AV Receiver/Amp/Stereo questions

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  StewBalls on 04/04/2012 - 17:26

  +1

  Answers to your 3 questions:

  1: No, that is maximum output power…and last time I checked it was not mandatory to turn the volume all the way up all of the time. Well, not unless you're a bogan of the highest order, in which case you'll need an amp that goes up to 11!

  2: Many amps have both BNC & spring clip connectors, you can often unscrew the BNC ones as well & stick the speaker wire under it! Failing that, just buy some BNC connectors, they're pretty cheap.

  1: The salient difference is that they are different brands/models. I'd suggest you read some online reviews of each for objective pro's & con's; then go have a listen for yourself as choosing HT gear can be very subjective.

  Now, I'm no maths whiz, but last time I checked 3 came after 2; I'm pretty certain it's against the rules to go back to 1 again…just sayin'! ;)

  • 

    IdLikeToBeATree on 04/04/2012 - 17:34

    Thanks StewBalls :P

    So it doesnt matter what size I get, like either of the 2 at jb hifi they will both work fine with my speakers?
    I do listen to it at near full volume at times, I live in the middle of nowhere so volume isnt an issue and am a musician so I like to listen to my tracks near full volume when I finish them!

    Haha thanks counting isn't my strong point. (wrote it on my iPad I always mess up the numbers in dot points)

    • 

      StewBalls on 04/04/2012 - 17:43

      FWIW, I have the previous model Pioneer in that class (VSX-520) & I'm very happy with it. I listened to a few in the same price range before I took the plunge (Onkyo, Sherwood & Yamaha). You really do need to listen to a few before you make up your mind.

      I felt that the Pioneer had the 'crispest' sound (see what I mean about subjective) of the sample, & had a lot of good features for the price; even though it lacked a couple of features that are important to some folks (like ARC) that really don't matter to me! :)

      Haha thanks counting isn't my strong point.

      Don't worry, it's not mine either…if you'd had more than 5 questions I'd have been in some strife too! :p

      • 

        IdLikeToBeATree on 04/04/2012 - 17:49

        Ohk so they all actually sound different? I thought the speakers would have been the main aspect of the sound. Thats the main reason I wanted to keep my speakers because I love the sound with the JVC unit. Ive heard approx 5 different setups and didnt like any of them, they all sounded small where as the jvc unit is really full sounding.

        I gather it will be difficult to judge their sounds properly as they will all still sound different with diff speakers..?

        Haha it wouldnt matter I would of getting repeating 1 and 2 :P

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  ESEMCE on 04/04/2012 - 17:58

  +1

  Some additions to StewBalls 3 answers:

  1: No, that is maximum output power…
  and it's actually better to have speakers with a maximum rating BELOW that of the maximum rating of the amp. Maximum power output by the amp WILL lead to clipping.. better that your speakers audibly tell you when they are bottoming out hence distorting the sound, than the speakers telling you that their coils are being burned out by raw DC being continuously fed to them from a clipped out Amp by releasing the "special blue, magic, electronics smoke" that we all know is the secret to how electonics work!

  2: connect the Positive wire of your speaker to the Red or Positive output of the amp and the negative wire to the Black or negative output of the amp… the negative wire will usually have a black stripe on it.
  Those aren't BNC connectors on the back of that Sony Amp.. if anything, they're Banana plug sockets.. They most likely screw out so you can jam speaker wire under there.

  3: as per StewBalls… they look very similar in capability..
  Also go and pick them up.. and then buy the heavier one if everything else is the same… Heavier = bigger power supply = less likelihood of the output overdrawing the supply and therefore more power.

  • 

    IdLikeToBeATree on 04/04/2012 - 18:05

    Thanks for your help as well scuba. Ok so I understand 2 and 3 now.
    Just with q 1.

    So the way i understand it, is the speaker power handling capacity 150w, is how much will be sent to the speaker from the amp, so anything over 150 wont make much of a difference because only so much can be sent there anyway? Or would the units wattage be for all speakers combined..

    And if the units amp has a wattage under 150 than it will cause problems? Or have i got it reversed..

    • 

      _Bruce_ on 05/04/2012 - 12:10

      Depending on how good your amp is turning it up too high may result in clipping. Without clipping having high rated speakers is always safer - you can set and volume you like. If you do get clipping this can damage speakers even at a lower power rating that the speakers report. In either case you can damage a lower rated speaker by increasing the volume but the argument being made is that you are more likely to notice the issue and not increase the volume more in the case of over power rather than cliping. I'm not completely convinced, and have seen people push speakers far too hard too many times.

      • 

        ESEMCE on 10/04/2012 - 15:36

        ^Bruce
        Of course the method only works if you're:
        1) aware that the distortion is due to too much signal going to the speakers
        2) actually rectifying the situation and turn down the volume a bit.

        but it is better than the situation where you're melting your speaker coil because the amp is clipping!

        ^jumpo
        The wattage of the amp will most likely be the combined RMS (root mean square) wattage of all channels.
        Ignore any amp that advertises its wattage in PMPO (peak mean power output)! It was designed by a marketer, not an engineer!

        It doesn't really matter what speaker you hook up to an amp. You could hook up the tinny speaker from your Mum's 1970 kitchen radio and it'd work fine (albeit only at low volume).
        It's possible to break an under-rated speaker by turning up the volume too loud, but you'll hear when you're starting to overload the speaker well before you actually break it.

  • 

    StewBalls on 04/04/2012 - 18:51

    Those aren't BNC connectors on the back of that Sony Amp.. if anything, they're Banana plug sockets.

    Absolutely correct, sorry that's my bad…they are indeed technically Banana sockets. Thanks for the correction Scuba! :)

    Definitely +1 to all of those additions too, very sage advice!

  • 

    _Bruce_ on 05/04/2012 - 12:05

    The wieght advice is fairly flawed. Heavier means bigger heat sink, which doesn't mean a lot. Given equal heat sink design and other factors it means that the unit is capable of dissipating more heat, but even this doesn't mean much as a more efficient amp will produce more actual power output with less loss through the heat sink.

    • 

      StewBalls on 05/04/2012 - 13:18

      Sorry dude, but I must beg to differ! AFAIK, heat sinks are made out of aluminium; which I think you'll agree is a pretty lightweight metal. It's been quite a few years since they were making them from die-cast or cast iron! The lion's share of the additional weight actually comes from better quality windings & cores in the also larger transformers; as well as a few other bigger & better sundry components!

      Therefore, the old weight rule remains a pretty good rule of thumb for determining quality.

      • 

        _Bruce_ on 05/04/2012 - 13:33

        Fair point if the heat sink is aluminium, but this just creates more issues:
        1: You may be comparing amps which have different amounts of different material in the heat sinks, throwing out the statistic.
        2: Even if all amps were the same on heat sink, the windings on cores are (as you suggested) mostly on the power supply, which doesn't mean what is used to on a analogue amp, as the power supply is removed from the amplifier itself. Higher voltages are used on the power supply to minimise the size of widings while retaining/increasing power levels. See switch mode power supplies.
        I agree it may be a vague indicator, but I wouldn't take the measurement seriously.

      • 

        ESEMCE on 10/04/2012 - 15:40

        Barest minimum, the more weight, the more metal and the more metal, the less cost cutting has occurred to manufacture the unit!

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  IdLikeToBeATree on 05/04/2012 - 19:38

  Thanks for everyones info its been really helpful

  Im probably going to get this one on saturday
  http://www.jbhifi.com.au/jb-hi-fi-home-audio/receiver/pionee…

  Should it be fine with my speakers? It 'says' it has close to double the wattage of my old jvc so it should be able to go atleast the same volume?

  And also while im at it, my subs wont plug into that amp so i was considering just getting a new sub? Any recommendations under $200 would be great

  Thanks again everyone

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  dealfinder013 on 04/05/2012 - 20:35

  Is there any in-ceiling speaker equipped with pivoting tweeters ?