Will I melt my Yamaha R-S500?

[Gunn]

It has a minimum rms of 75w + 75w. It's hooked up to a couple of Yamaha NS-300X speakers. They are 6 ohms, and on the back of the speaker it says normal input 100 watts, and music input 200 watts.

The receiver and speaker sound great together, but the other night I had them going at almost full volume for a couple hour's and the receiver got really hot. I know they get pretty warm, but this seemed too warm. I'm just concerned I'll damage the receiver or the speakers. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

You should expect that if you run the amp hard for a couple of hours that it will get hotter than usual. How could you expect otherwise?

It’s not just the receiver you should be worried about. You run the risk of blowing your speakers by playing them for extended periods with a lower-powered amplifier that’s running at or near max.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[highfigh]

It has a minimum rms of 75w + 75w. It's hooked up to a couple of Yamaha NS-300X speakers. They are 6 ohms, and on the back of the speaker it says normal input 100 watts, and music input 200 watts.

The receiver and speaker sound great together, but the other night I had them going at almost full volume for a couple hour's and the receiver got really hot. I know they get pretty warm, but this seemed too warm. I'm just concerned I'll damage the receiver or the speakers. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

"Almost full volume"- do you drive your car with the pedal mashed to the floor? I doubt it. If you need to drive it that hard, you need more power. Not a little more, a lot more- a little more won't make any difference.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

As Wayne said, it's to be expected that the receiver will be warmer if you are driving more current through it (which is what you were doing at a higher volume).

Although I normally don't recommend changing the impedance switch on a receiver (based on what I've read here, in that it's just a current limiter), you can switch that from HIGH to LOW and see if that reduces temperatures. That switch is on the back panel of your receiver, and you should never change it while the unit is powered on. The owner's manual for your receiver recommends using the LOW setting for 6-ohm speakers.

"Almost full volume"- do you drive your car with the pedal mashed to the floor? I doubt it. If you need to drive it that hard, you need more power. Not a little more, a lot more- a little more won't make any difference.

Well, that depends on what "almost full volume" means. If I have my receiver at -10dB and it's plenty loud, I don't think that I need to get an external amp because 0dB is reference. So, granted, maybe the OP could benefit from more power, but it might just be semantics in the post.

 

[zumbo]

If you are running it that loud, I certainly would NOT run the switch on low. You are just going to cut the power. Opposite of what you want.

If the receiver is not cutting-off(protection mode), you are fine. However, I don't recommend running any system "almost full volume" for any period of time.

As far as the speakers being 6ohm, there is no problem. If the receiver happens to be set to LOW, switch it to HIGH. I wouldn't run the system any higher than a little past half-way.

 

[Gunn]

Thank's guy's! That's kind of what I figured. Any recommendations on what I should do? Should I get a different receiver, or an amp? If so, what kind? I don't really understand how to match up a receiver with these speakers.

I think I can get an external amp that would make the receiver a pre amp. Is that a good idea? like I said, I don't really understand any of this, so any info would be great.

 

[zumbo]

Thank's guy's! That's kind of what I figured. Any recommendations on what I should do? Should I get a different receiver, or an amp? If so, what kind? I don't really understand how to match up a receiver with these speakers.

More power will get you the output you are looking for.

Now comes features needed.

Do you need the unit to have a radio tuner, or any of the current high-tech connections?

Next is money.

How much are you willing to spend?

 

[Gunn]

More power will get you the output you are looking for.

Now comes features needed.

Do you need the unit to have a radio tuner, or any of the current high-tech connections?

Next is money.

How much are you willing to spend?

Don't need a tuner, or anything else. Just want it to sound good. I would like to spend as little as possible, but if necessary I would spend up to $1000. Don't care about surround sound either. Just want a good old fashion stereo receiver.

 

[zumbo]

Don't need a tuner, or anything else. Just want it to sound good. I would like to spend as little as possible, but if necessary I would spend up to $1000. Don't care about surround sound either. Just want a good old fashion stereo receiver.

Stereo receiver has a radio tuner.

Integrated amp does not.

An integrated amp will typically give you higher-quality components, and a bigger bang for the buck.

 

[zumbo]

Powerful stereo receiver:
RR2150 Stereo Receiver

 

[zumbo]

Awesome integrated amp. About $1499 retail, but a dealer may deal.

Integrated 225 - Welcome to the New Official Anthem® Audio Video Website.

 

[zumbo]

Cambridge Audio - 840AV2 - Integrated Amplifier-Audio Advisor

 

[zumbo]

You may find discounts for Crutchfield.
NAD C 375BEE Stereo integrated amplifier at Crutchfield.com

 

[zumbo]

Even though this unit states 90WPC, it is going to give you a good bit more available output than what you have.

Yamaha A-S1000 Stereo integrated amplifier at Crutchfield.com

 

[zumbo]

Order of my preference out of the units I found.

1)Anthem
2)NAD
3)Cambridge
4)Yamaha
5)Outlaw

That Anthem is just awesome!

 

[Adam]

To the OP - was it loud enough for you, and did it sound good to you? If so, you don't need to get any more gear. If it sounded strained or wasn't loud enough, then you should be looking into getting more amplification.

 

[zumbo]

To the OP - was it loud enough for you, and did it sound good to you? If so, you don't need to get any more gear. If it sounded strained or wasn't loud enough, then you should be looking into getting more amplification.

At this point, I want to sell some gear for that Anthem. What a beast!

 

[highfigh]

Well, that depends on what "almost full volume" means. If I have my receiver at -10dB and it's plenty loud, I don't think that I need to get an external amp because 0dB is reference. So, granted, maybe the OP could benefit from more power, but it might just be semantics in the post.

That's true- it may be loud but human hearing isn't sensitive to distortion unless it reaches high % and at high SPL, it's even harder to hear. This means, if the recording has a high average recorded level AND large dynamic peaks, the amplifier can clip badly and it will be inaudible. If the music has clean dynamic peaks of 30dB and the amp is running at -10dB, it has to produce a lot more power in order to reproduce that peak. 30dB means 1000x the average power output, which no receiver will do. Going from 75W to 90W will gain absolutely nothing, unless the amp's headroom is extremely high- unlikely.

It's not going to clip and sound like a distorted guitar- the good kind of distortion used for instruments is often considered good her, due to its being asymmetrical, often because one tube isn't biased exactly the same as the other or the amp is of the kind of design that doesn't have a bias setting, sometimes called 'self biasing' and one tube is a bit different from the other.

I would be interested in knowing the actual volume control setting- it could clear up some mis-conceptions.

 

[Gunn]

Order of my preference out of the units I found.

1)Anthem
2)NAD
3)Cambridge
4)Yamaha
5)Outlaw

That Anthem is just awesome!

Thanks for all the links! The Anthem look's really cool, but it's about $500 over my MAX price range. If I spend more than $1000, I fear my wife leave me and take the amp along with half my other stuff.

 

[Gunn]

To the OP - was it loud enough for you, and did it sound good to you? If so, you don't need to get any more gear. If it sounded strained or wasn't loud enough, then you should be looking into getting more amplification.

It sounded really good, and loud. I don't always turn it up that loud, but I don't want to risk frying the thing when I do.