Question on watts per channel

M

mkinder

Audioholic Intern
I'm looking at a Yamaha RX-V657 which is 95 wpc (7 Channels). I only plan to run a 5.1 setup at first...so does that mean I'll be getting more power to those 5 channels since I'm not using the other 2? I plan to run Axiom bookshelf speakers with a powered sub, so I think the RX-V657 would be plenty of power regardless. But if the 95 wpc is really more like 110 for a 5.1 setup..I'd be very happy.

I would go for the cheaper 557 but it apparently doesn't have the microphone enabled auto setup. Thanks.
 
M

MDS

Audioholic Spartan
No, 95 watts per channel is what it can produce and the specs will say how many channels can be driven simultaneously at that wattage. Yamaha is like most of the other receiver manufacturers and states '2 channels driven'. That means two channels at a time can produce 95 watts per channel. The power supply is shared among all the channels so you can think of it as dynamically allocating power according to the demands of each channel.

This thread will start the 'all channels driven' controversy all over again where some will state that it should be able to deliver 95 wpc to all 5.1 or 7.1 channels at a time. It will not. On the RARE (practically non-existent) case that the music peaks simultaneously in each channel, the watts per channel will decrease. Real music is constantly varying and will never peak all channels at the same time. A receiver that actually meets its numbers (that is when you interpret them as they are stated and not according to your wants or desires) and has a rating of 95 wpc will drive speakers of average sensitivity to ear bleeding levels unless you have a gigantic room. I don't think you will have any problems with getting sufficient volume from the Yamaha and besides the majority of the time it will be loafing along using only a few watts anyway - only the extreme transients require gobs of power.
 

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