One powerful AVR or AVR + amp

[Daesonn]

I just purchased a pair of KEF Q950 towers and a Q650c center. Im hoping I don't have to add a subwoofer and I have no room for rear speakers in this house. I may add the upward firing (surround) speakers and perhaps a powered sub if necessary in the future ( making it a 5.0/5.1 setup at most). The specs for these speakers are 8ohms and 91dB efficiency. Based on my research, I would need an AVR capable of up to 250 watts per channel to achieve the recommended THX sound rating of 115 decibels. The speakers themselves call for 15-200 watts (very vague). In your opinion, what type of AVR or AVR plus amp combo would you recommend to pair with my 4K OLED TV? I'm finding most options have too many channels and too little power.

Thank you.

 

[mazersteven]

Denon AVR-X3600H (2019 model)

9.2-channel home theater receiver with Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, Apple® AirPlay® 2, and Amazon Alexa compatibility

www.crutchfield.com

 

[Daesonn]

Denon AVR-X3600H (2019 model)

9.2-channel home theater receiver with Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, Apple® AirPlay® 2, and Amazon Alexa compatibility

www.crutchfield.com

Any explanation? Why 9 channels instead of 7? Is 105w per channel going to be enough or am I going to wish I had more power in certain situations? Cheers

 

[mazersteven]

Any explanation? Why 9 channels instead of 7? Is 105w per channel going to be enough or am I going to wish I had more power in certain situations? Cheers

It's one of the best AVR's on the market right now and it's price of $799 makes it an excellent valve. Yes you could purchase a 7 channel AVR for a few hundred less, but with the amp section stable to 4ohms, and Pre/Outs for external amps if needed, and Connectivity, Room Correction, its value is hard to pass up.
Unless your room is huge and listening levels are above reference levels consistently 105w is fine

 

[Leemix]

Reference is 85dB +20dB peak so 105dB. The sub is what can go to 115dB in the specification. Subs arent powered by the AVR and with speakers set to small and proper crossovers some of the load is taken up by the sub(s) so a little less work for the AVR.
No need to consider external amps until you have tried without.
Reference at home is bloody loud and a bad idea if you value your hearing. Almost nobody play at reference and since movies are rarely actually mixed to reference its pointless. Play at a volume thats comfortable to you and those listening.


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[KEW]

I just purchased a pair of KEF Q950 towers and a Q650c center. Im hoping I don't have to add a subwoofer and I have no room for rear speakers in this house. I may add the upward firing (surround) speakers and perhaps a powered sub if necessary in the future ( making it a 5.0/5.1 setup at most). The specs for these speakers are 8ohms and 91dB efficiency. Based on my research, I would need an AVR capable of up to 250 watts per channel to achieve the recommended THX sound rating of 115 decibels. The speakers themselves call for 15-200 watts (very vague). In your opinion, what type of AVR or AVR plus amp combo would you recommend to pair with my 4K OLED TV? I'm finding most options have too many channels and too little power.

Thank you.

I think we need a better idea of what units you are considering to give the best answer.
However, if you are actually talking an AVR with 250W per channel, you are talking a pretty expensive unit in the $2500 or greater price bracket (I'm guessing, never looked into high powered AVRs)!
The way I look at it is an AVR will become obsolete over time. If you have got to have the latest and greatest, that may be every 2 to 3 years, but I would guess 7 to 10 years is typical.
If you are spending big bucks for amplification, don't tie it to the rest of the AVR because a good amp can last 20+ years.
I agree that the Denon 3600 is a very good unit to buy. I would suggest that you try it by itself and suspect you will find it does a fine job with your KEF's by itself.
However, the 3600 is a great option whether you add external amps or not!

If you decide you need, or if you simply want to add external amps, I am of the philosophy that you might buy external amp for the front 3 and use the AVR to power you surrounds. Or if you are heavy into music (generally recorded in stereo and best played back in stereo), get a great stereo amp that might stay with you the rest of your life!
I think ATI probably makes some of the most reliable amps for long term ownership. There are some companies that offer a lifetime warranty, but you do pay for it, but that might be what you want if you have the budget for it.
I would also consider the Outlaw monoblocks for the front two (or 3) as an option.
With Black Friday around the corner, I would watch Outlaw's website to see if they run a special on the monoblocks or on their amps, some of which are made by ATI..

 

[lovinthehd]

I just purchased a pair of KEF Q950 towers and a Q650c center. Im hoping I don't have to add a subwoofer and I have no room for rear speakers in this house. I may add the upward firing (surround) speakers and perhaps a powered sub if necessary in the future ( making it a 5.0/5.1 setup at most). The specs for these speakers are 8ohms and 91dB efficiency. Based on my research, I would need an AVR capable of up to 250 watts per channel to achieve the recommended THX sound rating of 115 decibels. The speakers themselves call for 15-200 watts (very vague). In your opinion, what type of AVR or AVR plus amp combo would you recommend to pair with my 4K OLED TV? I'm finding most options have too many channels and too little power.

Thank you.

Did you use an spl calculator in your research, like this? You don't mention the distance you will be from the speakers, so hard to duplicate your calculation, but as someone else noted only the LFE channel has the 115dB peak spec vs the other channels spec of 105, so your power calculation is 10x too high basically. The speaker rating at the high end is more a warning limit rather than a useful limit in most cases, too. I'd start with a normally powered avr (around 100wpc) with a full set of pre-outs and then only buy a power amp if needed. Many don't need one. Reference level is a nice goal but in many rooms could be uncomfortably loud.....

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I assume your room is on the small side. With those speakers, I think any $500-1000 AVR will work just fine.

I wouldn't get those upward firing modules b/c I think they are a waste of time and money.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The speakers themselves call for 15-200 watts (very vague).

I don't think most people will ge able to stand THX levels unless they are deaf or want to be deaf in the future.

So your speakers will probably require about 1 watt of power most of the time.