Couple questions about Yamaha RX-A3060

[Hasan Alnajdi]

Hi everybody,
I am not only new to this forum but to a/v receivers world in general. I recently bought the RX-A3060 which is the best receiver I found in Kuwait (unfortunately we're way behind in this area). I also bought 11 speakers and 2 subwoofers. now I have a couple question regarding my setup:

1. I understand the RX-A3060 has a 150 watt per channel, my front supports that wattage, the center can handle up to 125 watts. However, all 8 surround speakers handle up to 100 watts only. Is that going to be a major issue?

2. Also the receiver is 9.2 only even though I can upgrade it to 11.2 with an external power amp.. what would you recommend for me to buy for the external one?

here is my complete setup:

RX-A3060 (av receiver)
Speakers are all polk audio
- Front TSx 330T
- Center TSx150C
- Rear/Front Presence/Back Presence/Surround all 8 are TSx 110B
- 2 Subwoofers PSW 125B

Note: My Room isn't that big its 7.0m x 4.5m and the entire home theater section is taking 4.5m x 4.5m. The rest is a place for my desk and computers.

 

[lovinthehd]

1. Speaker ratings are generally max input before they get damaged, not a useful metric in general for choosing an amp. More interesting would be the sensitivity of the speakers and the levels you listen at. Use an spl calculator to get a better idea of the relationship. Judicious use of the volume control is a good thing....if it sounds bad turn it down.

2. Hard to know what amps are available to you in Kuwait....

 

[Hasan Alnajdi]

lovinthehd
thanks for the reply it was pretty helpful... regarding question 2 (the amp) i can order it from abroad i just need to get an idea what kind of specs I am looking for

 

[lovinthehd]

lovinthehd
thanks for the reply it was pretty helpful... regarding question 2 (the amp) i can order it from abroad i just need to get an idea what kind of specs I am looking for

More about what speakers and which channels you'd use it for. Some would use a higher power amp for their mains but for surrounds something not so powerful.....which way are you leaning?

 

[Hasan Alnajdi]

More about what speakers and which channels you'd use it for. Some would use a higher power amp for their mains but for surrounds something not so powerful.....which way are you leaning?

just started to learn my friend .. I am totally new to this
so you say I don't need the extra two speakers.. because not all of them work only 9.. is that it?

 

[Hasan Alnajdi]

I only want the 11 speakers to work together.. sorry i read it learning instead of leaning .. the back surround are almost always off
so two of the surrounds i need to hook up with something that bring them alive

 

[PENG]

lovinthehd
thanks for the reply it was pretty helpful... regarding question 2 (the amp) i can order it from abroad i just need to get an idea what kind of specs I am looking for

For future proofing, I suggest either a 2 or 3 channel power amplifier rated 200w per channel into 8 ohms, 300W or more into 4 ohms with 29 dB or higher gain for the front channels.

 

[Hasan Alnajdi]

For future proofing, I suggest either a 2 or 3 channel power amplifier rated 200w per channel into 8 ohms, 300W or more into 4 ohms with 29 dB or higher gain for the front channels.

thats my answer.. thanks

 

[lovinthehd]

I only want the 11 speakers to work together.. sorry i read it learning instead of leaning .. the back surround are almost always off
so two of the surrounds i need to hook up with something that bring them alive

No worries on the learning in any case I use Crown XLS amps, the 1502 could serve either way and comes at a reasonable price; aesthetics aren't for everyone, though. Can you source a Behringer A500 amp? That's another cost effective amp that may be available to you.

Curious now that I looked at your speakers, why the top of the line avr with those speakers?

 

[Hasan Alnajdi]

No worries on the learning in any case I use Crown XLS amps, the 1502 could serve either way and comes at a reasonable price; aesthetics aren't for everyone, though. Can you source a Behringer A500 amp? That's another cost effective amp that may be available to you.

Curious now that I looked at your speakers, why the top of the line avr with those speakers?

A friend told me polk and another brand I can't spell are the best and thier price and size were reasonable.. as the performance i started to listen to small details very cleary.. waterfalls in the revenant and flying airplanes in band of brothers.. not to mention bullets.. i believe they are really good comparing to my old 5.1 all-in-abox system... my max volume is -12db that's the hiest i go.. anything louder is off my taste

You think they're bad speaker?

 

[lovinthehd]

A friend told me polk and another brand I can't spell are the best and thier price and size were reasonable.. as the performance i started to listen to small details very cleary.. waterfalls in the revenant and flying airplanes in band of brothers.. not to mention bullets.. i believe they are really good comparing to my old 5.1 all-in-abox system... my max volume is -12db that's the hiest i go.. anything louder is off my taste

You think they're bad speaker?

Polk has many different lines of speakers, yours are from an entry level line. Probably an improvement over HTIB (home theater in a box) speakers, but there are much better speakers out there. Polk's RTiA and LSiM lines get higher praise for example. I'm not particularly a fan of Polk speakers but never spent a lot of time with any either, but have heard some friends' and some in showrooms; their subs aren't something I'd buy. There's a best speaker brand thread here (and there are other threads on the subject as well) just to give you an idea of how many brands are highly considered out there and how differently everyone thinks about various brands/models. I do wonder what the other brand your friend mentioned was.....

Usually you spend as much as possible on speakers/subs and not so much on the avr/amp as that isn't as big an influence on overall sound quality (while having a top of the line receiver is a nice thing, but might be considered a bit of overkill compared to your speakers).

If you like the sound of your speakers don't worry about it, but let's just say you have much room for improvement with your speakers and subs in future upgrades (although it may go to local choices available to an extent).

Have fun!

 

[PENG]

I only want the 11 speakers to work together.. sorry i read it learning instead of leaning .. the back surround are almost always off
so two of the surrounds i need to hook up with something that bring them alive

If you want to know more about 9 and 11 channel so called immersive sound, the two articles linked below are good reads.

http://hometheaterhifi.com/q-a/11-2-receivers-explain-the-extra-channels/

https://www.lifewire.com/dts-neo-x-1846849

Your RX-A3060 has the latest DTS:X capability so you are good to go as soon as you get two more channels of amplification.

 

[Hasan Alnajdi]

Polk has many different lines of speakers, yours are from an entry level line. Probably an improvement over HTIB (home theater in a box) speakers, but there are much better speakers out there. Polk's RTiA and LSiM lines get higher praise for example. I'm not particularly a fan of Polk speakers but never spent a lot of time with any either, but have heard some friends' and some in showrooms; their subs aren't something I'd buy. There's a best speaker brand thread here (and there are other threads on the subject as well) just to give you an idea of how many brands are highly considered out there and how differently everyone thinks about various brands/models. I do wonder what the other brand your friend mentioned was.....

Usually you spend as much as possible on speakers/subs and not so much on the avr/amp as that isn't as big an influence on overall sound quality (while having a top of the line receiver is a nice thing, but might be considered a bit of overkill compared to your speakers).

If you like the sound of your speakers don't worry about it, but let's just say you have much room for improvement with your speakers and subs in future upgrades (although it may go to local choices available to an extent).

Have fun!

thanks for the tips.. maybe when i move to a larger room i'll consider changing the speakers and subs.. but for now i think i did ok for my first time

btw.. Klipsch is the brand i couldn't spell

 

[Hasan Alnajdi]

If you want to know more about 9 and 11 channel so called immersive sound, the two articles linked below are good reads.

http://hometheaterhifi.com/q-a/11-2-receivers-explain-the-extra-channels/

https://www.lifewire.com/dts-neo-x-1846849

Your RX-A3060 has the latest DTS:X capability so you are good to go as soon as you get two more channels of amplification.

thanks for the links buddy .. appreciate the help

 

[Hasan Alnajdi]

I have an other question guys .. the attached file is from the receiver's menu.. is it possible that (since this is the ideal layout which I am using) the receiver changes channels depending on the source automatically? or does it disconnects two speakers permenantly?

 

[lovinthehd]

Not sure what you're asking. Are you talking about now before you get your two additional amp channels and hook up all 11 speakers? Many avrs can allow hook up of additional speakers that are only active in certain sound modes, or remember a playback mode for a given source or source format....

 

[Hasan Alnajdi]

Not sure what you're asking. Are you talking about now before you get your two additional amp channels and hook up all 11 speakers? Many avrs can allow hook up of additional speakers that are only active in certain sound modes, or remember a playback mode for a given source or source format....

Can you elaborate more? i was referring to how the receiver handle all speakers without an additional amp based on the attached layout

 

[lovinthehd]

Can you elaborate more? i was referring to how the receiver handle all speakers without an additional amp based on the attached layout

It wouldn't be able to power all 11 speakers without the external amplification; with it's 9 on board amp channels you can use those (and sound mode/upmixer selected would probably dictate which ones). It may be able to run setup on all of them and choose among them by particular sound mode/upmixer use, you'll have to check your manual for details, I'm not that familiar with it.

For example I have an older Onkyo 7ch avr, but it allows for hookup and setup of up to 11ch but the sound mode will dictate which of the surround back, front height or front wide speakers can be utilized at any one time; that avr is limited to 7ch of processing at most, so even with additional amps you're limited to 7ch in the end. I also have a Denon similar to your Yamaha in that it supports 11ch of speaker processing but has only 9 on board channels of amplification; I need to add the external amp to use all 11. Hope that helps.

 

[Hasan Alnajdi]

It wouldn't be able to power all 11 speakers without the external amplification; with it's 9 on board amp channels you can use those (and sound mode/upmixer selected would probably dictate which ones). It may be able to run setup on all of them and choose among them by particular sound mode/upmixer use, you'll have to check your manual for details, I'm not that familiar with it.

For example I have an older Onkyo 7ch avr, but it allows for hookup and setup of up to 11ch but the sound mode will dictate which of the surround back, front height or front wide speakers can be utilized at any one time; that avr is limited to 7ch of processing at most, so even with additional amps you're limited to 7ch in the end. I also have a Denon similar to your Yamaha in that it supports 11ch of speakers but has only 9 on board channels of amplification; I need to add the external amp to use all 11. Hope that helps.

It does help very much .. thank you for this important informations

 

[PENG]

I have an other question guys .. the attached file is from the receiver's menu.. is it possible that (since this is the ideal layout which I am using) the receiver changes channels depending on the source automatically? or does it disconnects two speakers permenantly?

It changes with the source for up to 7 channels. For 9 and 11 channels, you have to use the DSP, such as selecting DTS:X so that the receiver will matrix the additional channels from the source that could be 2, 5.1 or 7.1. If in future there are discrete 9 or 11 channel source then the receiver would probably change accordingly. For the time being I doubt there are too many source material, whether it is Blu Ray or other formats that has more than 7.1 discrete channels. Again, it is better you read the articles I linked earlier for more detailed description.