggestion if you plan on using those speakers. I once pushed a large pair of speakers beautifully with a little 20wpc NAD, the speaker builder was amazed I didnt need the minimum of 150wpc amp that he originally suggested but you have to be sure not to clip the signal with a low powered amp.

According to the medical professionals no more than 15 minutes at 100db or about 45 secs at 112db. There are millions of once crazy lads suffering from hearing loss who thought they could man up and rub some dirt on it but rubbing dirt doesnt work for ears or pretty much anything else really.
 
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Hello Mkoithan, welcome to AK,

Some basics:

Amp / Amplifier is the "engine" of the system, the amp is what produced the watts. This is what powers your speakers.

PreAmp is the control interface between your source(tuner/cd/turntable) and has the volume, usually bass/treble and source selection controls.

Tuner is the device to receive AM/FM radio.

An Integrated Amplifier combines the pre amp and amplifier in a single chassis(box).

A receiver combines a tuner, pre amp and amp in a single chassis.

Speaker power ratings are almost useless. You can power a speaker rated for 100 watts with a 1 watt amplifier, conversely you can power a 1 watt speaker with a 100 watt amplifier. Neither scenario is ideal but you get the idea. You are more likely to damage a speaker using an amplifier with too little power by over-driving the amplifier. When you get to the point where turning up the volume does not make the syatem louder, turn it down.

Quality over quantity......you will typically get better sound from a good 50 watt amp then you would with a poor quality 200 watt amp.
 
Just because the speakers system says it can handle 500 watts doesn't mean the woofers can, the midranges can or the HF can. What you need to know is how much power the mids and woofers can each handle. My Stereo speakers are rated 1200 watts but the semi conductor protection devices only add up to 600 watts cold and 450 watts hot. RMS. Now the speakers are line arrays so I know they can handle power equally for each section. Low's middle and Highs. My Older Stereo speakers were rated at 144 watts RMS lo's 130 mids and 140 highs. So I guess you could say 420 appox all together. But really I would not want amps any bigger than I have now that are rated at 200 watts and will put out 260 RMS all channels operating while meeting or exceeding distortion specs. .005% 20 to 20,000 HZ.

Another thing is to consider efficiency. The older speakers are 95.3 db 1 watt 1 meter. Because they are quasi line array they drop off about 4.6 db every time you double the difference. As I sit at 5.2 meters thats about 11 db at my seating position so when I have a total of 100 watts each going to the two speakers. Thats 105 db C weighted fast response which is all thats necessary for me. The line arrays with 200 watts to each speaker with a rating of 88 db 1 meter 2 watts, because they are 4 ohms and I sit at 14 feet or 4.25 meter. I loose about 4 db every time I double the distance. so the level would be about 103 db. Because the sound is more direct with the line arrays and less ambient than the semi line arrays the line arrays seem louder. Even though my spectrum analyzer and sound level meter say other wise.

The point to all this is its all right to have more power. Amps don't destroy speakers people do! Either by not rating their speakers properly when designed and built or we as owners going crazy trying to make the speaker play louder than the are designed to be played. Integrated units don't put out much more than 400 watts rms now days and they are quite expensive, so I would recommend separates. You are still going to be out substantial money buy new from a reputable manufacturer with a good history of performance and service after the sale. Most tube amps 300 watts is the limit with one 0r two exceptions. SS if you are willing to accept Class D can be quite reasonable and can reach way way over a 1000 watts per channel. . But I won't accept class D amps. The more critical our speakers and listening space the less likely you are to accept Class D units.
 
As petes'picks says you need one each standard home receiver or similar power from an amp, integrated or power amp and preamp. That means 50-100wpc. Any more and you will have the ability to listen to concert levels at home and have ringing in your ears for a few hours after turning off the stereo. Along with this come later in life loss of high frequency hearing accelerated to the point this happens decades before it should.

Get 50-75, if you need more, spend it on better speakers.
 
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