which speakers can i use? (1 Viewer)

[Patri858]

I have an onkyo reciever which has a 130 watt per channel output (max output). I was looking at replacing some of the speakers (I have never picked out individual speakers before and all the speakers have a max watts rms and just max watts. I was wondering how you would go about picking speakers that would be right for for this. I dont want the speakers to be over or underpowered because they might get damaged but im not sure what wattage speakers im looking for. Can anyone help me. I know this is an easy question but im knoew to this stuff

 

[gene c]

I wouldn't worry too much about speaker wattage ratings unless you listen at very high volumes. The most important things to look for are the Ohm rating (don't use 4 ohm speakers with an 8 ohm receiver) and just over-all good quality. Another important thing is the cross-over setting on the receiver. When set properly it will keep your speakers from getting deeper bass than they can handle.

List your receiver and some speakers you're looking at and someone here will advise you of their compatability and a good starting point for the cross-over setting.

 

[Ed Moxley]

It sounds like your Onkyo receiver might be a TX-SR805 or TX-SR806.
If it's one of those, you should be able to use about any good quality speaker you'd want (4 ohm or 8 ohm). I have the 805, and during the initial setup, you're given the choice to set it up for 4 ohm or 8 ohm speakers. So, it can handle either one. I'm guessing the 806 is the same............

I'm using Polk Audio LSi9 speakers, for my fronts, and Polk Audio LSiC center speaker. I'm using some Sony's as my rears. The Polks are 4 ohms, and the Sony's are 8 ohms. Everything is working great. Where my receiver sits, it doesn't allow it to get hot at all. Not yet anyway.
Good luck with whatever you get.

 

[Patri858]

I dont have the 805 I just have an htib from them which is the Ht-s5100 and many people said that the speakers can be switched out without a problem like in some htib's. I just got it to have a full set at one time but now I want higher guality fronts and center. it says it gets 130 watts per channel with 8 ohm and i think 200 with 4 ohm. Would you still give me the same recommendations for speaker choice?sorry I didnt make it clear in the first post

 

[Robert_J]

Speakers are a very personal thing. What sounds good to me might sound like crap to you. You need to audition as many speakers as possible before choosing a pair.

If you still want suggestions then we need a budget or I will use my standard suggestion of picking up a set of 5 Eggleston Ivy speakers for the low price of $350,000.

-Robert

 

[Ed Moxley]

I wasn't recommending speakers. I was just telling what was hooked up to my receiver. I agree that you should listen to as many as you can. You are the one that has to live with the decision, so get what you like.

Did your receiver give you the option of setting up for 4 ohm speakers, in the initial setup?

 

[gene c]

Only speakers rated betwee 8 and 16 ohms are recommended for the receiver that comes with the 5100. I wouldn't use 4 ohm speakers with it. But that's O.K. because most speakers designed for home use are 8 ohm anyway. Again, don't worry too much about the power rating of the speakers. Regardless of what they say on the front of the manual, that receiver puts out 75 wpc which just about any decent quality speaker should be able to handle without any problem.

And be sure to eventually match the center speaker with whatever you get to replace the front two. Just find something you like that fits your budget.

Just to give you an example of what's out there, Woot.com had these last week for $79.95 a pair with $5 shipping.

 

[Patri858]

I just heard some klipsch b-3 bookshelfs and a c-2 center. Do you think these are some good choices.

 

[boulderdashcci]

Klipsch with Onkyo is a really good combination if you like your ears to bleed. Onkyos tend to be on the brighter side (lots of treble), so to balance it out a warmer (more midrange-bass oriented) speaker will work well. Klipsch speakers are very bright as well due to the horns, so that's going to make a LOT of treble.

You aren't ever going to overpower your speakers, at least not when actually listening to them. When you hear distortion, turn them down, simple as that. Speakers are actually more easily damaged from being under powered; if you have a speaker that isn't very sensitive (the wattage to sound level rating, usually set up like 88db at 1watt at one meter), you'll be pushing the receiver harder to get to the desired volumes, which makes it go into clipping which can damage the tweeters. However, you shouldn't ever run into this problem unless you have speakers with really low sensitivity or you want to listen at ridiculous volumes.


Also the 130w spec they give is because they rate the HTIBs at 6ohm.

 

[Robert_J]

Audio myth. Please read the comments by Mark Eldridge and Manville Smith - link.

-Robert

 

[boulderdashcci]

Interesting read, thanks for the link. Guess I've been under the wrong impression about clipping. From what I gather from that, the point that a speaker is being damaged is going to be audible, but it has more to do with the dynamic headroom of the amplifier pushing the speaker to hard rather than the signal the speaker is getting. Is that to say that we'll rarely run into those problems with real world situations?

I still don't buy into power ratings on speakers meaning much, especially because we'll rarely see the peak numbers on the amplifiers.

 

[Patri858]

so my amp reciever is 75wpc. from what i get from the link it will be very hard for the amp to clip if I get speakers i get are rated continuous above the 75 watts, say 80 or 90, or if I play it at extremely high levels. Am i correct to say that or am I still a little confused.

 

[Robert_J]

Amp clipping has nothing to do with what speakers you choose. It has to do with how high you turn the volume and the level of the input signal.

I don't have an RMS rating on my speakers because I built them myself. I don't want to destroy one just to determine how much power it can take. I just listen, enjoy and don't give a second thought to blowing them. When my wife isn't around I crank it with concert DVD's and action movies. Loud enough that my UPS (uninteruptable power supply) that feeds my DVR's will switch into low voltage mode. I can't hear it beep until I hit pause and it takes a few seconds for the voltage to stabilize. I'm using two 20amp and a 15 amp circuit to feed my equipment so this room was planned. What I'm getting at is your ears will give out well before your speakers in most cases if you use quality equipment and properly set it up.

-Robert

 

[gene c]

I read the link (thanks, a good read) but I have to admit that all that technical talk went right over my head . But I've always thought there were two main reasons speakers become damaged. First one is asking it to produce frequencies it wasn't designed to produce, like giving a small bookshelf speakers with a 4" woofer a full range signal and cranking up the bass. The second is distortion. Your receiver may actually put out 130 watts, but it would be full of harmful distortion at that level. As I understand it, it would be that distortion that would damage the speaker and not necessarily the volume. So even if you had a high quality 200 watt speaker, feeding it 100 watts of distorted power could possibly damage it.

As for the power rating of the 5100 (HT-R560) it states "75 wpc @ 8ohms" on page 8. The 130 rating is "Dynamic" power with 1 channel driven at 1khz @ 8 ohms (190 @ 4 ohms, 210 @ 3 ohms) even though only 8 to 16 ohm speakers are recommended.

Bottom line, get good quality speakers, don't push the receiver too hard (not more than 75% on the volume knob) and choose the appropriate cross-over and you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

 

[Patri858]

alright thanks alot. was worried that all the wattage ratings for the speaker and everything had something to do with the clipping but im glade you guys straightened that out. I dont turn up the volume that loud so I guess I wont have any pronlem with whatever speakers I get. Thanks alot guys

 

[Patri858]

Im sorry to bring this thread up again but I have been looking around on different forums and was a little confused. With speaker sensitivity isnt it a fact that, for example, you have a speaker that is 85db/watt/metter it will take that speaker twice as power to reach 88db. The speakers I have now are rated at 85db so it will take three times as much power to create the same volume as speakers that im looking at that are 95db's?

will this mean that if i had the 95db speakers it would play at the same db level at say volume level 7 on the reciever as the old speakers played at volume level 21? Again sorry for bringing this back up again but im alittle confused.

 

[Robert_J]

Yes, that is mostly correct. If both speaker's sensitivity were measured the exact same way. But for this discussion we will say it is correct.

To get highly efficient speakers you need to have a LARGE enclosure or you need to sacrifice the low end of the frequency spectrum (bass). That is covered in Hoffman's Iron Law. Also, the more efficient the speaker the more you will have to pay (I'm generalizing but it is true most of the time). The Klipschorn is rated at 105db/w/meter but it is huge and costs over $5k each.

You are over thinking this. Find speakers that fit your budget and sound good to you. Buy them and enjoy. Proper calibration with a sub will keep you from damaging them.

-Robert