Will my reciever power my speakers?

[mr_natural78]

I am a total newb at home audio/visual stuff. I've owner a couple of cheap surround sound set ups that are all in one box units. I recently bought a cheap receiver when my former cheap unit crapped out. I now have a Sony str-dh540 receiver and I'm using the crappy speakers that came with the all in one box unit. I just bought a set of Polk Audio Rt35i speakers for my fronts and a Polk Audio cs245i for a center. I got these very cheap and figured they would work fine since the box the receiver came in said 140x5 channels. After doing a little reading I am learning that this receiver isn't actually going to put out 140w per channel. According to the polk audio website the front rt35i speakers have power handling capability of 20-125w and nominal impedance is 8ohms. The polk audio website says that the center cs245i has power handling of 10-180w and nominal impedance of 8ohms. I was planning on getting a smaller set of polk audio speakers like the rt15i or rt25i for my rear speakers. Will this receiver power these speakers ok? I am pretty confused about this stuff.

 

[markw]

You should be fine.

 

[mr_natural78]

Would this receiver power the polk rt55i in the front and the rt35i in the rear with the same center or is that pushing it? From the polk website the rt55i is rated for 20-200w.

 

[markw]

Yes. Speaker power ratings are virtually useless.

They will play stupid loud quite safely as long as you use your head. That's to say that if they start sounding fuzzy, turn them down. The amp and speakers do have limits but by then they'll be very loud. That's where the "using your head" part comes into play.

 

[mr_natural78]

Awesome. I have no need to play music or movies stupidly loud. I just want something a little better than what I previously had. I wish I would have done a little more research before buying the sony receiver. I could have gotten something much better for not a lot more money. The one I have doesn't have any pre amp outputs on the back and had I done my research first I would've gotten something that did so it would allow some room to grow. My previous receiver crapped out and I went out to best buy and just bought one with out looking into it first. My wife is a stay at home mom and I just didn't her to be stuck at home with the little one and have no intertainment while I was at work.

 

[PENG]

Awesome. I have no need to play music or movies stupidly loud. I just want something a little better than what I previously had. I wish I would have done a little more research before buying the sony receiver. I could have gotten something much better for not a lot more money. The one I have doesn't have any pre amp outputs on the back and had I done my research first I would've gotten something that did so it would allow some room to grow. My previous receiver crapped out and I went out to best buy and just bought one with out looking into it first. My wife is a stay at home mom and I just didn't her to be stuck at home with the little one and have no intertainment while I was at work.

Seems to me your Sony should do fine with those Polk speakers because you don't play them stupidly loud. No need to feel bad about not having preouts because at that price range ($200 to $250) even if they come with preouts you likely will not feel good about matching them with a high quality separate power amp anyway.