Too much power?

[miked053]

Hello,
I am looking at adding some tower speakers to my current home theater setup and need some advice. I currently have:
Onkyo TX-NR646
Polk PL250 5pack
BIC PL-200

I am wanting the tower speakers to fill in more of the mid frequencies, give a little more punch to movies, and add more dynamics and richness to music. The room its going in is a medium sized room (17'x13.5') with two sides being open to the front hallway and the dining area.

I was looking at the pioneer sp-sf52 towers but I am worried that the max input wattage is rated at 130w and the Onkyo is putting out 170w @6ohms. Will this be too much for the pioneers? Is there a better choice?

 

[markw]

Having an amp that's capable of producing more power is a good thing as long as if you use your head and your ears. If it starts to sound bad, turn it down immediately.

That, and it's unlikely that, or any, receiver will put out the marketing derived wattage in the real world.

 

[miked053]

I get that but, as outstanding as the reviews are for the sp-sf52 towers are, is it worth spending a little more and getting a better speaker or is this the pinnacle bargain up to spending significantly more for what I'm looking to do?

 

[markw]

They are fine speakers for their price and to get significantly better performance you'll have to spend significantly more.

From what I read, these would be good bet for you.

http://www.soundandvision.com/content/elac-debut-f5-speaker-system-review#6XYZ7Gi2yKHd7hHG.97

 

[j_garcia]

It is always worth getting better speakers since they are the primary factor in your sound quality.

Wattage rating on the speaker is a bit of a misnomer and effectively can be ignored. That is the max rating, not how much power you need.

 

[miked053]

markw - thank you for the heads up, I'll have to look into them as I hadn't heard of them before.
j_garcia - I understand your point, I am just worried that if I go with the pioneers (whom I have tried to contact via email an havnt replied) I run a strong risk of blowing them.

I am also considering the BIC PL-89ii speakers as well. There are just so many choices when you get to the $500 a pair price range

 

[j_garcia]

The only way you are going to damage them is if you push them too hard as Mark commented. I've run mine on a variety of amps including my main one that is 200+ WPC with no issue. You aren't using 100% of the available power to drive the speakers under normal listening conditions.

SVS Prime tower are $500 http://www.svsound.com/products/prime-tower

 

[miked053]

Just ordered the pioneers early this morning only to finally get a reply email from pioneer stating that my receiver has too much power for the sp-fs52's. I will be smart about setting the crossovers and balancing, so hopefully it will work out and I'll let you guys know.

I mean when I am watching movies right now the loudest I turn up the volume is 55 and that's with the Polk TL2 satellites. The power output rating on the Onkyo is 170 W/Ch (6 Ohms, 1 kHz, 0.9% THD, 1 Channel Driven, FTC) meaning that the power rating is given for one channel powered at a time over a 1kHz frequency so the total output at 6ohms should not be anywhere close to 170 in the real world (am I understanding that correctly?). Also, the sensitivity is only 87 db (pretty low) with the sp-fs52 so the general consensus is I should still be ok, yes?

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Just ordered the pioneers early this morning only to finally get a reply email from pioneer stating that my receiver has too much power for the sp-fs52's. I will be smart about setting the crossovers and balancing, so hopefully it will work out and I'll let you guys know.

I mean when I am watching movies right now the loudest I turn up the volume is 55 and that's with the Polk TL2 satellites. The power output rating on the Onkyo is 170 W/Ch (6 Ohms, 1 kHz, 0.9% THD, 1 Channel Driven, FTC) meaning that the power rating is given for one channel powered at a time over a 1kHz frequency so the total output at 6ohms should not be anywhere close to 170 in the real world (am I understanding that correctly?). Also, the sensitivity is only 87 db (pretty low) with the sp-fs52 so the general consensus is I should still be ok, yes?

Having "too much" power is just a good thing. Just don't crank volume all the way up. You should be able to even limit your maximum volume from receiver.

 

[j_garcia]

Average volume in a typical room you are using maybe 10 watts, if that. Only during peaks will you see heavy demand in the 100+ w range and that's only short bursts, so it won't be an issue. As mentioned, I ran them with 200W; heck I ran the BS22s on 200W and pushed them hard without issue.

 

[miked053]

Thanks guys,
Just trying to lean as much as I can without making some costly noob mistakes. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

 

[Seth=L]

Thanks guys,
Just trying to lean as much as I can without making some costly noob mistakes. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

You're doing fine. That receiver is not "too much power" for the Pioneers. I don't believe there is such a thing as too much power. It's not like a car where putting an engine that's too large in it will literally rip it to pieces because it's too much power to control. For the most part, you the user, have complete control over how much output your speakers achieve. If you crank it to such a point that your speakers get damaged you would only have yourself to blame, not an "incompatibility" of the components. As long as you use the crossover you should be dandy for just about any output level because you won't get any surprise "bottoming out" from your speaker's woofers.

 

[miked053]

UPDATE:

Best decision ever! Well maybe not ever, but I am super happy about the results with adding the pioneers. For those of you that might find this useful these towers really accomplished what I wanted them to do. The mid range pick up and transition from the highs in the satellites to the sub are now seamless to my novice ears. With music and movies the sub tended to be jumpy but not at all anymore. There is also much more depth to both music and movies. I'll stop the gushing now and once again thanks for all the input and setting my mind at ease.

One question I do have is after the latest running of the onkyo mic setup the front channels sound kinda echoy or like I'm listening to them in a cave. What settings can i tweak to help smooth this out and could it have been because I set the mic on an empty cardboard box to get some height and a more accurate listening position which caused the mic to pick up some echo and vibration?

 

[highfigh]

UPDATE:

Best decision ever! Well maybe not ever, but I am super happy about the results with adding the pioneers. For those of you that might find this useful these towers really accomplished what I wanted them to do. The mid range pick up and transition from the highs in the satellites to the sub are now seamless to my novice ears. With music and movies the sub tended to be jumpy but not at all anymore. There is also much more depth to both music and movies. I'll stop the gushing now and once again thanks for all the input and setting my mind at ease.

One question I do have is after the latest running of the onkyo mic setup the front channels sound kinda echoy or like I'm listening to them in a cave. What settings can i tweak to help smooth this out and could it have been because I set the mic on an empty cardboard box to get some height and a more accurate listening position which caused the mic to pick up some echo and vibration?

The box won't make you hear echo, but it will probably resonate at some frequencies and skew the reading. Defeat the DSP and listen again- the only reason I have heard a stereo receiver sound like echo was when both of the speaker wires were connected to the Left and Right positive terminals (without the negative) and when that happens, you'll only hear what is common to both channels. Not saying you did that, but I would look. Otherwise, it's possible that the Mode button was pressed and you're in one of the ambience/surround modes.

 

[miked053]

no the wiring is good I think that putting the mic on an empty box flap was not the best decision and ill rerun the set up once i get home this afternoon. I think it was just a weird issue with the front left and right channels being +db more than the center channel and causing an issue.