How to decide on a receiver

[rma123]

Hi: I am looking for a receiver to go with new speakers I purchased. Since the Max Amp Power for the front and the surround speakers is 175watts (center speaker is 200watts), should I be looking for receivers that have a power output per channel less than 175 watts or significantly less than 175 Watts?

Thanks
Ray

 

[mouettus]

power is nothing... the rest is everything...

read on the subject first. get some good information on the different brands and technologies and offerings and then decide what fits best with your speakers.

n.n. peak power is a term you should barely use here!

 

[Ryan8886]

Power ratings on receivers generally add up to comeplete bunk. You really DO have to do some research before you buy. I'm still learning all the in's and out's myself.
Couple things I have learned so far; and, again, this is a "beginners view", so if I get something wrong, gang, feel free to correct me (my feelings won't be hurt! ).
One good indicator to look for in a quality receiver is total harmonic distortion (THD). Generally, you want that number to be around .07%-.08%. Another number is RMS power output. Many low-end recievers advertise 1000 watts of power They do that by only rating at one frequency with one channel driven, instead of all 5 or 7 channels (think funnelling a garden hose through a drinking straw.....lot of water power there...just not very useful!). Look for something that rates it's power over a frequency range (usually 20Hz-20KHz) and see how many channels are being driven at that rating. You'll find that 55-75 watts per channel (i.e. 55x5=275 watts RMS)out of a quality receiver is usually more than enough for an average room.
Lastly, you will rarely melt your speakers by "over-powering" them. It's underpowering them at high volumes that can cause the damage. The speakers draw what power they need from the amp. At regular listening volumes that's often not more than a couple watts per channel. However, when you get to cranking and the speakers are trying to draw power that isn't there (for the various reasons listed above), your amp will start to clip (think car engine banging against it's rev limiter)...that's what will melt down your speakers.
Anyway....those are just some thoughts to start you on the path to learning this stuff. It's a fun hobby (and a little pricey sometimes ). Enjoy!

 

[markw]

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Power ratings on receivers generally add up to comeplete bunk. You really DO have to do some research before you buy. I'm still learning all the in's and out's myself.
Couple things I have learned so far; and, again, this is a "beginners view", so if I get something wrong, gang, feel free to correct me (my feelings won't be hurt! ).
One good indicator to look for in a quality receiver is total harmonic distortion (THD). Generally, you want that number to be around .07%-.08%. Another number is RMS power output. Many low-end recievers advertise 1000 watts of power They do that by only rating at one frequency with one channel driven, instead of all 5 or 7 channels (think funnelling a garden hose through a drinking straw.....lot of water power there...just not very useful!). Look for something that rates it's power over a frequency range (usually 20Hz-20KHz) and see how many channels are being driven at that rating. You'll find that 55-75 watts per channel (i.e. 55x5=275 watts RMS)out of a quality receiver is usually more than enough for an average room.
Lastly, you will rarely melt your speakers by "over-powering" them. It's underpowering them at high volumes that can cause the damage. The speakers draw what power they need from the amp. At regular listening volumes that's often not more than a couple watts per channel. However, when you get to cranking and the speakers are trying to draw power that isn't there (for the various reasons listed above), your amp will start to clip (think car engine banging against it's rev limiter)...that's what will melt down your speakers.
Anyway....those are just some thoughts to start you on the path to learning this stuff. It's a fun hobby (and a little pricey sometimes ). Enjoy!

I just highlighted what I consider the most important paragraph, which ties into wwhat I have to add.

Only one thing I have to add, and that's rule # 1 in audio, which is : "If it starts to sound bad, turn it down NOW. Something is complaining."

 

[rma123]

Where do I find the RMS value? For example this spec about Denon receiver doesn't mention that

http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3187.asp

Thanks
Ravi

Power ratings on receivers generally add up to comeplete bunk. You really DO have to do some research before you buy. I'm still learning all the in's and out's myself.
Couple things I have learned so far; and, again, this is a "beginners view", so if I get something wrong, gang, feel free to correct me (my feelings won't be hurt! ).
One good indicator to look for in a quality receiver is total harmonic distortion (THD). Generally, you want that number to be around .07%-.08%. Another number is RMS power output. Many low-end recievers advertise 1000 watts of power They do that by only rating at one frequency with one channel driven, instead of all 5 or 7 channels (think funnelling a garden hose through a drinking straw.....lot of water power there...just not very useful!). Look for something that rates it's power over a frequency range (usually 20Hz-20KHz) and see how many channels are being driven at that rating. You'll find that 55-75 watts per channel (i.e. 55x5=275 watts RMS)out of a quality receiver is usually more than enough for an average room.
Lastly, you will rarely melt your speakers by "over-powering" them. It's underpowering them at high volumes that can cause the damage. The speakers draw what power they need from the amp. At regular listening volumes that's often not more than a couple watts per channel. However, when you get to cranking and the speakers are trying to draw power that isn't there (for the various reasons listed above), your amp will start to clip (think car engine banging against it's rev limiter)...that's what will melt down your speakers.
Anyway....those are just some thoughts to start you on the path to learning this stuff. It's a fun hobby (and a little pricey sometimes ). Enjoy!

 

[MDS]

The per channel rating is the RMS rating and that Denon is rated 140 watts per channel.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Or you can go the easy route and just buy any mid-fi 300-600 buck Yammy, Denon or pioneer that has the features you need, never look at the specs, hook it up, turn it down if you hear something unusual and enjoy the dang thing.

 

[Ryan8886]

Or you can go the easy route and just buy any mid-fi 300-600 buck Yammy, Denon or pioneer that has the features you need, never look at the specs, hook it up, turn it down if you hear something unusual and enjoy the dang thing.

Also a good plan! Then you can learn at your leisure!

 

[mtrycrafts]

... Another number is RMS power output. Many low-end recievers advertise 1000 watts of power They do that by only rating at one frequency with one channel driven, instead of all 5 or 7 channels (think funnelling a garden hose through a drinking straw.....lot of water power there...just not very useful!).

I bet they rate that power by somehow adding all the channels together, not one ch, one freq as not even a top end receiver or most monoblocks will output 1000watts. and, certainly not measuring its all channel capability. But then, this site's home page has a paper explaining why that all channel rating is not very useful either. Best to use one or two channels at full frequency band and stated THD+N

Lastly, you will rarely melt your speakers by "over-powering" them.

Actually, tweeters do melt under too much power as many/ most consumer speakers use tweeters that can only take 20 watts at best.

 

[Nick250]

Or you can go the easy route and just buy any mid-fi 300-600 buck Yammy, Denon or pioneer that has the features you need, never look at the specs, hook it up, turn it down if you hear something unusual and enjoy the dang thing.

I with Greg on this. More expensive receivers will give you more features, but that's about it. The rated power differences between them is inaudible and they are all lying about it anyway.

Nick

 

[cfrizz]

Just make sure that whatever receiver you get has preamp outputs. That way if you decide that you DO want it to go louder without putting your speakers & receiver at risk you can add separate amplification.