Do I need a power amp?

[TheMirage]

Building a house and made some room in the budget for audio. Current plans are:

Denon AVR-X4300H
SVS Ultra Tower Surround Package
2 - SVS PC-2000 Subs
4 - Klipsch In Ceiling for Atmos

Not trying to get talked down from going SVS but I hear they need power but what the receiver will do will suffice. They are 8ohm speakers with a 88db sensitivity (87db on surrounds).

I've been looking at power amps to run the main 5 speakers like the Outlaw 5000, Emotiva XPA Gen 3, and Monoprice Monolith. Let the Receiver run the height channels.

Denon says their amp is doing 125 W (8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 0.05% 2ch Drive). So I can only assume that number drops running all 9 channels.

Thoughts?

 

[lovinthehd]

Hard to know without information about what levels you want at what distance from the speakers....you can try an spl calculator for an idea http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html.

 

[TheMirage]

Between 80 to 200w I'm getting 102-106 dB SPL with what I'm getting. That's the range that site considers standard.

I guess that opens a second question. Is there anyway to calculate the 5 or 9 channel continuous power from the receiver based on what they provide for 2 ch?

Wow, jumps to 119dB with Kipsch towers but not what I want.

 

[everettT]

I highly doubt that surrounds or effects channels ever call for a demanding load. Focus on the front 3 in regards to max spl and what's needed for your requirements

Between 80 to 200w I'm getting 102-106 dB SPL with what I'm getting. That's the range that site considers standard.

I guess that opens a second question. Is there anyway to calculate the 5 or 9 channel continuous power from the receiver based on what they provide for 2 ch?

Wow, jumps to 119dB with Kipsch towers but not what I want.

 

[TheMirage]

Being a noob could I assume that power outage is balanced so the majority of the recovers power will go to the front 3?

I checked that site again saying the speakers are near a wall and it jumps to 106-110.

Sounds like I need to just use my ears. Listen to them receiver only and if I want more buy the amp.

I highly doubt that surrounds or effects channels ever call for a demanding load. Focus on the front 3 in regards to max spl and what's needed for your requirements

 

[Pogre]

Sounds like I need to just use my ears. Listen to them receiver only and if I want more buy the amp.

that's probably the most common advice given here.

for being a noob, you picked a pretty sweet setup. I suspect you're gonna love those speakers.

 

[lovinthehd]

Between 80 to 200w I'm getting 102-106 dB SPL with what I'm getting. That's the range that site considers standard.

I guess that opens a second question. Is there anyway to calculate the 5 or 9 channel continuous power from the receiver based on what they provide for 2 ch?

Wow, jumps to 119dB with Kipsch towers but not what I want.

83-85 dB average with peaks of 102-105dB (112-115 dB for the LFE channel) is a movie standard (and pretty dang loud)....what master volume control level after calibration do you consider loud? Doesn't really matter what the continuous power is for all channels since they're not all driven equally simultaneously with virtually any source content, plus surrounds tend to need far less power anyways. Best way to see what they are is with a bench test, maybe look at something similarly spec'd from Denon that has been bench tested.

Higher sensitivity speakers are a good thing, though since it takes a doubling of power to gain merely 3dB. Without seeing tests of your speakers who knows where they really max out either....

If you really think you need more amp power, like everett says, concentrate on the front 3.

 

[TheMirage]

Thanks for the great feedback. Sounds like I have a good baseline and some additional research I need to do.