Kef r300

[KenM10759]

Hmmm....been running it between -20 and -10, no signs of clipping nor excess heat. No extended periods of that, generally 20 to 40 minutes. The AVR-X4100W should provide a lot more headroom though.

 

[PENG]

Hmmm....been running it between -20 and -10, no signs of clipping nor excess heat. No extended periods of that, generally 20 to 40 minutes. The AVR-X4100W should provide a lot more headroom though.

Sound like the 1912 is quite capable then. Base on specs (125W vs 90W) the 4100 would give you just under 1.5 dB, not a lot. You need double the power to gain 3 dB of SPL. That's why if someone wants to add an external amp I would always recommend 200W as the starting point but obviously the more the better.

 

[KenM10759]

I'm still learning, of course, so I appreciate the information. Now looking at the owner's manual for the R series speakers, I see the R500 & R200C rated as 25 to 150 watts, and the R300 rated as 25 to 120 watts.

What are the advantages, disadvantages and cautions to the rating of the speakers as it relates to the output of a receiver or amplifier? Starting out with a 200W amp could I run the risk of blowing out a speaker if someone got a little overzealous with the volume control?

 

[PENG]

I'm still learning, of course, so I appreciate the information. Now looking at the owner's manual for the R series speakers, I see the R500 & R200C rated as 25 to 150 watts, and the R300 rated as 25 to 120 watts.

What are the advantages, disadvantages and cautions to the rating of the speakers as it relates to the output of a receiver or amplifier? Starting out with a 200W amp could I run the risk of blowing out a speaker if someone got a little overzealous with the volume control?

The 25 to 120W rated R300 can take much more during short duration peaks. Theoretically a 200W amp could blow the R300 and even the R500, but in practice the overzealous someone won't be able to withstand anything >90 dB SPL for too long in your room. He/she will therefore will be forced to turn it down before anything gets damaged.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

If you are sticking to 80% 2.1, why spend so much on a center speaker? Despite what the experts say I never find the center speaker that important. If I could go back in time I wouldn't have spent so much money just to get the so called timbre match one.

Imo center is one of most important parts for movie experience as pretty much all dialogues go through it and I like to have same sound quality for dialogues as for other front stage sounds. Surrounds are more tricky tho.. If main usage is 80% on 2.1 then I wouldn't concentrate on surrounds so much, but if you plan to do multi channel music listening then you may want to put some money towards surrounds as well. R300 will make really nice surround sound for sure, but if movies are only 20% of usage and you don't plan to listen multi channel music then R100 might do the job just as well.

And that rated 25-150 watts is recommended power for these speakers, so anything from that range will work as long as you can get to your listening level without melting the amp. And like said, they can take over 150 watts but going over 150 watts for long periods may cause damage to your speakers. From your amp you can usually limit the volume control to avoid feeding too much power to speakers. Before damage is done you should be able to hear a bad sound, and if you hear any kind of bad sound put volume down immediately and you should be safe. How ever if your room isn't huge and your hearing is anywhere close to normal your ears will most likely hurt before the speakers are damaged.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm still learning, of course, so I appreciate the information. Now looking at the owner's manual for the R series speakers, I see the R500 & R200C rated as 25 to 150 watts, and the R300 rated as 25 to 120 watts.

What are the advantages, disadvantages and cautions to the rating of the speakers as it relates to the output of a receiver or amplifier? Starting out with a 200W amp could I run the risk of blowing out a speaker if someone got a little overzealous with the volume control?

I think if the speaker engineers and drivers manufacturers give a recommended power rating of 25-150W, then it is appropriate and should be just fine if your AVR is 50-150W.

Too little power isn't good and neither is too much power. The key is having appropriate amount of power.

In the hands of sensible people, 200-300W won't blow your speakers either. So it's okay if you desire external amps. But you don't really need it.

My speakers are rated 100-500W, so I use 200-300W amps, not 1000W amps.

 

[KenM10759]

Thanks for all the input, fellow forum members. One thing I want to keep aware of that few people seem to consider is how much power draw everything has. Given that the receiver, television, cable box, and all other pieces in the mix are located together and plugged into the same wall circuit, I don't want to start a fire!

I should probably stick with my original plan and go with Denon AVR-X4100W, Yamaha or similar Marantz. The Denon is rated at 125W/ch @ 8Ω so being just about 31% more than the AVR-1912 it should be perfect. A little more "safe zone" headroom for when no one else is home and I'm cranking it, without being over the top.

And YES, I would be rendered deaf in a 13x19x8 room if I ran it anywhere near the top for very long. Getting R300 for rear surrounds just might be so good that my patience for watching movies increases and I start doing it more often.

 

[PENG]

Thanks for all the input, fellow forum members. One thing I want to keep aware of that few people seem to consider is how much power draw everything has. Given that the receiver, television, cable box, and all other pieces in the mix are located together and plugged into the same wall circuit, I don't want to start a fire!

I should probably stick with my original plan and go with Denon AVR-X4100W, Yamaha or similar Marantz. The Denon is rated at 125W/ch @ 8Ω so being just about 31% more than the AVR-1912 it should be perfect. A little more "safe zone" headroom for when no one else is home and I'm cranking it, without being over the top.

And YES, I would be rendered deaf in a 13x19x8 room if I ran it anywhere near the top for very long. Getting R300 for rear surrounds just might be so good that my patience for watching movies increases and I start doing it more often.

To calculate the draw you can add up the specified power consumptions of each components connected to that circuit. Keep in mind you may have up to 12 120V 15A receptacles on one 15A circuit, so you need to first identify which 15A circuit you are using and how many outlets are fed from it. If you can provide the power consumption figures of each components we can give you a more specific answer. Other than that I would say as long as your use one dedicated 15A circuit for your home theater equipment that include a large flat panel LCD TV, an AVR such as the X4100W, a couple of media players, SAT/Fibre/cable TV receiver etc. you should be fine.

Given that you seem okay with the little 1912, I tend to agree with your strategy to go with the X4100W. Why spend the money on an amp unless and until you are sure you need one?

Again, my two cents is that the R100 is more than adequate for the surround channels. I have a fair size collection of multi-channel SACD/DVDA and I never found the need to use anything larger than my Energy RC mini, though I have more than enough floor standing speakers sitting around not doing anything. I am not saying you don't need good quality speakers for those channels, but you don't need them to be any more bass capable than the R100s as long as you have subwoofer(s).

 

[PENG]

Imo center is one of most important parts for movie experience as pretty much all dialogues go through it and I like to have same sound quality for dialogues as for other front stage sounds. Surrounds are more tricky tho.. If main usage is 80% on 2.1 then I wouldn't concentrate on surrounds so much, but if you plan to do multi channel music listening then you may want to put some money towards surrounds as well. R300 will make really nice surround sound for sure, but if movies are only 20% of usage and you don't plan to listen multi channel music then R100 might do the job just as well.

I do listen to multi channel jazz and classical music and my reference is always live classical concerts, yet I find my small Energy speakers plus subs are more than adequate.

My comments on the center channel are based on one person sitting in the sweet spot, otherwise I agree the center channel is an important part. Sorry I should have been more specific on this point.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The Center is of no importance when I listen to music since I only listen to stereo music.

The Center is of no importance when I watch videos like Downton Abbey since it's only in stereo.

The Center is salient to me when I watch videos with DTS-HD MA 5.1.

 

[KenM10759]

FWIW, I do occasionally use 5.1 surround just listening to talk radio because it can be heard better for anywhere near that room.

 

[canelli]

What are the advantages, disadvantages and cautions to the rating of the speakers as it relates to the output of a receiver or amplifier?

I have driven the R300s with a Crown XLS 2000 (375 watts 8 ohm, 650 watts 4 ohm). After setting the proper gain, I had no issues nor did I damage the speakers. I "felt" there was a slight change in the presentation, but I ended up returning the amp. It was in a work out room and there is no such thing as sound quality while a treadmill is running.

 

[KenM10759]

So an update is that I've come around to selecting the R100 for the rear surrounds as I've currently got iQ10's there. After setting levels with Audessey and fine-tuning with a meter, I find the output is more than adequate and R300 would indeed be nothing more than a "look how much money I've needlessly spent."

As for the receiver update, I am coming around to an HDCP 2.2 compliant Marantz SR6010 as it's got plenty of power, all the "future proof" features available at this time, and is about $200 less (@ street prices) than the equivalent though slightly more powerful Denon AVR-X4200W.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

So an update is that I've come around to selecting the R100 for the rear surrounds as I've currently got iQ10's there. After setting levels with Audessey and fine-tuning with a meter, I find the output is more than adequate and R300 would indeed be nothing more than a "look how much money I've needlessly spent."

As for the receiver update, I am coming around to an HDCP 2.2 compliant Marantz SR6010 as it's got plenty of power, all the "future proof" features available at this time, and is about $200 less (@ street prices) than the equivalent though slightly more powerful Denon AVR-X4200W.

SR6010 indeed looks like a nice unit now as they have included XT32 on it. This was missing in earlier 6k models and that is reason why I moved to 7k model myself.