I'm a shmuck

[darien87]

Hey all,

I've had an Acurus 200x3 powering my fronts and center for about 6 months now and I really like it. However, I recently discovered that this amp has no speaker protection built in. So I decided to try and find another amp to replace it.

Well, I just won a Rotel RMB-1075 on eBay for $670. (I think I over paid). My dillema is that I misread the ad. I thought it was a 200 watt per channel amp, but it turns out that it's only 120 watts per channel.

Will I hear much of a difference between a 200 watt amp and a 120 watt amp?

Now that I think about it, I should have just spent another $100 an gotten one of those new 5-channel Emotiva amps.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Were you driving the acurus into clipping? If not, why does speaker protection matter?

 

[darien87]

TLS guy has me all paranoid that without DC protection, it's just a matter of time until my speakers explode.

 

[EJ1]

You could just resell it. They are selling on AudiogoN for $650-700.

 

[tomd51]

I think what you were looking for was the 1095, which is typically in the $1,100+ price range.


You will likely not have as much headroom with the 1075, though there shouldn't be a substantial difference between the Acurus and the Rotel. I honestly wouldn't worry too much about the speaker protection you mentioned unless you're driving your mains above 100dB+ for extended periods, which would be more damaging to your hearing than your speakers.

You may want to give it a test drive, then if you're not happy w/it, sell it on A-goN as you'll likely get closer to it's real value and not get soaked by eBay, then get in line for one of the XPA-5s you mentioned from Emotiva... -TD

 

[chadnliz]

Your not a Shmuck for misreading an ad, but you kinda are one for listening to whoever told you that your on borrowed time.......that is false, false, false.

 

[darien87]

Well, I just ended up telling the seller that I misread his ad and didn't want the amp. He wasn't happy, but oh well. It was an honest mistake. He shouldn't have any trouble selling it to the next highest bidder.

 

[j_garcia]

Even if you took it, I still think the Rotel would have been more than enough power for you. Your room isn't that large. My monos provide 180W into 4 Ohms for my mains and it is more than enough for my large room. I tried them with a massive 2ch amp that was 200x2 and it did make a small difference, though the main place it was noticeable was in headroom.

 

[davidtwotrees]

I jumped on the Acurus panic bandwagon too. I had one A250 running each of my fronts-vertically biamped. I sold them both and really, I would be hard pressed to say there is a difference in my rig running the fronts off my 5x125w amp.
I believe TLS guy's logic was that a capacitor in an older amp could dry up and that is when you would need speaker protection circutry which is missing in the Acurus offerings. I wonder if the Aragon line was devoid of this as well?

Ps. The $$$ from the amps funded a Canton Karat center channel and an SVS passive cylinder sub.........so thanks, TLSGuy.

 

[3db]

TLS guy has me all paranoid that without DC protection, it's just a matter of time until my speakers explode.

If the amp shorts out, the speakers will not be damaged by that event. The only time you may need speaker protection is if you over drive the amp and it clips the signal. Thats where all the damage is.

As far as 120 vs 200 watts go, unless you are driving inefficient speakers in a huge room, you won't hear the difference

 

[darien87]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I ended up using the "Buy it now" on an Emotiva LPA-1. It was $400, only $100 less than a new one, but with all the rave reviews you guys give Emotiva stuff, it should work out fine I think.

If not, I can always sell the Emotiva and get something else.

I also ended up scoring a new Onkyo 150 watt 2 channel amp last week, for $150. So when I get around to doing 7.2, I'll use that for the other 2 speakers.

 

[Seth=L]

The VR2s are very efficient speakers (not to mention great sounding) and you wouldn't have to use much beyond 60 solid rms watts to make them destroy your ears. IMO, you wouldn't have noticed a difference unless you wanted to. Your amplifier is fine, don't worry too much about what TLS guy has said. One thing you should do however is make sure the fronts aren't receiving a full range signal. If you have the Yamaha's x-over set around 60-80 with the fronts set to small that will keep those lower frequencies out of your amplifier and speakers. Those frequencies are cause for concern with amplifiers without protection circuitry because you usually can't see or hear what's happening until it's done.

 

[darien87]

I've got my crossover point set at 60.

If nothing else, If I sell the Acurus, I can have the piece of mind of having a newer amp in the Emotiva.

 

[Audioholics]

TLS guy has me all paranoid that without DC protection, it's just a matter of time until my speakers explode.

ROFL - that is CLASSIC!

 

[darien87]

ROFL - that is CLASSIC!

Glad you liked it. Can I have a chicklet?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If nothing else, If I sell the Acurus, I can have the piece of mind of having a newer amp in the Emotiva.

Join the club, brother. You, Davidtwotrees, and me.

TLS Guy sure has a great deal of influence on us, doesn't he?

 

[Davemcc]

TLS Guy sure has a great deal of influence on us, doesn't he?

You guys are his new hobby since his recent retirement.

 

[Seth=L]

TLS guy don't scare me.

 

[darien87]

Join the club, brother. You, Davidtwotrees, and me.

TLS Guy sure has a great deal of influence on us, doesn't he?

Can't you just picture him, sitting in his headquarters, like Dr. Evil, "Hhhmmmm... who can I get to spend some money today??"

 

[EJD]

Darien-

Maybe I missed it, but did you ever get your Acurus fixed? What turned out to be the problem?