Looking for the right stuff

[Cmon69]

<font color='#000000'>I am looking for a new receiver to replace my old 500w, 5 channel, 100 Watts Per Channel, “Yamaha HTR 5450”. I bought it a little over two years ago, and recently I cranked it up two loud, and it went into protection mode and never came out of it. This wasn’t the first time it had gone into protection mode, but it had in the past come out of it fine. Another problem that I had with my Yamaha, was that it ran extremely hot when I had it cranked up for more than a half an hour or more. My first mistake was probley that I bought the unit from best buy “$300.” And the second was not having a fan to keep it cool. My question is, is there a receiver that I can get that wont burn out on me with frequent, extended periods of  cranked up use. I really liked the sound quality that the Yamaha provided but am scared of  buying another one.


P.S.     I want my next Home Theater System Receiver to be able to be cranked up even loader than my old Yamaha, before I can detect distortion in the sound, and be able to maintain a high volume for a much longer time, and stay relatively cool while doing it. I would like to stay under $800. if at all possible.

14’ wide x 21’ long Living Room, with my couch located at about 14’ from the center speaker and 7’ from the rear speakers.

2 Front floor speakers =  Cerwin-Vega V-12F … 8 ohms or less … 28 Hz - 20 kHz … 10 - 300W … 98 dB … Self-Resetting PTC (Tweeter) … Dimensions 34&quot; x 13 5/8&quot; x 14 1/4&quot;
2 Front wall speakers = KLH 9930 … 8 ohms … Pair 2-Way 60 Watt per Channel Rear Speakers … Magnetically shielded
1 Front center speaker = KLH 9930 … 8 ohms … 2-Way 100 Watt Center Channel … Magnetically shielded
2 Rear wall speakers = JBL N26 Northridge Series … 8 ohms … Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 125 Watts … Sensitivity (2.83V @ 1m): 88dB … Frequency Response (–3dB): 55Hz –20kHz … Crossover Frequency: 3000Hz … High-Frequency Driver: 3/4&quot; Titanium-laminate dome with EOS™ waveguide … Low-Frequency Driver: 6&quot; PolyPlas™ cone … Dimensions (H x W x D): 14-1/2&quot; x 10-3/4&quot; x 7-3/4&quot; (368mm x 273mm x 197mm)

I have been considering a an “ONKYO TX-NR801” … 7.1-channel … 100 full-bandwidth-rated watts x 7 channels … $748.

Other Possibility’s are:

Sony STRDE995 …770W 7.1-Channel Home Theater A/V Receiver with Dolby Digital EX/DTS Decoders, 110W x 7 @ 8 ohms, 1kHz, 0.7% THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) … around $400.

Sony STRDA2000ES … Surround Receiver with 120 Watts x 7 Channels … 7 Channel Direct Drive Digital Amplifier: 120W x 7 (8 ohms 20Hz - 20kHz, THD .6%) … around $800.

Sony STRDA1000ES … Receiver with Video Up Conversion … 7 Channel Amplifier: 100W x 7 (8 ohms 20Hz - 20kHz, THD .09%) … around $600.</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>TOOO many speakers requiring alot of power. I had some old Cerwin Vega D7's on an Onkyo &amp; it would shut down all the time. These speakers were power hungry! You have too much of a load on the receiver.

Nope, those other choices are not going to work either! I would recomend a Harman Kardon AVR7200 for 788.67 from here.http://ww1.onecall.com/HomePage.htm</font>

 

[Cmon69]

<font color='#000000'>zumbo, question! do you think i should get rid of my Cerwin-Vega V-12F's &quot;I really like the sound that comes out of them&quot; &quot;Hate my electric bill which went up after i got them&quot; or will the Harman Kardon AVR7200 you sugested be able to handle them, and what if i decide to add a subwoofer latter, and how about an Amplifier for the Cerwin-Vegas?

</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>Looks like your Cerwins are very efficient. I would think it is because of using both front speaker outputs.

You could add an amp to run the Cerwins if the Harman Kardon shuts down. It might be fine, but IMO you have to much of a load on the receiver.

A sub will not matter because it will have it's own amp!</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>I looked at all of your speakers, and see no reason why it should shut that H/K down. But like I said, my Cerwins would shut my Onkyo down every time I cranked it up. But, I was trying to make a low power amp work too hard!</font>

 

[Cmon69]

<font color='#000000'>What would be a good amp to use, considering that I am going to go with a 7 channel receiver, and the Seven-Channel Surround Modes will be important to me. I tend to listen to my Sat. music channels with my Home Theater System in Surround Modes.</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>I would try using the receivers power first. If it shuts down, then you can try something else.

As far as the amp goes, you would have to check when you were ready to buy. Like this receiver that retails for $1799.00, &amp; is on sale for $788.00 now thru 12/31/04! What a deal!</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>What about using surround back option for the 7th channel since you do not have much of a load on that end! This is where the signal output for the 7th channel is. Speakers B would be used as a Zone 2 or for bi-wiring.</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>If you have your KLH on the B terminals, they are playing the same as the fronts. If you put them on the back, then in Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES, they will add a whole new dimension to the experience provided the software is encoded on the disc &amp; the decoder is turned on!</font>

 

[Cmon69]

<font color='#000000'>humm, thats something I could try, My main concern is burning out another receiver, especially one that will cost me as much as the Harman Kardon AVR7200 you suggest!

How about heat factor? will fans help? or is this more of a power issue than heat?

maybe having my KLH's hooked up on the same channel as the Cerwin-Vega's was a real bad idea. my Yamaha was only a 5 channel .... oops!!!</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>It would take alot of abuse to burn it up. Just remember to not crank it up into distortion levels, and if it clips(shuts down), then either watch where it clips &amp; not turn it up that loud, take some of the load off the amp, or add another amp for your 7'th channel.

With two sets of speakers hooked to the front, they are sharing the power &amp; you are neglecting the Cerwins!</font>

 

[Cmon69]

<font color='#000000'>Cool! lots of thing for me to think about, thanks for all your advice!!!

what size amp would you think would take care of this problem?</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>Even though you might not be able to tell the Cerwins are getting more power without using the B output, believe me, they will be!

Keep us posted on what you get &amp; how it performs!

Good luck!

</font>

 

[Cmon69]

<font color='#000000'>One last question, if my Cerwin-Vega's max is 300W per speaker, and I get the Harman Kardon AVR7200 which supplies 100 - 115 Watts per channel what size amp would I need to take up the slack, 300w or 300w-115w=185w? Will the amp take into account that the receiver is putting out between 100w-115w and add to it or does the amp have to supply the full 300w?

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[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>Looking back, I see that your receiver was a 5 channel receiver. The way you had your speakers hooked-up, the Cerwins were getting about 50 watts.

The new receiver is a 7 channel. This means you will not have to share power to hook-up all of your speakers. Just hook-up like I posted.

The 100-115watts should make those Cerwins sing like never before!

If you feel that it does not produce enough power, this I doubt, an additional amp would be using IT'S OWN power. You could get as many watts as you want to pay for.</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>I just read the specs on your old receiver. It is rated 80watts into 5 channels (20hz-20kz) This means your Cerwins were getting about 40 watts. The H/K is 20% more powerful than what you had PLUS 100 for two more channels for a total of 700 vs 400.</font>

 

[Cmon69]

<font color='#000000'>I believe you will be only 99% right because I don’t think I will ever reach a point where I say to myself .... WOOW!!! I have to turn that down because I just blew my heart out my asss! hee hee hee! but I'm still confused about amps, do they ad to the power &quot;watts&quot; of a receiver. say for instance receiver 100w output + amp 100w output = 200w to the speaker?

Thanks so much for helping me, I'm learning alot of great stuff!!!</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>NO! Like I said, they will be providing their OWN power.</font>

 

[Cmon69]

<font color='#000000'>Thanks Now I understand more of how an amp works!!</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>The H/K is only 115wpc in 2channel mode. So when jamming to a basic cd, you will have receiver set to 2ch mode and those bad boys will be getting 115 watts each. Trust me, this will be plenty!

You will never have tooooo much power or toooooo much good sound. As soon as you think you do, they come out with something that is way better. Like someone said on here, this is a disease that we are seeking help for. Thus the name Audioholics!</font>