Help Determining if my A/V Receiver is Underpowered

[thetrutru]

Hello,



I’m somewhat new to the home theater world. About a year ago I got the Pioneer Andrew Jones speaker package along with an Onkyo receiver. A few months ago, I added some Polk overheads to complete my 5.2.2 setup. Lately, I’ve been noticing some crackling/distortion when watching movies. After doing some research, I’m starting to worry that my receiver may be under-powering my speakers. I’ve been trying to figure out how to calculate my power needs, but am getting confused by all the various terms (2 channels driven vs all channels, 6ohms vs 8, etc). My setup is as follows:



Front: Pioneer SP-FS52 130W 6ohm

Center: Pioneer SP-C22 90W 6ohm

Rear: Pioneer SP-BS22 80W 6ohm

Overhead: Polk OWM-3 100W 8ohm



Receiver: Onkyo NR-585 80W/channel 6-8ohms 2 channels driven



What is the easiest way for me to calculate if I’m under-powering my speakers?

 

[PENG]

Hello,



I’m somewhat new to the home theater world. About a year ago I got the Pioneer Andrew Jones speaker package along with an Onkyo receiver. A few months ago, I added some Polk overheads to complete my 5.2.2 setup. Lately, I’ve been noticing some crackling/distortion when watching movies. After doing some research, I’m starting to worry that my receiver may be under-powering my speakers. I’ve been trying to figure out how to calculate my power needs, but am getting confused by all the various terms (2 channels driven vs all channels, 6ohms vs 8, etc). My setup is as follows:



Front: Pioneer SP-FS52 130W 6ohm

Center: Pioneer SP-C22 90W 6ohm

Rear: Pioneer SP-BS22 80W 6ohm

Overhead: Polk OWM-3 100W 8ohm



Receiver: Onkyo NR-585 80W/channel 6-8ohms 2 channels driven



What is the easiest way for me to calculate if I’m under-powering my speakers?

Peak SPL Calculator

or

Crown Audio - Professional Power Amplifiers | English (US)

www.crownaudio.com

 

[mazersteven]

What you Need is new Speakers. JMO

 

[TLS Guy]

What you Need is new Speakers. JMO

It is hard to know what is going on. However I note there is no sub. Those are inexpensive speakers and so it is more likely he has over driven them than under driven them and has damaged his speakers. The biggest single difference in the cost of speakers is how robust the motor system is. How much power a manufacturer says a speaker will take is meaningless. The cost of the speaker is the best guide.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

Here are some basic steps to troubleshoot this.
1. Check all your speakers to see if the crackling/distortion is coming from all of them or only one speaker. Does it only occur at high volume or all volumes?

If all speakers have crackling/distortion then...
2. Try disconnecting all your speakers except L&R mains. Now see if you can replicate the crackling/distortion.

If L/R alone have crackling/distortion then...
3. Make sure the crackling/distortion occurs with multiple sources and content. Is it consistent across various CD's, BluRays, USB drive with music files?

If the crackling/distortion comes from all sources...
4. Try using an external amp. Does the issue still exist?

If the crackling/distortion still exists...
5. Try another preamp or receiver.

This process of elimination will narrow down the source.

 

[thetrutru]

It is hard to know what is going on. However I note there is no sub. Those are inexpensive speakers and so it is more likely he has over driven them than under driven them and has damaged his speakers. The biggest single difference in the cost of speakers is how robust the motor system is. How much power a manufacturer says a speaker will take is meaningless. The cost of the speaker is the best guide.

Apologies, I do have a sub as well. It’s the Andrew Jones Pioneer Sub that comes with the speakers. I’ve set the crossover for all the speakers so that all the bass comes from the sub. That seemed to help, but I still notice the cracking - particularly during explosions/fire scenes

 

[TLS Guy]

Apologies, I do have a sub as well. It’s the Andrew Jones Pioneer Sub that comes with the speakers. I’ve set the crossover for all the speakers so that all the bass comes from the sub. That seemed to help, but I still notice the cracking - particularly during explosions/fire scenes

Do the checks advised above and see if you can isolate it better. To me though the symptoms sound highly suggestive of the early stages of cone voice coil separation.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

Do the checks advised above and see if you can isolate it better. To me though the symptoms sound highly suggestive of the early stages of cone voice coil separation.

Yes - that's why I think he should test each speaker. I was watching Aquaman and my VMPS TallBoy dual sub had this guttural roar going on. I thought it was the DVD but when I took the bottom of the cabinet off to examine the Passive Radiator near the port - the cone had separated from the surround. Each time the sub would get a big burst of low frequencies the cone would roar.

Cleaning the frame and gluing a new rubber surround to the cone fixed it... but some days I miss the guttural roar..

 

[Gmoney]

If you keep blowing tweeters maybe. Listening to loud or not Good Quality driver.
On just about any lowend AVR not all but most and even some mid-level AVR's can run out of power fast at Referenced Levels above reference levels. The soundstage will start to collapse, but so will a speaker that's not of good Quality also. Speakers that have a low sensitivity rating can tax out a Budget AVR quickly.