Stereo vs. Surround

[Pwner_2130]

Hey,

Has anyone on here ever seen a home theater surround system with more than 100 to 150 watts per channel? I love surround sound, but i am missing the power of stereo sound lately...and my sub woofer is pounding like it should, but my system does not have the same impact that my dad's older model fisher does for music playback, can anyone recommend a surround system that produces great stereo playback as well? I'm running out of room in the bedroom and a system that could do both would be great.

 

[enrique]

I think most rec. have more power in 2ch than when in a surround mode for one.For instance my rec. is 75 watts but true watts and 100 in stereo.Are you looking to replace your speakers or reciever or even both.This could have an impact as to what you want.For one if it were me i would replace your reciever to a better one,or the speakers.I mean if you like your speakers then just replace the reciever.(not a fan of sony)If you have a budget i'm sure you'll get some responses.

 

[j_garcia]

The very first thing I would do is sell that Sony receiver. You might want to relax on the whole Sony product line....

I don't see any speakers listed?

 

[obscbyclouds]

The very first thing I would do is sell that Sony receiver. You might want to relax on the whole Sony product line....

I don't see any speakers listed?

J,

Keep in mind this is a sub $300 reciever. Not everyone can afford really expensive recievers. Mine has no problem driving my M-60's. Also, the DG-800 does have line level outputs (stereo) if you are interested in getting an stereo power amp. (Emotiva RPA-1, etc.). I don't think upgrading to a entry or mid-level Yamaha or Denon is going to significantly improve SPL's. While I agree that Sony doesn't make the best recievers, I'm not sure that simply dumping it for another similar priced one will make any difference.

This all really does depend on your speakers. Some are harder to drive than others, and some really need a power amp. To answer your original question, no you aren't going to find a reciever that delivers more than about 140 wpc, and you likely aren't even getting that with all channels driven. How much are you looking to spend if you upgrade to another or reciever, or even seperates?

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

Hey,

Has anyone on here ever seen a home theater surround system with more than 100 to 150 watts per channel? I love surround sound, but i am missing the power of stereo sound lately...and my sub woofer is pounding like it should, but my system does not have the same impact that my dad's older model fisher does for music playback, can anyone recommend a surround system that produces great stereo playback as well? I'm running out of room in the bedroom and a system that could do both would be great.

As the others have noted, you should be able to run your receiver in 2-channel mode.

I didn't see your speakers listed in your sig?? If anything.... I'd look in that direction first.

Are you comparing your dads old Fisher from in your bedroom driving your current speakers........ or memories of the Fisher driving your dads speakers in a different room?

 

[enrique]

also as a thought how are your settings in the receiver.Have you done all the reguired settings?

 

[Warpdrv]

Another thing to remember is that Sony is widely known for running the bass hotter then most if not all other receivers out there...

I had/have one, and it is certainly the case doing A/B testing...

 

[j_garcia]

Not to pick on them, but I've owned a number of Sony receivers and never found any of them to be that great for music and always optimistic on power ratings. The ES line improves quite a bit, particularly in the amplification realm, but still would not be my choice. No, stepping up to a $500 receiver from the Sony isn't going to give you a night and day difference.

Speakers make the single largest difference in how your system sounds, so that is where you start.

 

[highfihoney]

Hey,

Has anyone on here ever seen a home theater surround system with more than 100 to 150 watts per channel? I love surround sound, but i am missing the power of stereo sound lately...and my sub woofer is pounding like it should, but my system does not have the same impact that my dad's older model fisher

I would be willing to bet what your missing is the sound & slam from full range speakers,bass is supposed to be omni directional but i find that i can hear a difference in dynamics when ht systems are ran off a single sub or down firing subs,for me there is no substitute for stereo front firing bass.

Is your father running a stereo receiver with full range speakers & no sub?

 

[j_garcia]

I'd have to agree to some of that, if it is all out slam you are after, a big speaker is generally going to give more of that to you. At the same time, what typically happens with large speakers playing full range is you get a big hump in the upper bass region and if this is what you are used to hearing, it might seem like your new setup is missing something when in fact it may be playing more accurately.

 

[fmw]

As a side note, the difference between 75 watts and 100 watts is fairly trivial. You need to double the output power of an amplifier to provide just 3db more headroom. As others have mentioned, amplifier power is not the issue hear. Good luck.

 

[j_garcia]

I'll go ahead and say that isn't always true, because it depends on the quality of the difference of those 25w. I went from a Marantz 6200 to my 8300 which is 120 vs 105 and there was a very noticeable difference, as well as a nearly 10lb difference in weight.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Hey, Has anyone on here ever seen a home theater surround system with more than 100 to 150 watts per channel? I love surround sound, but i am missing the power of stereo sound lately...

I'm surprise you don't also have Sony sub and speakers

Power = Money. Sure there are receivers with more than 150 watts per ch. Denon AVR-5805 is 170 wpc, but it's also $5K.
But for > $3K, you might as well get a separate Preamp/Processor + Amp. and get 200 wpc.

My system has 200 wpc x 9 ch + three stereo preamp just so that I could get pure discrete Class A analog stereo music

 

[fmw]

I'll go ahead and say that isn't always true, because it depends on the quality of the difference of those 25w. I went from a Marantz 6200 to my 8300 which is 120 vs 105 and there was a very noticeable difference, as well as a nearly 10lb difference in weight.

There might have been a difference, real or imagined, but it certainly wasn't a meaningful difference in headroom.

 

[j_garcia]

The primary difference was in headroom...I would call it meaningful. Night and day, no, but not imagined for sure. At levels where the 6200 sounded as if it was out of steam, the 8300 still sounded clear. Since my room was considerably larger than my previous one the 6200 was getting "lost"; I needed more power to fill it adequately. When I went to 4 Ohm speakers, I neede to add the monos because the 8300 wasn't able to handle it too well.

When people say you need to double power to achieve +3dB, we are actually talking about a 50% increase in SPL, so it is quite noticeable. +1dB is easily heard by the average person - if you don't believe that, try adjusting one of your speakers up or down in your speaker config by 1dB and then tell me you don't hear it - this is why calibration is critical.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

...try adjusting one of your speakers up or down in your speaker config by 1dB and then tell me you don't hear it - this is why calibration is critical.

But most sound level meters that I've seen are only acurate to +/- 1.5 dB.
So if 1.0 dB is so critical, then we better find something more acurate? And how expensive is that going to be?

 

[j_garcia]

If that were true, you wouldn't be able to use one to calibrate... Most of the ones I've seen are good to .5dB or better. Not sure what the Radio Shack one is good to.

I think most people couldn't tell you if the overall SPL increased by 1dB, but when listening, but 1dB can make a difference between the right and left speakers, drawing your attention more to one side vs the other. 1dB is not "critical" in output, but can be noticed.

 

[Haoleb]

But most sound level meters that I've seen are only acurate to +/- 1.5 dB.
So if 1.0 dB is so critical, then we better find something more acurate? And how expensive is that going to be?

When your calibrating speakers, Your more concerned about all the speakers being the same output level vs at a certain db benchmark. And because of that the accuracy of the meter is irrelevant because its going to read the same inaccuracy on all of the speakers.

 

[Pwner_2130]

Stereo vs. Surround sound

Hey guys thanks for the help,

Just to clear a few things up, I'm running 5 cheapo 100 watt sony satellite surround speakers for my 5.1 surround setup

I have tried using just the 2 channel speaker output, but it was still lacking the sound quality of my Ken wood 400 watt 2 channel receiver.

My dad's Fisher is upstairs and I realize that the sound output wouldn't be the same in a different room of the house, but i can still tell that his sounds much better, at least when playing back cds. For dvds my system is great.

Can anyone recommend a reciever to upgrade to? My budget for a new reciever
is about $600 max. Thanks a lot.

As for my all my stuff being Sony...i got the amp for free and just happened upon the cd and dvd players at a rummage sale, they were cheap so i picked them up

 

[j_garcia]

I think the speakers are the issue here.

Did you have to do or install anything for the USB drives to work with the PS3? I have been thinking about picking one up.