Not sure if I should return my speakers

[DanH12]

I own a 5.0 setup of the Pioneer speakers designed by Andrew Jones. I have the sp-fs52s for the fronts, the sp-c22 center speaker and a pair of the sp-bs21s for the rears. I am happy with the way the speakers sound but I don't have a subwoofer and like to run my front floorstanders at full range. However, I have stopped doing that because my receiver gets to warm when I run the floor standers at full range. I have a Sony STR-DE 845 receiver rated at 100W per channel.

My receiver just doesn't seem powerful enough to run the sp-fs52 floorstanders at full range safely and I was thinking of possibly returning my 3 front pioneer speakers and replacing them with more efficient speakers rated at 8 ohms from a different brand such as klipsch. I would also get bookshelf speakers this time instead of floorstanders. If I did this, could I run efficient 8 ohm bookshelf speakers at full range without putting too much strain on my receiver?

My other option would be to buy a new receiver but I don't think that would make a difference because my current Sony receiver is already rated at 100W per channel and the manual says it can run 6 ohm speakers which is the impedance of the pioneer speakers.

 

[Bryceo]

Power amp for your front 3

 

[DanH12]

Ideally, that is what I would want but my receiver has no preamp outputs on it so I would have to get a new receiver with pre-amp outputs or a pre-amp and then buy a power amp. I do not have the money to do that.

 

[Bryceo]

Cheaper alternative purchase your self some cooling fans for the top of the unit

 

[templemaners]

The better question is... why don't you just buy a subwoofer?

 

[DanH12]

Because I don't have money for a subwoofer and I can just exchange the speakers I have for some different ones until I do have money for one.

 

[zieglj01]

My receiver just doesn't seem powerful enough to run the sp-fs52 floorstanders at full range safely and I was thinking of possibly returning my 3 front pioneer speakers and replacing them with more efficient speakers rated at 8 ohms from a different brand such as klipsch. I would also get bookshelf speakers this time instead of floorstanders. If I did this, could I run efficient 8 ohm bookshelf speakers at full range without putting too much strain on my receiver?

Buying a subwoofer, would be a good option.

You do not have a wimpy receiver - from HT Labs >
the STR-DE845's left channel, from CD input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1% distortion at 124.7 watts and 1%distortion at 142.2 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1% distortion at 155.6 watts and 1% distortion at 182.2 watts.

 

[Grador]

If you're looking at replacing them with bookshelves, then why not run them with a crossover to solve the heat issue. Bookshelves will lose a bit of bass extension.

A cooling fan is probably your best option here, also setting a very low crossover (starting as low as the receiver will allow, then working up until it causes to much extension loss) may also alleviate the problem.

I rather doubt replacing your speakers will help you much on this.

 

[hizzaah]

I agree with the cooling fan option.. These days most people have a spare USB port on one of their input devices do I often recommend Thermaltake USB fans. I use one for my receiver and one for the Xbox.

80mm
120mm

The 120mm is definitely quieter than the 80mm, but they've got a speed adjust knob so you can find a happy medium between noise/performance.

Is your receiver enclosed in a cabinet?

 

[shadyJ]

Those aren't the most demanding speakers, if you can not run them without problems with your receiver, I would say the problem is your receiver. More efficient speakers would help, but in the price range of the Pioneers, there just isn't much available except for some of Klipsch's lower end bookshelf speakers. If you really want to go easy on your receiver, look around for some used Klipsch Heritage speakers, like Heresys, Cornwalls, Chorus, etc. on ebay, craigslist, Klipsch's classifieds, and so on. They won't be as neutral as your Pioneers, but they will have a much greater dynamic range.

 

[DanH12]

The cooling fan could work. My receiver can run the Pioneer speakers fine with the crossover set to 90hz. It's just that the receiver starts to get really warm when it is trying to supply that additional power to the floorstanders for the lower frequencies when I run them full range. I think I will try the cooling fan and then get a subwoofer when I can afford one.

 

[Bryceo]

The cooling fan could work. My receiver can run the Pioneer speakers fine with the crossover set to 90hz. It's just that the receiver starts to get really warm when it is trying to supply that additional power to the floorstanders for the lower frequencies when I run them full range. I think I will try the cooling fan and then get a subwoofer when I can afford one.

Finally some sence is coming from the thread

 

[Bryceo]

Not being rude or anything just saying I pointed out cooling fans just befor mate

 

[markw]

Because I don't have money for a subwoofer and I can just exchange the speakers I have for some different ones until I do have money for one.

Smallish drivers require more power to produce the equivalent bass of larger speakers. Those Pioneers are fine, fine speakers but definitely fall into the smallish driver category, ergo the lower sensitivity rating.

Changing your speakers will drastically change the sound of your system. They make up about 98% of what you hear. IOW, you can get new speakers and they may, in fact, play "louder" for a similar volume level setting but there's no guarantee you'll like the sound.

If you like the smooth ride of your big car and want to get better mileage by getting a smaller car, expect to lose that fine ride you're used to.

 

[agarwalro]

I'm assuming you have the requisite space around the receiver for proper ventilation? (All this discussion is moot if you have a DVD player sitting right on it, or it is pushed onto a shelf with just an inch of room around it.)

You shouldn't have a problem if the receiver is not shutting down. That said, keeping the electronics cool increases life expectancy.

 

[agarwalro]

Plug one of these into the switched outlet on the receiver and have it pulling air away from the top (rather than blowing air into the receiver).

Sorry about the ginormus image, its Amazon's stock image,

 

[DanH12]

My receiver is sitting on an open table with space around it and nothing on top of it.

 

[zieglj01]

My receiver is sitting on an open table with space around it and nothing on top of it.

For some reason, people tend to have a lot of fear for receivers.
As stated before - more sensitive bookshelves do not guarantee
better overall sound quality. Some of them speakers can get harsh
at higher volumes. The Sony is rated to handle 8, 6, 4 ohm loads
I would be more concerned, if the speakers were 4 ohms.

More power tends to generate more heat. If you are really concerned,
then get a fan. > If you want different speakers, then exchange your
Pioneer speakers. >> It is not easy for Pioneer to beat-up my 90 watt
receiver.

The biggest difference you will find/experience, is when-ever you get a
decent subwoofer.

However as in all situations, you need to find the limit for the Pioneers,
and their tweeters.

 

[PENG]

Smallish drivers require more power to produce the equivalent bass of larger speakers. Those Pioneers are fine, fine speakers but definitely fall into the smallish driver category, ergo the lower sensitivity rating.

Changing your speakers will drastically change the sound of your system. They make up about 98% of what you hear. IOW, you can get new speakers and they may, in fact, play "louder" for a similar volume level setting but there's no guarantee you'll like the sound.

If you like the smooth ride of your big car and want to get better mileage by getting a smaller car, expect to lose that fine ride you're used to.

In that case those smallish drivers probably couldn't take much power anyway. So now we have a situation, they are hard to drive so need more powerful amp, but wait, they are smallish and likely couldn't take a lot of power to sound loud without getting compressed, clip and/or blow up, so what can we do. I would say the OP really should send them back and get something else, unless he can accept lower SPL than he would like to enjoy.

 

[markw]

In that case those smallish drivers probably couldn't take much power anyway. So now we have a situation, they are hard to drive so need more powerful amp, but wait, they are smallish and likely couldn't take a lot of power to sound loud without getting compressed, clip and/or blow up, so what can we do. I would say the OP really should send them back and get something else, unless he can accept lower SPL than he would like to enjoy.

Either that, or simply bite the bullet and get a subwoofer. They're made to work with one anyway, IMNSHO.

Pity... they are great sounding little speakers ...when used within their original design paramaters.