If you're looking for a less expensive alternative to the amplifier mentioned in the video, Emotiva now has a new line of amplifiers called "BasX". These are less costly but still offer great performance. I'm not sponsored by Emotiva or anything, I just really like their products. emotiva.com/collections/basx-series/products/basx-a5-five-channel-power-amplifier
I'd check them out more, but the amp you linked doesnt even look like it has a sub pre out. Is there some reason this amp shouldnt need a dedicated sub out?
@@OdieuxChauve The person I replied to offered these as a substitute for the Denon, not additionally. So there wouldn't be a Denon to plug a sub into, and no pre outs on the amps.
This is a good set of information. I would add a couple of things: (1) a good set of speakers will last you decades, but you will likely replace your receiver well before you replace almost any other part of your system, because there will inevitably be changes in audio formats (e.g. next generation of Atmos or whatever) that render the receiver obsolete long before your speakers. (2) if you buy a dedicated, (self) powered subwoofer (which you should), that will significantly drop the power requirements for the amplifier, because the deep bass frequencies draw a lot of power. (3) most people do not listen at reference levels where maximum wattage is required, that is very, very loud. You definitely do still get benefits at lower volumes. If you are spending significant $$ on a full home theater, I think it is not a bad strategy to divide your total home theater budget as follows: TV 30-40%, Speakers 60-70%, Receiver 10%. It is not unreasonable to think you will replace both the receiver and the TV/projector several times before you replace your speakers, assuming you are spending significant money on speakers now.
Interesting points but I think 10% is pretty low. You need to have an amplifier which can drive all of your speakers (in my case, 13, plus a sub). Also, AV receivers today are the hub of one’s gaming console, Blu-ray player, turn-table and TV. Mine also has 2 additional zones which I use for music in the back yard. Finally, the receiver is a streamer for online music such as Spotify or Tidal. Again, I use this feature all the time. I would say one should spend at least 30% on the receiver, 30% on the speakers, 30% on the TV and 10% on the sub. In my case, I bought Polk speakers RTI-A9 towers and the center and surrounds in the same class for around $3200, 7 ceiling speakers for around $800 and a Hsu sub for about $1200. For a receiver, I bought a Denon 8500H for $3400 and I bought a 75 inch Sony Bravia for about $3500. All were purchased around 3 years ago. I know the math isn’t exact but I’m glad I spent more on the receiver and together with the Polk speakers the system sounds fantastic.
Thanks for the info.Ive had a powered sub sitting in the closet for a year.Ive been pushing 4 large 15'' speakers with this Yamaha he was just showing. I'm gonna hook sth sub up today🤗
Trust buster was as helpful as Chris, the more info the better chose, which saves me money and headache. Thx sincerely old school Steve aka city Steve.
Chris, this breakdown was not only thorough, but concise and simple. I appreciate you taking the time to make this video. It so happens that I'm presently deciding between the Denon 3700h and 4700h, so seeing this opened my eyes to achieving higher performance speakers despite the receiver wattage limitation. On a side note, I just wanted to point out that the receivers are $100 -$300 more today than when you first uploaded this video.
THIS VIDEO IS AMAZING! Chris clearly answered questions that I have had for years about Ohms, distortion, and the correlation between amp and pre-amps.
If you have relatively sensitive speakers, 88 db or higher, 70 - 80 wpc is plenty. Unless you are trying to listen at concert levels 100db+, your speakers will never draw their full power requirements. Yes, having more/cleaner power is always better, but you don't have to spend $3000 to feed your speakers 200 wpc to get a great sounding system.
Yeah, great information for someone starting out. Word of advice, look for sales, buy amps and speakers second hand, take time to build the system. It's taken me almost 10 years of saving to get my ideal system. You can get there sooner, but you will spend more money.
Thank you for helping me understand the key points of what to look for. I'm just breaking into audio and am trying to understand as much as possible. you explain things very well for new audiophiles to help us feel better about the choices we are sure to make. Thanks again.
A ton of good info in this one! Going to come back to this again later after I move and get ready to set up my home theater. This cleared up a lot of things that I was very fuzzy on!
This is exactly the kind of information you need when starting with HI-FI. What you get everywhere else is either rocket science like from audioholics (very good channel btw) or irrelevant information you don't really need or in some cases complete crap. This video should be played in every HI-FI store for guidance. Thank you sir.
The amp classification is also important when looking into your home theater setup. Class AB amps tend to have less distortion and a more accurate RMS wattage output then class D, and some would argue a warmer sound when listening to music at closer to reference sounds levels.
So I have a pretty decent car audio background and its actually amazing at how similar these two hobbies are. ( which is great for me lol ) I would like to add to this that class AB amps also run hotter than class D amps since they are a lot less efficient than a class D. So if you go with a class AB just make sure you're not stuffing it in a closed cabinet or something for better ventilation.
@@absolutium class D amplifiers can sound very good when made properly. I'm sure Pioneer can do it right, but also sure they aren't the only ones. The problem is more one of there being lots of not very well designed and implemented class D amps around, which one should avoid, and which people seem to think represent all class D has to offer.
@@c128stuff class D is much more complicated to design than class A and AB, so first implementations made decades ago were not audibly transparent. In modern era (the last 5 years), even cheap class D amps are just as transparent to our ears as the best five, maybe even six figure class A amps the high end audio has to offer. And good class D implementations are impedence agnostic, so as long as your power supply can supply them enough current, they will have no issues driving low impedance speakers.
Key words: good class D implementations. I've seen enough modern (as in: can be bought new right now, and was designed recently) cheap class D amplifiers, and no, many of those do not come anywhere near a good class A amplifier, and I can very reliably tell the difference in a well executed blind a/b test, and have done so, and I am far from alone in that. Either your speakers are lacking, or your hearing is lacking if you say that as a general rule modern cheap class D amplifiers come anywhere near a good class A amplifier for as far as humans can hear. If you are talking about well designed and well built (and consequently more expensive) class D amplifiers, yes, those can be very good.
Chris, kudos on a great video! It can sometimes be complicated to explain this stuff to "civilians" but I think you did a great job. There are things that you likely generalized or simplified for expediency, but that is understandable. I fully agree with the comments you made regarding the cheaper HT AVRs and their inflated specs, but there is a point in the lineup where the quality goes up quite a bit (as does the price), and some of those generalizations start to fall short. The top-end AVRs from Yamaha, Marantz, Denon and others are often quite capable of running full systems without the need for large power amps. I'm using a 7.2.4 setup in my HT (appx 1800cuft, so not large but not small). My main layer speakers are all Energy RC series (RC-70, RC-LCR, RC-R) from the mid-2000s - medium efficiency at 91 main, 89 centre, 87 surrounds, rated for 250W, 200W, and 125W respectively. The height speakers are Polk OWM3s (8ohm/89dB/100W). I am running dual PSB Subsonic 6i subs. I am running this whole setup from a Marantz SR7013 AVR (using my old Yamaha RXV1200 to amplify the 4 height channels). I actually had some Adcom power amps that I needed with the Yamaha and then with a previous Denon AVR3310ci, but got rid of them when I found my previous Marantz SR7007 had ample power to run the (then) 7.1 system. The SR7013 has enough balls to play plenty loud when watching movies even with very dynamic soundtracks like the John Wick or Transformer films. Am I running it at "reference level"? Well, when the wife and kids are away I may run it at -10dB or even a little higher on the AVR (Audyssey calibrated), and this is as loud in my MLP as I've ever experienced in a movie theatre. The only time I've noticed compression (and it may be in the subs, or may be in the soundtrack itself) is during Transformers age of Extinction. All that to say that a higher-end (though consumer grade) AVR can run a full 9.1+ system of speakers rated for higher maximum wattage at more than adequate levels unless your room is exceptionally large.
I got a great price on a Denon AVR-S750 last year and I have been very happy. It powers my 5.1.2 home theatre set-up and all of my analog sources as well. It also works with Alexa and does a great job streaming audio from a variety of sources including my DLNA server.
Great video. I am glad I found your channel. Nobody explains this much details. Even someone does, they just make it complicated to understand. You are doing a great job. Keep it up👍🏾
I thought it was strange that he did not mention powered speakers, as he has two JBL Lsr 308 right behind him. I using the marantz 1608 to power all of my surround speakers with only my mains on the preamp. I feel this gives me the best of both worlds on my budget. This guy puts in a lot of good information in a clear and concise way, I appreciate that.
just found your channel, some great information for my new house build that has a dedicated home theatre. You definitely have me rethinking and researching better what I want to do. Thanks for the content!!!
Really helpful vid. I went with a high end soundbar for my setup but definitely wanted to learn more about building a system in the future and this is a lot of great knowledge all compressed to one location.
Very concise video glad you brought up the power amp option, the other option is to buy a used preamp processor. I have a used Marantz AV 7005 preamp and a Carver av705x 5 channel amp 125watts at 8 ohms and 180 at 4ohms cost me $800 for both. Plenty of power for music and movies. Another option for someone on a tighter budget
Just a comment to this as you did not mention it, but when running a surround setup(5.1) The subwoofer handles most of the bass below 80hz(if set up propperly), witch frees the reciver for some of the heaviest loads, and you can probably go for a cheaper one without pre-outs if you are on a budget, and uses floorstanding speakers etc. Still, a bigger reciver gives you a lot more flexebility.
I’ve been searching for and watching a few videos like this one… yours is the BEST!!! Thank you, love your stuff, never shave (I don’t know where that saying comes from)
Chris, good video. I'm surprised (or maybe I missed listening at 2x) that you dont mention formula related to what volume(db) is created based on watts sensitivity distance etc. When I first bought receivers I was hyper focused on RMS but now realizing that a difference of 100 vs 120 vs 140 makes a very little difference.
Most important bit I learned is at 10:43. Use a dedicated Amp for front and the receiver for surround. But ideally is there a receiver that handles surround wireless, so is easier to install?
Daggum that was a lotta great info in a short time. Good annunciation and I wonder if you do many re-takes to get it right, or if you're spot-on the first time in most circumstances.
Great factual video usefull to everyone who buys AVR-s. I especially liked the part explaining the wattages as that's the place where many manufacturers try to be shady
That is good information, but I bet a lot of people are happy using their AV receiver to power a stereo set up so they have the added convenience of the HDMI switching for av inputs, room correction, and equalization, in which case the two channel power rating is an accurate guide. Another advantage to using an av receiver for stereo is that you can usually use some if the extra channels for bi amping speakers, which in my subjective experience with a Yamaha receiver, sounds better even if the bi amped signal is the same.
I had a Denon home theater amplifier that was 2×70 W that cost about 700 dollars in Sweden with floor Boston acoustics speakers, I had no problems whatsoever. and I basically never had up to half the effect on the volume control. Although I played loud
I sure hope you can see my comment today/tonight or tomorrow. I saw these speakers for sale: Definitive Technology BP-9020. It says recommended amplifier power: 50-200 watts. I did a chat with a guy on Crutchfield and he said it is RMS wattage. So your video says receiver should have more power than the speaker RMS wattage. The guy on chat recommended a receiver of 100W or 150W. And he said that the receiver should not be rated higher than the speakers. Anyway, just thought it would be good to get your feedback. Thanks Chris for your video and hope to see you comment. By the way if ANYBODY else has expert advice, it would be appreciated.
A lot of great advice in this video! However clipping never results in damage to a speaker the whole “square wave” blows them up is an urban legend. Speaker Designer and engineer Andrew Jones completely debunked this theory. He stated the only time you can damage a driver is when they are overpowered and over driven. It is not physically possible to damage them do to a lack of power even when they receive “square waves”. But you are correct in having more head room is better… especially when you are running the larger set ups of 5.1.4 and 7.1.4 and so on… the ratings are never all channels driven, you almost can never. Have enough power especially with full range speakers all around.
I bought a denon avrx2000 from facebook with two big speakers for the main channels for $100 lol and I got a sony sub for $50 and some onkyo used speakers for the rest of the set up and it sounds good enough for me. Way better than my tv speakers and all under $200.
I have a pair of Cambridge Audio SX50 bookshelf speakers which can handle a variable output of between 10-100 watts plus A Minx Min 22 + 2x Min 12’s handling between 25-200 watts, very flexible, Yamaha RX-V479 AV received putting out 80 W+80 W front L/R, 95 W centre, 95 W+95 W surround L/R 👍
From what I have gathered, there are some things I have heard contradicting opinions about. So what I heard so far: 1. Ohms of speakers are only ballpark numbers and can be anywhere between 2-12 Ohms for an 8 Ohm speakers. And receivers don't care either way. 2. The wattage numbers on a speaker are more like max values you shouldn't exceed in order to not damage the speaker. So the receiver wouldn't have to be able to reach those numbers. As well as the Wattage requirement for "loudness" rising exponentially. So you only need ie. 5 Watts for normal listening and like 40 for really loud listening and then another 80 watts only get you a small amount of loudness. Wich is why: 3. Receivers don't really raise those numbers, until you get into the very high end, and speakers, that are made for home theater don't need much more anyways. And if you have some special speakers that need more power you usually need dedicated stereo or mono amps.
Hey Chris, I recently purchased a monolith 5 channel power amp, please recommend a reasonable priced surround processor or AVR with 5.1 pre-outs. I'm at a loss for finding this component. Love your channel. I purchased Epson UB 5050 largely based on your review/recommendation!
To check power I look at the electrical label on the back of the device, it shows the power in watts that the device will use at it's max and since it's a legally required acknowledgment for safety it has to be accurate with no marketing claims. If the label says "250 watts" and it has 7 channels but claims "up to 100 watts per channel" this is mathematically not accurate, it may do 100 watts in one channel but only if no other channels are driving sound at the moment other than that it will split the power among the different channels which can lead to clipping if power is too low.
Have a fairly modern Denon but have a number of decent Pioneer receivers and all of them are great as long as you don’t mind optical. I know a lot of people want hdmi or Bluetooth but, and it’s just me, I’d prefer a ten dollar receiver without bells and whistles and a bit higher energy use from goodwill if it’s clean and lightly used to spend money elsewhere. I know used is a totally different conversation.
Very informational, I will have to be more careful in choosing the receiver as I learned a lot especially the power per channel output. Sure the salesman said yes this receiver will work with my speakers but after watching this video, receiver would have been underpowered.
If you're looking for a less expensive alternative to the amplifier mentioned in the video, Emotiva now has a new line of amplifiers called "BasX". These are less costly but still offer great performance. I'm not sponsored by Emotiva or anything, I just really like their products. emotiva.com/collections/basx-series/products/basx-a5-five-channel-power-amplifier
Inflate TVs do the same thing when they're only 10 bit panels
I'd check them out more, but the amp you linked doesnt even look like it has a sub pre out. Is there some reason this amp shouldnt need a dedicated sub out?
@@DynamicUnreality you plug the sub on the Denon because it's preout
@@OdieuxChauve The person I replied to offered these as a substitute for the Denon, not additionally. So there wouldn't be a Denon to plug a sub into, and no pre outs on the amps.
Hi chris nice guide you have there, can you please make a content in PC home theater system? both gaming, watching movies and music?
Came for some quick tips, left deflated and need to rob a bank or something :D
Same :(
Anything worth doing, worth doing well.
You can get some really Good deals for used recivers
Same
The effect these pretentious audio-fools have on regular people. I'm fine with my cheap panasonic component set, y'all can go to hell...
This is a good set of information. I would add a couple of things: (1) a good set of speakers will last you decades, but you will likely replace your receiver well before you replace almost any other part of your system, because there will inevitably be changes in audio formats (e.g. next generation of Atmos or whatever) that render the receiver obsolete long before your speakers. (2) if you buy a dedicated, (self) powered subwoofer (which you should), that will significantly drop the power requirements for the amplifier, because the deep bass frequencies draw a lot of power. (3) most people do not listen at reference levels where maximum wattage is required, that is very, very loud. You definitely do still get benefits at lower volumes.
If you are spending significant $$ on a full home theater, I think it is not a bad strategy to divide your total home theater budget as follows: TV 30-40%, Speakers 60-70%, Receiver 10%. It is not unreasonable to think you will replace both the receiver and the TV/projector several times before you replace your speakers, assuming you are spending significant money on speakers now.
Cheers, my man, nice tips.
TV prices have dropped to where $400 can buy a nice TV but merely an entry level receiver. You should update your percentage advice.
Interesting points but I think 10% is pretty low. You need to have an amplifier which can drive all of your speakers (in my case, 13, plus a sub).
Also, AV receivers today are the hub of one’s gaming console, Blu-ray player, turn-table and TV. Mine also has 2 additional zones which I use for music in the back yard. Finally, the receiver is a streamer for online music such as Spotify or Tidal. Again, I use this feature all the time.
I would say one should spend at least 30% on the receiver, 30% on the speakers, 30% on the TV and 10% on the sub.
In my case, I bought Polk speakers RTI-A9 towers and the center and surrounds in the same class for around $3200, 7 ceiling speakers for around $800 and a Hsu sub for about $1200.
For a receiver, I bought a Denon 8500H for $3400 and I bought a 75 inch Sony Bravia for about $3500. All were purchased around 3 years ago.
I know the math isn’t exact but I’m glad I spent more on the receiver and together with the Polk speakers the system sounds fantastic.
Thanks for the info.Ive had a powered sub sitting in the closet for a year.Ive been pushing 4 large 15'' speakers with this Yamaha he was just showing. I'm gonna hook sth sub up today🤗
Trust buster was as helpful as Chris, the more info the better chose, which saves me money and headache. Thx sincerely old school Steve aka city Steve.
Chris, this breakdown was not only thorough, but concise and simple. I appreciate you taking the time to make this video.
It so happens that I'm presently deciding between the Denon 3700h and 4700h, so seeing this opened my eyes to achieving higher performance speakers despite the receiver wattage limitation.
On a side note, I just wanted to point out that the receivers are $100 -$300 more today than when you first uploaded this video.
Currently looking to build a 5.1 system. This has been one of the most clear and informative videos I’ve seen. Nice work!
THIS VIDEO IS AMAZING! Chris clearly answered questions that I have had for years about Ohms, distortion, and the correlation between amp and pre-amps.
Brilliantly explained. I need to watch this several times. But I will and my knowledge will be vastly improved. Thanks for making such great videos.
This is the best video I’ve come across for first time AVR buyers. Thank you!!
If you have relatively sensitive speakers, 88 db or higher, 70 - 80 wpc is plenty. Unless you are trying to listen at concert levels 100db+, your speakers will never draw their full power requirements. Yes, having more/cleaner power is always better, but you don't have to spend $3000 to feed your speakers 200 wpc to get a great sounding system.
Yeah, great information for someone starting out. Word of advice, look for sales, buy amps and speakers second hand, take time to build the system. It's taken me almost 10 years of saving to get my ideal system.
You can get there sooner, but you will spend more money.
Thank you for helping me understand the key points of what to look for. I'm just breaking into audio and am trying to understand as much as possible. you explain things very well for new audiophiles to help us feel better about the choices we are sure to make. Thanks again.
This guy's my new fav UA-camr. Top quality on these videos man.
A ton of good info in this one! Going to come back to this again later after I move and get ready to set up my home theater. This cleared up a lot of things that I was very fuzzy on!
Awesome review with real use cases ! That's a gold point of view that most videos don't show. Thank you !
This is exactly the kind of information you need when starting with HI-FI. What you get everywhere else is either rocket science like from audioholics (very good channel btw) or irrelevant information you don't really need or in some cases complete crap. This video should be played in every HI-FI store for guidance.
Thank you sir.
The amp classification is also important when looking into your home theater setup. Class AB amps tend to have less distortion and a more accurate RMS wattage output then class D, and some would argue a warmer sound when listening to music at closer to reference sounds levels.
So I have a pretty decent car audio background and its actually amazing at how similar these two hobbies are. ( which is great for me lol ) I would like to add to this that class AB amps also run hotter than class D amps since they are a lot less efficient than a class D. So if you go with a class AB just make sure you're not stuffing it in a closed cabinet or something for better ventilation.
I noticed almost a decade ago Pioneer D class receivers were the exception.. everything was better especially when running 7 or 9 channels.
@@absolutium class D amplifiers can sound very good when made properly. I'm sure Pioneer can do it right, but also sure they aren't the only ones.
The problem is more one of there being lots of not very well designed and implemented class D amps around, which one should avoid, and which people seem to think represent all class D has to offer.
@@c128stuff class D is much more complicated to design than class A and AB, so first implementations made decades ago were not audibly transparent.
In modern era (the last 5 years), even cheap class D amps are just as transparent to our ears as the best five, maybe even six figure class A amps the high end audio has to offer.
And good class D implementations are impedence agnostic, so as long as your power supply can supply them enough current, they will have no issues driving low impedance speakers.
Key words: good class D implementations.
I've seen enough modern (as in: can be bought new right now, and was designed recently) cheap class D amplifiers, and no, many of those do not come anywhere near a good class A amplifier, and I can very reliably tell the difference in a well executed blind a/b test, and have done so, and I am far from alone in that.
Either your speakers are lacking, or your hearing is lacking if you say that as a general rule modern cheap class D amplifiers come anywhere near a good class A amplifier for as far as humans can hear.
If you are talking about well designed and well built (and consequently more expensive) class D amplifiers, yes, those can be very good.
Would love a video on actual full audio setups that you would recommend based on budget. Similar to your projector recommendations based on budget
Me too! Pick a budget, say, $2k, $1500, and $1k, and then recommend a setup.
Chris, kudos on a great video! It can sometimes be complicated to explain this stuff to "civilians" but I think you did a great job. There are things that you likely generalized or simplified for expediency, but that is understandable.
I fully agree with the comments you made regarding the cheaper HT AVRs and their inflated specs, but there is a point in the lineup where the quality goes up quite a bit (as does the price), and some of those generalizations start to fall short. The top-end AVRs from Yamaha, Marantz, Denon and others are often quite capable of running full systems without the need for large power amps.
I'm using a 7.2.4 setup in my HT (appx 1800cuft, so not large but not small). My main layer speakers are all Energy RC series (RC-70, RC-LCR, RC-R) from the mid-2000s - medium efficiency at 91 main, 89 centre, 87 surrounds, rated for 250W, 200W, and 125W respectively. The height speakers are Polk OWM3s (8ohm/89dB/100W). I am running dual PSB Subsonic 6i subs.
I am running this whole setup from a Marantz SR7013 AVR (using my old Yamaha RXV1200 to amplify the 4 height channels). I actually had some Adcom power amps that I needed with the Yamaha and then with a previous Denon AVR3310ci, but got rid of them when I found my previous Marantz SR7007 had ample power to run the (then) 7.1 system.
The SR7013 has enough balls to play plenty loud when watching movies even with very dynamic soundtracks like the John Wick or Transformer films. Am I running it at "reference level"? Well, when the wife and kids are away I may run it at -10dB or even a little higher on the AVR (Audyssey calibrated), and this is as loud in my MLP as I've ever experienced in a movie theatre. The only time I've noticed compression (and it may be in the subs, or may be in the soundtrack itself) is during Transformers age of Extinction.
All that to say that a higher-end (though consumer grade) AVR can run a full 9.1+ system of speakers rated for higher maximum wattage at more than adequate levels unless your room is exceptionally large.
this is way more info/comprehensive than i thought it would be, great info for newbies and people who haven't upgraded in years.
I got a great price on a Denon AVR-S750 last year and I have been very happy. It powers my 5.1.2 home theatre set-up and all of my analog sources as well. It also works with Alexa and does a great job streaming audio from a variety of sources including my DLNA server.
Great video. I am glad I found your channel. Nobody explains this much details. Even someone does, they just make it complicated to understand. You are doing a great job. Keep it up👍🏾
This guy knows how deliver information! Very articulate and knowledgeable ❤
I went from a old Denon AVR3300 to a Denon AVR-X1600H and so far so good! I'm just using 5.1 setup and it seems to do pretty good. 👍🏽👍🏽
Went with the Marantz SR 7013 and really like it. Receivers are over priced though, for real....
the fire in AKM's Nobeoka factory probably had something to do with that.
This is an excellent video. I thought I knew about surround sound setups but I was clearly mistaken. Thanks for the thorough info
I thought it was strange that he did not mention powered speakers, as he has two JBL Lsr 308 right behind him. I using the marantz 1608 to power all of my surround speakers with only my mains on the preamp. I feel this gives me the best of both worlds on my budget. This guy puts in a lot of good information in a clear and concise way, I appreciate that.
just found your channel, some great information for my new house build that has a dedicated home theatre. You definitely have me rethinking and researching better what I want to do. Thanks for the content!!!
Great video. Don’t feel like I’m lost anymore. Just overwhelmed.
Absolutely Brilliant because I could not describe it better to those who do not already know.
Really helpful vid. I went with a high end soundbar for my setup but definitely wanted to learn more about building a system in the future and this is a lot of great knowledge all compressed to one location.
Very concise video glad you brought up the power amp option, the other option is to buy a used preamp processor. I have a used Marantz AV 7005 preamp and a Carver av705x 5 channel amp 125watts at 8 ohms and 180 at 4ohms cost me $800 for both. Plenty of power for music and movies. Another option for someone on a tighter budget
Just a comment to this as you did not mention it, but when running a surround setup(5.1) The subwoofer handles most of the bass below 80hz(if set up propperly), witch frees the reciver for some of the heaviest loads, and you can probably go for a cheaper one without pre-outs if you are on a budget, and uses floorstanding speakers etc. Still, a bigger reciver gives you a lot more flexebility.
Wow man, one of the best most informative videos I've ever seen regardless of subject
Thanks, Chris. Great straightforward explanation!
I’ve been searching for and watching a few videos like this one… yours is the BEST!!! Thank you, love your stuff, never shave (I don’t know where that saying comes from)
One of the better videos on that topic, thank you Chris, great job!
Chris, I don't know how I found your channel but this video was very informative
I learned so much in a very short time, Thank you!!
Thank you, I’m researching home theaters and this helps a lot!
This is pretty thorough, clear and helpful. great video
Thank you for this I am looking for a new receiver for my system and I know some key things to look for now!
So much useful info in 13 minutes. Thanks!
Awesome video, Chris! By far the most helpful explanation on receivers I've found!
Y o u are the boss Chris!! You read my mind and put a video on a topic I am wondering about!
Very helpful information and speaks in understanding level, because l'm an old school kinda guy....lol
Chris, good video. I'm surprised (or maybe I missed listening at 2x) that you dont mention formula related to what volume(db) is created based on watts sensitivity distance etc. When I first bought receivers I was hyper focused on RMS but now realizing that a difference of 100 vs 120 vs 140 makes a very little difference.
My Head is Spinnin, but You are Very Tech Savvy! Thanks!
Most important bit I learned is at 10:43. Use a dedicated Amp for front and the receiver for surround. But ideally is there a receiver that handles surround wireless, so is easier to install?
Daggum that was a lotta great info in a short time. Good annunciation and I wonder if you do many re-takes to get it right, or if you're spot-on the first time in most circumstances.
Doesn't your sensitivity rating of your speakers come in to play too?
Great factual video usefull to everyone who buys AVR-s. I especially liked the part explaining the wattages as that's the place where many manufacturers try to be shady
What a information flow, man! Great work!
That is good information, but I bet a lot of people are happy using their AV receiver to power a stereo set up so they have the added convenience of the HDMI switching for av inputs, room correction, and equalization, in which case the two channel power rating is an accurate guide. Another advantage to using an av receiver for stereo is that you can usually use some if the extra channels for bi amping speakers, which in my subjective experience with a Yamaha receiver, sounds better even if the bi amped signal is the same.
This is a great summary. In retrospect, I wish I would have purchased an AVR with preouts for all my channels instead of just LF/RF and sub.
Wow this video is gold! So much useful info. Thank you!
Learned a lot, thanks so much. Super helpful : )
Magnepan for front speakers... Can't go wrong. 😁
2 main speakers, a center and two powered subs running on an Onkyo NR656... Sounds amazing!
This was very very helpful and interesting. The first time I’ve seen your channel.
Great stuff. Really appreciate explaining this in a why that I can understand. I feel much more educated now. Thanks so much.
I learned a lot today. Thank you very much. Now I know what to look for in my next reciever
I had a Denon home theater amplifier that was 2×70 W that cost about 700 dollars in Sweden with floor Boston acoustics speakers, I had no problems whatsoever. and I basically never had up to half the effect on the volume control. Although I played loud
Excellent video. Very informative and eye opening. Great job.
I sure hope you can see my comment today/tonight or tomorrow. I saw these speakers for sale: Definitive Technology BP-9020. It says recommended amplifier power: 50-200 watts. I did a chat with a guy on Crutchfield and he said it is RMS wattage. So your video says receiver should have more power than the speaker RMS wattage. The guy on chat recommended a receiver of 100W or 150W. And he said that the receiver should not be rated higher than the speakers. Anyway, just thought it would be good to get your feedback. Thanks Chris for your video and hope to see you comment. By the way if ANYBODY else has expert advice, it would be appreciated.
Awesome video I always wondered why my speakers didn’t sound good i didn’t realize that my receiver has been under powering my speakers for years
excellent information and review, I feel I can confidently design my home theater
Wow great video bro , great information. I really appreciate it.
Very good info for first time buyers. lieing about the wattage numbers should be illegal!
THANKS. yOU MADE IT EASY TO UNDERSTAND
Thanks G. New to it but Helped a lot.
I bought a 5.2 A/V Receiver 4 Years ago and still works great. Atmos would be nice but not sure how much better audio you would actually get..
You've just helped answer questions I had for some time, about adding a Stezza Amp to an AVR. Cheers bud :-)
very informative link for a beginer like myself
Man I be learning new things and also now I wanna buy new awp.. that hole never gonna be filled.
Excellent video! Thank you.
A lot of great advice in this video! However clipping never results in damage to a speaker the whole “square wave” blows them up is an urban legend. Speaker Designer and engineer Andrew Jones completely debunked this theory. He stated the only time you can damage a driver is when they are overpowered and over driven. It is not physically possible to damage them do to a lack of power even when they receive “square waves”. But you are correct in having more head room is better… especially when you are running the larger set ups of 5.1.4 and 7.1.4 and so on… the ratings are never all channels driven, you almost can never. Have enough power especially with full range speakers all around.
Can the draw of the speakers damage an under-powered reciever?
I bought a denon avrx2000 from facebook with two big speakers for the main channels for $100 lol and I got a sony sub for $50 and some onkyo used speakers for the rest of the set up and it sounds good enough for me. Way better than my tv speakers and all under $200.
Epic video, thank you for the info!
I have a pair of Cambridge Audio SX50 bookshelf speakers which can handle a variable output of between 10-100 watts plus A Minx Min 22 + 2x Min 12’s handling between 25-200 watts, very flexible, Yamaha RX-V479 AV received putting out 80 W+80 W front L/R, 95 W centre, 95 W+95 W surround L/R 👍
Excellent video! Good job!!
Very helpful. Thanks a ton.
Keep it up. I’m looking to purchase and set up a home theatre soon. 👍🏼
Great info. Another great video as always!
Yup I’m looking for options to upgrade my pioneer. My mains are 250watts
Center 250 watts
Surrounds 150watts
I wanna add atmos
This was so helpful!
Excellent information and advice.
From what I have gathered, there are some things I have heard contradicting opinions about.
So what I heard so far:
1. Ohms of speakers are only ballpark numbers and can be anywhere between 2-12 Ohms for an 8 Ohm speakers. And receivers don't care either way.
2. The wattage numbers on a speaker are more like max values you shouldn't exceed in order to not damage the speaker. So the receiver wouldn't have to be able to reach those numbers.
As well as the Wattage requirement for "loudness" rising exponentially. So you only need ie. 5 Watts for normal listening and like 40 for really loud listening and then another 80 watts only get you a small amount of loudness.
Wich is why:
3. Receivers don't really raise those numbers, until you get into the very high end, and speakers, that are made for home theater don't need much more anyways. And if you have some special speakers that need more power you usually need dedicated stereo or mono amps.
Very nicely done as always! Great work 👍
You can see many explanations of power utilization on you tube. I would like a n explanation of decoding and preamp features.
Awesome! Thank you for the info.
Best expl of speaker to receiver matching. Thanks
Wow, that was a head scratcher. Seems I need to be rich to get a decent sound. I've got the speakers but need the receiver
nicely explained
Loved this video a lot chris
Hey Chris, I recently purchased a monolith 5 channel power amp, please recommend a reasonable priced surround processor or AVR with 5.1 pre-outs. I'm at a loss for finding this component. Love your channel. I purchased Epson UB 5050 largely based on your review/recommendation!
Denon 3600 or 3700 if you can find them.
Great video dude. Loved it
good video🙏🏻 you know your stuff sir!
To check power I look at the electrical label on the back of the device, it shows the power in watts that the device will use at it's max and since it's a legally required acknowledgment for safety it has to be accurate with no marketing claims. If the label says "250 watts" and it has 7 channels but claims "up to 100 watts per channel" this is mathematically not accurate, it may do 100 watts in one channel but only if no other channels are driving sound at the moment other than that it will split the power among the different channels which can lead to clipping if power is too low.
Amazing content!
Have a fairly modern Denon but have a number of decent Pioneer receivers and all of them are great as long as you don’t mind optical.
I know a lot of people want hdmi or Bluetooth but, and it’s just me, I’d prefer a ten dollar receiver without bells and whistles and a bit higher energy use from goodwill if it’s clean and lightly used to spend money elsewhere.
I know used is a totally different conversation.
As long as you don't care about lossless audio, optical is fine.
Very informational, I will have to be more careful in choosing the receiver as I learned a lot especially the power per channel output. Sure the salesman said yes this receiver will work with my speakers but after watching this video, receiver would have been underpowered.