I need an receiver?

[animal_chin]

Hello. I am super new to home audio and I think I need a receiver (or is it just an amplifier?). I have a pair of Oz Audio 180cs Matrix Elite speakers (150w 4ohm). These speakers were originally in my car as they were meant to be car speakers. I am in college now and I don't need a car and it is broken anyways I was wondering if I could use these as computer speakers for my laptop? Is this even practical? I figure I have these speakers anyways so why not try and use them. I do have a 1080p screen so Blu-ray may be in the future if that makes a difference, but this Blu-ray may also be through my computer. I would use the speakers mostly for listening to music (mostly classic rock). I do not have subwoofer right now, but I might get one in the future. These speakers are 4 ohms and 150w per channel so what receiver would you recommend? I have tried to find receivers, but most are not enough watts or too many channels or for 8 ohm speakers. I am looking for something that is pretty cheap (hopefully around $200ish, but that is not set in stone). Thanks.

 

[mike c]

hmmm, i would think that it would be counter-productive to build your system around these car speakers. kinda like throwing more money on a "mistake".

consider these:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHMS40
http://www.zzounds.com/item--KRKRP5G2
http://www.zzounds.com/item--KRKRP6G2
(these are powered speakers)

then add a subwoofer in the future with a highpass crossover (highpass is not necessary if your sound card has bass management i.e. 2.1 outputs)

 

[Seth=L]

I agree with Mike on this one. Car speakers are designed for cars, let it stay in the car. The exception to that rule are some car subwoofers (but not all) that can be used in home subwoofer build projects.

 

[Halon451]

You're undermining yourself anyway, by the fact that your car speakers are rated for 4 ohms, you will be forced to find a receiver capable of driving them properly, which will add many $$ to what you would spend otherwise for a low to mid-level receiver. I wouldn't recommend this setup at all - I'd get a decent pair of bookshelves, and find a receiver that will do what you want it to do, functionality-wise.

 

[animal_chin]

You're undermining yourself anyway, by the fact that your car speakers are rated for 4 ohms, you will be forced to find a receiver capable of driving them properly, which will add many $$ to what you would spend otherwise for a low to mid-level receiver. I wouldn't recommend this setup at all - I'd get a decent pair of bookshelves, and find a receiver that will do what you want it to do, functionality-wise.

From my tiny bit of research I've found that most 2 channel receivers are 4 ohm stable, but that is beside the point (which everyone is missing btw). I need a receiver for my set of Oz Audio 180cs speakers (they msrp for $700ish so they can't be too bad). If they do sound bad I'll get some better speakers, but I will need a receiver anyways so, omg, lets get one now. So I am thinking about getting the Onkyo tx-8555. How does this look? Also, if I do get better speakers in the future will it be able to power them nicely? I ask this because most of the speakers I see on Madisound (I live like 20min away from here so this is probably where I will be getting a pair of speakers if I do buy another pair) are like 200w+. I'm just wondering if nobody fully powers their speakers or what because the highest wattage two channel receiver I can find is 120w per channel.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Most of us use ext. amps of ~200watts/ch. Do we need them...probably not...do we want them....hell yes....

I'm just wondering if nobody fully powers their speakers or what because the highest wattage two channel receiver I can find is 120w per channel.

 

[PENG]

From my tiny bit of research I've found that most 2 channel receivers are 4 ohm stable, but that is beside the point (which everyone is missing btw). I need a receiver for my set of Oz Audio 180cs speakers (they msrp for $700ish so they can't be too bad). If they do sound bad I'll get some better speakers, but I will need a receiver anyways so, omg, lets get one now. So I am thinking about getting the Onkyo tx-8555. How does this look? Also, if I do get better speakers in the future will it be able to power them nicely? I ask this because most of the speakers I see on Madisound (I live like 20min away from here so this is probably where I will be getting a pair of speakers if I do buy another pair) are like 200w+. I'm just wondering if nobody fully powers their speakers or what because the highest wattage two channel receiver I can find is 120w per channel.

I think for a little more money ($305) the HK 3490 will do a better job with those 4 ohms speakers. By the way, no one said your speakers are bad but car speakers are designed for cars so they may not perform as well for home use.

 

[animal_chin]

I think for a little more money ($305) the HK 3490 will do a better job with those 4 ohms speakers. By the way, no one said your speakers are bad but car speakers are designed for cars so they may not perform as well for home use.

This is a good point. Something I also noticed is that the HK has a digital input and the Onkyo doesn't. This might come in handy if I ever get a PS3 or something.