Speaker Upgrade Question

[Zildjianmeister]

Hello,

Back with another question as you were all so helpful in my first posting.

For the short term anyway I've decided to continue to use my old-school Yamaha rxv992. However, I'm thinking I may like to upgrade the speakers first. Currently I have the Infinity Primus 360 towers with the C25 center and a sub.

The speakers that peak my interest are the Monitor Audio Silver 300s. I've listened to the Silver 8's and some of their other products. My question is whether my receiver is capable of driving them sufficiently or should I say without under driving them. It has 80 watts per channel (before the 2 channel driven spec that came to be years later). I believe it's all channels.
My question: are the recommended power suggestions by speaker manufacturers more marketing than actual fact? I always thought the ohms and sensitivity were the most important. These MAs are rated 90db sensitivity compared to my Infinity's which are rated 93. From that standpoint it seems like it should be fine. I don't play to reference levels and my area is not an extremely large room. Monitor audio recommends 80-200 watts to drive them.

I'm sure my local vendor would allow me to test with my current avr if I asked.

Thanks!
Z

 

[Mikado463]

Did you get a chance to listen to the 300's ? if not take a look at the video ...........

I believe one of the audio mags recently gave them a favorable review, for what that's worth.

As for amplification, give your Yammie a try and let your ears decide, I wouldn't doubt though that a better amp would be in order.

 

[lovinthehd]

Speaker manufacturers are all over the place with wattage recommendations, using sensitivity and impedance and your distance from speakers and levels you listen at are more to the point. AVRs may have issues with lower impedance loads at higher levels. Whether the amp you have now is sufficient for your needs is more for you to determine; I'd try with the Yamaha and if you feel it's lacking then consider an external amp if your avr allows or then consider other gear as needed.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

based on objective measurements here: https://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-silver-300-loudspeaker-measurements, I don't expect you'd have any issues running these speakers very loud in regular sided rooms (to be clear unless you are living in a warehouse or huge loft) you would be fine power wise with older yammi avr you have now.
Speakers wise, I think Monitor Audio can produce very good speakers, but the question is are they good value? Are you in states? If not, what other available brands available to you?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Although the recommended power rating isn’t carved in Stone, I think it’s still a good recommendation.

And it also depends on the company. When the published specs are close to the actual measurements, I tend to trust the company’s recommendation more.

 

[PENG]

My question is whether my receiver is capable of driving them sufficiently or should I say without under driving them. It has 80 watts per channel (before the 2 channel driven spec that came to be years later). I believe it's all channels.
My question: are the recommended power suggestions by speaker manufacturers more marketing than actual fact? I always thought the ohms and sensitivity were the most important. These MAs are rated 90db sensitivity compared to my Infinity's which are rated 93. From that standpoint it seems like it should be fine. I don't play to reference levels and my area is not an extremely large room. Monitor audio recommends 80-200 watts to drive them.

I'm sure my local vendor would allow me to test with my current avr if I asked.

Thanks!
Z

Thank you for providing a lot of information please provide also the distance. Without that, I quickly plugged in the numbers into an online calculator and after some trial and error, found that if you sit within 8 feet from those speakers, you could actually hit reference level (85 dB plus 20 dB peak) with that 80 WX2 Yamaha. That means if you are fine with 75 dB average 95 dB peak like I am, then you should be well served by that old Yamaha assuming it is in good condition. In using that calculator, I used 85 dB/1W/1m to allow for the minimum impedance of about 3.5 ohm in the mid bass region where the suwoofer cannot help alleviate.

A couple years ago I set up a 5.1 system in a large room using the Monitor 8 series for my b-i-l and was pleasantly surprise to find that the SR7009 AVR could do the job easily without any external amplifiers that I anticipated in the beginning. It was sitting on the top of an open shelf so I didn't even bother installing an external fan either.

The MA S300 should be easier to drive than the MA S8, but to be on the safe side, please do set your XO at 80 to 90 Hz and install at least one of those quiet AC Infinity fan on top.

 

[Zildjianmeister]

Thank you all for your response and info!

@BoredSysAdmin....I'm located in the states. I've listened to several brands (b&w, revel, martin Logan, etc). My ears like the Monitor Audio equivalents. Although I really liked Revel I don't want glossy speakers.

I'd say the listening distance is about 8 ft. The Room is approx 21 ft wide and 14 feet deep. I don't anticipate any issues with ohms as my my current speakers were actually measured at 4ohms here at Audioholics. I've never had any issues. Avr not hot at all. Maybe that means I don't really listen at high enough levels.

Yes. A crossover is used with sub when I'm watching movies.

I think the next step is bring my avr down to the audio shop and test with those speakers.

Thanks!!

 

[Mikado463]

as a Revel owner (Studio 2's) not all of their speakers have a glossy finish. The 208's can be had without and one superb speaker I might add !

 

[lovinthehd]

It would be better if they would let you take speakers home for an even more useful test...

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Thank you all for your response and info!

@BoredSysAdmin....I'm located in the states. I've listened to several brands (b&w, revel, martin Logan, etc). My ears like the Monitor Audio equivalents. Although I really liked Revel I don't want glossy speakers.

I'd say the listening distance is about 8 ft. The Room is approx 21 ft wide and 14 feet deep. I don't anticipate any issues with ohms as my my current speakers were actually measured at 4ohms here at Audioholics. I've never had any issues. Avr not hot at all. Maybe that means I don't really listen at high enough levels.

Yes. A crossover is used with sub when I'm watching movies.

I think the next step is bring my avr down to the audio shop and test with those speakers.

Thanks!!

I'd like you to learn about few more speakers in your budget which I would like to recommend to you:
http://philharmonicaudio.com/BMR Philharmonitor.html
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/SRT/srt.html
http://www.salksound.com/model.php?model=SongTower

Philharmonic Audio is owned and ran by a single guy Dennis Murphy, who's very experienced speaker designer and barely making anything on speakers he sells. It's worth mentioning that he is behind design of most Salk Audio speakers and one other thing is I personally consider Salk SS8 the best speakers I ever heard at any price point (including up to $150k)

 

[Zildjianmeister]

Thank you all!

I reached out to Kal Rubinson over at AVS as he had recently reviewed the MA 300s but he was using power amps.

Yes, agreed. Best bet is for me to try the speakers (any brand) in my home.

Z

 

[KenM10759]

Where in the US are you located (general area, not street address)? I have a couple dealers near me with various brands that WANT you to take speakers home to try them!

 

[Zildjianmeister]

KenM10759,

I'm in the NJ area.

Z

 

[KenM10759]

There's a "dealer finder" function on most manufacturer's websites, certainly KEF (in Marlboro NJ) has one as I've used it. Worth looking around, as you've probably got more actual dealers within an hour or two than most people.

 

[Zildjianmeister]

Thanks KenM10759

I've found a few. There's also a few on-line dealerships that have the large return window I'm sure I could utilize if need be.


Z

 

[Pogre]

I'd like you to learn about few more speakers in your budget which I would like to recommend to you:
http://philharmonicaudio.com/BMR Philharmonitor.html
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/SRT/srt.html
http://www.salksound.com/model.php?model=SongTower

Philharmonic Audio is owned and ran by a single guy Dennis Murphy, who's very experienced speaker designer and barely making anything on speakers he sells. It's worth mentioning that he is behind design of most Salk Audio speakers and one other thing is I personally consider Salk SS8 the best speakers I ever heard at any price point (including up to $150k)

I would like to add the SVS Ultra line to the mix. Mine are gloss black, but they do sell them with oak veneers as well and I'm loving them. The first set of speakers I've bought that I didn't want to upgrade after a couple of weeks listening to them.

I got all of mine through their outlet. Look at the pics included. I bought 2 bookshelf speakers that I can't find a mark on unless you get very close with a bright light (on one of them).

*Edit: There aren't any Ultras in the outlet currently, but they pop up fairly often.

 

[Zildjianmeister]

Thanks Pogre,

I do like the Ultra Bookshelves. If I move my movie/music area to a different location in the house then they are high on the list.

Z