Onkyo 805 & Theil speakers

[griffinconst]

Will my 805 power Theil 2.3's properly? I'm sure seperates would be better but I must make do for a year or two. Will my reciever open them up enough?

 

[santeini]

From what i gather the Theil,s are more of a stereo speakers than a home theater speaker, you may drive them with the Onkyo but it will not perform as good as using a good stereo amp.

 

[MatthewB.]

I somewhat agree Santeini that a good outboard amp will always do better, but if the OP only wants to hook up a pair of speakers and nothing else, then the Onkyo can generate almost 170 watts in stereo before it even hits 0.1% distortion. So that should be more than enough. And the 805 (which I have along with several outboard amps) can easily drive 4-8ohm speakers just fine. But I would invest i a smallcomputer fan and place that over the back right corner of the Onkyo to help keep it cool anyway.

 

[griffinconst]

From what i gather the Theil,s are more of a stereo speakers than a home theater speaker, you may drive them with the Onkyo but it will not perform as good as using a good stereo amp.

Do you think the theil's won't be good for HT? I listen about 70% music but do whatch some movies. If they sound good and have lots of bass, why wouldn't they do HT well? I have a sub by the way.
Will my receiver struggle to run 5.1 because of the Theils?

 

[MatthewB.]

The Theil's have a frequency response from 37Hz-20kHz +/-6db. So I would adjust the crossover to at least 60Hz as the maximum and crossover with the sub. This way the sub handles most of the brunt of the low bass (and the needed power to drive them). It should not be a problem when used with a 5.1 steup as long as you have the speakers properly crossed over. The amp in the 805 is a powerhouse. I wouldn't be cranking out insane volume levels, but the onboard amp should handle those brief explosions (when used in conjunction with a sub) with aplomb. You have to remember that most amps are just chugging along at less than 5 watts most of the time and only during scenes with huge explosions and heavy bass is the amp requiring more power. Hence why when crossed over properly you shouldn't have any issues. I had my Deftech BP7001sc hooked up and even during very loud scenes they never got above 70 watts and that was at very loud levels.

 

[Jeff R.]

When listening to music you can enable the Pure Audio Mode, I believe this will dougble the power to your front channels however i will disable the subwoofer from use. I utilize my Pure Audio on my 805 quiet often and really enjoy my speakers detail with the extra power.

 

[Lordoftherings]

Hi,

Your 805 is perfect for your Theil speakers. Don't sweat it, because your 805
won't! This is a beast of a receiver, just be happy with all the power that it can generates to your nice speakers. If you want more power, you can always bi-amp your main front Theils.
I own the 805 and my speakers are a tougher load than yours, with a low
sensitivity of 84db and an impedance that dips to 3.5 to 4ohms for a very
large part of the audio spectrum; and my 805 just love it and rewards me with
a full & fantastic sound.

________ Bob

 

[Seth=L]

From what i gather the Theil,s are more of a stereo speakers than a home theater speaker, you may drive them with the Onkyo but it will not perform as good as using a good stereo amp.

This is pure nonsense. It's possible for a speaker to be good for home theater impact and loudness, but that doesn't mean it will be good for music. The inverse of this is not true. If a speaker system handles music well then it is also suitable for home theater. There may only be a few exceptions to that, and Thiel is not one of them.

Not to sound arrogant, because I hope I don't have this much influence on this site to be honest, but I don't come here as often as I used to and every time I come back I see more of this "audiophile" nonsense that I had believed we where trying to stay away from. Without enough "counter intelligence" it won't be long before the average joe is taking some guy's advice on how he should crygenically freeze his single strand silver speaker wire or heaven forbid it.......phone line.

Maybe I am jumping to conclusions or think to highly of myself and hopefully I am wrong. I was just thinking it would be nice to keep the one sane forum full of diligent folks that don't have biased nonsense spilling on their keyboards and flowing into this forum.

a good outboard amp will always do better

Assuming that both the receiver and the amplifier are operating comfortably within their limits they will sound the same. The Onkyo TX-SR805 is an exceptional receiver, both as a preamp and amplifier and can deliver massive amounts of power that won't likely ever be drained by anything but the most intense loads and output situations, but I doubt most people are going to be doing concert level output in their homes.

 

[griffinconst]

This is pure nonsense. It's possible for a speaker to be good for home theater impact and loudness, but that doesn't mean it will be good for music. The inverse of this is not true. If a speaker system handles music well then it is also suitable for home theater. There may only be a few exceptions to that, and Thiel is not one of them.

Not to sound arrogant, because I hope I don't have this much influence on this site to be honest, but I don't come here as often as I used to and every time I come back I see more of this "audiophile" nonsense that I had believed we where trying to stay away from. Without enough "counter intelligence" it won't be long before the average joe is taking some guy's advice on how he should crygenically freeze his single strand silver speaker wire or heaven forbid it.......phone line.

Maybe I am jumping to conclusions or think to highly of myself and hopefully I am wrong. I was just thinking it would be nice to keep the one sane forum full of diligent folks that don't have biased nonsense spilling on their keyboards and flowing into this forum.

Assuming that both the receiver and the amplifier are operating comfortably within their limits they will sound the same. The Onkyo TX-SR805 is an exceptional receiver, both as a preamp and amplifier and can deliver massive amounts of power that won't likely ever be drained by anything but the most intense loads and output situations, but I doubt most people are going to be doing concert level output in their homes.

What do you say about using the 4 ohm setting on the receiver? I've been told it is unneccissary and robs power but my owners manual says to use it with speakers under 6 ohms.

 

[Jeff R.]

I don't use it on my receiver - I keep it on 6 ohm and have no issues. I would keep it in 6 ohm mode. If you happen to send you receiver into protection then you can always activated it at that point.

 

[Seth=L]

What do you say about using the 4 ohm setting on the receiver? I've been told it is unnecessary and robs power but my owners manual says to use it with speakers under 6 ohms.

Setting the receiver to 4 ohms effectively reduces output. I believe it's a rail voltage adjustment that keeps the power supply from taking as much current as it would with the function left in 6-8 ohm setting. Basically it's a dummy switch for people that don't know when to turn it down when clipping becomes apparent. Onkyo and other manufacturers put that switch there as a warning to the careless. It's sorta like "CAUTION, HOT COFFEE". We should know that the coffee is hot without being told. If you drink the coffee carefully you won't get burned, but if you are DUMB you may try taking a huge swig even though it's not suggested. The DUMB people with coffee should wait a while before attempting to drink it. I am a firm believer that coffee cups should state "WAIT 10 MINUTES BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO DRINK HOT COFFEE". People that have sense can tell when their receiver is stressing, or when the coffee is too hot to begin consuming at a high rate. I would assume that you would be wise enough to notice when their might be a problem since you have Thiels rather than Cerwin Vegas.

Yes....I racked my brain trying to come up with that analogy.

 

[jostenmeat]

Seth, could you liken the 4 ohm setting to the wrap that goes around the paper cup? You might not need it, but it lets you hold the coffee with less worry?

I've found that not everyone who is knowledgable about these things recommend leaving it on 8 ohm setting, including a fellow who built all of his speakers, subs, etc.

 

[griffinconst]

Thanks for the explanation. As to the hot coffee warning....all new hairdryers have a warning label stating " Do not use while sleeping". I think that says it all.