jcrowde3

jcrowde3

Junior Audioholic
So I currently am Running a 5.2 setup (Onkyo TX-SR494 to DCM TP160 Bookshelfs) (front right, front left, center, two surrounds) and was curious if I ever wanted to do two back surrounds whether I had enough power, so I put it into the calculator. It seems I do, what other variables should I consider? I want to get a new amp within the next couple of years for a couple of reasons, what would be good step up in terms of specs?
1582058557298.png
 

Attachments

P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
So I currently am Running a 5.2 setup (Onkyo TX-SR494 to DCM TP160 Bookshelfs) (front right, front left, center, two surrounds) and was curious if I ever wanted to do two back surrounds whether I had enough power, so I put it into the calculator. It seems I do, what other variables should I consider? I want to get a new amp within the next couple of years for a couple of reasons, what would be good step up in terms of specs?
View attachment 34143
You should probably enter 1 or 2 in the "No. of Speakers" because the receiver is not able to output 80 watts into 7 speakers at the same time. In real world use, there should be very few movie contents, if any, that would require all 7 channels to be driven to such high level anyway so you should still be fine with that Onkyo receiver.

Fyi, the TX-SR494 does not have 7 channel analog pre-out so if you are going to add external amp you will have to replace the TX-SR494 with one that has the necessary pre-outs.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
My concern wouldn't be power particularly as rear surrounds don't get a lot of action so to speak. Do you have a large enough room would be my first concern....you need some distance behind your seat for best effect. You getting more DCMs I take it?

Did you mean a different avr eventually? Not sure what you mean by step up in spec particularly....
 
jcrowde3

jcrowde3

Junior Audioholic
My concern wouldn't be power particularly as rear surrounds don't get a lot of action so to speak. Do you have a large enough room would be my first concern....you need some distance behind your seat for best effect. You getting more DCMs I take it?

Did you mean a different avr eventually? Not sure what you mean by step up in spec particularly....
So I'm just thinking about the future. The grand plan would be to get some nicer front speakers to replace the DCMs at some point and move the DCM's back. There is about 12 feet behind the listening area before you hit a wall.

Yeah, I imagine that I would need either a different amp or an receiver - preamp combo to power better front speakers. This is a long way off I just like to have plans laid out. I mean, as far as determining power per channel. I still don't really understand how to determine how much power I need although plugging into this calculator seems helpful. It says 80 watts per channel, but PENG is saying above, it won't put 80 watts per channel at the same time. What exactly do I look at to figure that out?
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
So I'm just thinking about the future. The grand plan would be to get some nicer front speakers to replace the DCMs at some point and move the DCM's back. There is about 12 feet behind the listening area before you hit a wall.

Yeah, I imagine that I would need either a different amp or an receiver - preamp combo to power better front speakers. This is a long way off I just like to have plans laid out. I mean, as far as determining power per channel. I still don't really understand how to determine how much power I need although plugging into this calculator seems helpful. It says 80 watts per channel, but PENG is saying above, it won't put 80 watts per channel at the same time. What exactly do I look at to figure that out?

ACD (all channels driven) spec you might generally estimate at 50-70% of the 2ch rating, or look for a bench test of the amp where they provide an ACD spec. It's unlikely with most source material that you'll need full power from each channel simultaneously, tho... I think you're probably overthinking it for now.
 
jcrowde3

jcrowde3

Junior Audioholic
ACD (all channels driven) spec you might generally estimate at 50-70% of the 2ch rating, or look for a bench test of the amp where they provide an ACD spec. It's unlikely with most source material that you'll need full power from each channel simultaneously, tho... I think you're probably overthinking it for now.
Ha! Overthinking is my specialty! Thanks!
 
JerryLove

JerryLove

Audioholic Samurai
Every time you double the amp power you gain 3db of headroom.

How big an amp were you thinking of funding?
 
jcrowde3

jcrowde3

Junior Audioholic
Well, when in a few years, when I got to buy some good front speakers, not sure what those are yet. I just want to have an amp to power them. If I want to buy a new receiver before then then I wanted to make sure that I got one with enough amperage to power the theoretical speakers new speakers, but maybe I should just wait and figure out what speakers I would want before I go and decide on a receiver.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I forget, which DCM speakers did you end up with? The TFE series is hard to top under a thousand bucks a pair.
 
jcrowde3

jcrowde3

Junior Audioholic
I purchased the DCM TP160s. Would I gain a lot by get the TFEs to put as the front Left and Right? for 220 for the pair?
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I purchased the DCM TP160s. Would I gain a lot by get the TFEs to put as the front Left and Right? for 220 for the pair?
That's what I would consider. I have the TPs also and am really pleased with them. @KEW and @zieglj01 both really liked the TFEs even better! I think that would be a noticeable and worthy upgrade, yes. Not a bad plan. You'll have a very clean, nice sounding system for budget pricing!
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Well, when in a few years, when I got to buy some good front speakers, not sure what those are yet. I just want to have an amp to power them. If I want to buy a new receiver before then then I wanted to make sure that I got one with enough amperage to power the theoretical speakers new speakers, but maybe I should just wait and figure out what speakers I would want before I go and decide on a receiver.
Yes for now I'd just worry about amplifying the speakers you have. Maybe you'll get more sensitive/higher impedance ones down the line and not need much at all....
 

Latest posts

newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top