AVR 320 - need more power? (1 Viewer)

[Greg Kerber]

I recently acquired an HK AVR 320 and I love the sound etc but I am a little disapointed with the power. It seems I have to run it at close to max power for music DVD's and some movies. Even on 2 ch for music volume needs to be up there. Could I use my old NAD 7100 rcver for a pre amp? It has separate pre amp and power amp sections. Sorry if this is stupid question/idea but technical aspects not my forte.

2nd question- the HK also seems to shut down at times on its own. It has lots of breathing room and it does not seem to be when I am running it at high volume, just whenever. Any ideas?

 

[Charles Gurganus]

What speakers are you using?

 

[Rogozhin]

Adjust the DB ratings.

rogo

 

[Greg Kerber]

Sorry, speaker info would have helped- B&W 620 fronts and Dalquist QX50 center and QX6 rears.
As to the reply on increasing DB's if you mean the levels of each respective speaker through AVR setup menu, I have done so.

 

[Charles Gurganus]

I did not look up the Dalquist speaker specs but the 4ohm rating of the 620 is probably the culprit.

Look to see if your HK receiver has a 4ohm/8ohm speaker switch on the back. If it does, try switching that (it may be a 6ohm/8ohm but still switch it).

 

[John Garcia]

I don't think that the x20 and x25 generations of H/Ks tolerate lower impedance loads. If you play the system in just stereo, does the same thing happen? If it does, then you will either need to move to external amplification or start looking for a new receiver. It does sound like you are underpowered for your desired listening levels.

 

[Jake K]

Those Dahlquist speakers are 6 ohms. You should buy a nice used stereo amplifier for the front speakers, taking the 4 ohm load off of the receiver.

 

[Greg Kerber]

Thanks for advise-
Reply to John Garcia- on 2 channel with a CD player it is good, little less with say digital music channels from satellite, problem mostly noticable when listening to DVD music/movie on surround options. I guess my concern is running the rcver (or having to run it) at such high volume levels on the volume control. Rcver volume runs from -80 to +10 but manual suggest not going beyond -10. At times I will need to run it at 0 for it to be effective,at anything less than -35 it is not even audible.

As to getting second amp for fronts, will this not effect the quality of suround effects if all speakers not being run from the home theater rcver?

Thanks again for help.

 

[John Garcia]

An external amp does add complication (more power connections, more interconnects), but it is just amplifying the same signal that was being amplified internally before. You may actually get better response from your other speakers with the amp in the receiver not having to work as hard. Based on what you said, I think more power is what you need. The manual recommends not turning the receiver that high because it leaves little room for dynamic peaks - meaning you run the risk of damaging your speakers if you drive the receiver to distortion (when it runs out of current).

 

[Robert_Gaither]

I have a question, have you calibrated your sound with a spl meter and a disc? This is only way we're going to know if you're being realistic about the db output of that AVR (I know there are people out there who listen at higher, much higher than theater reference levels). Does your AVR have pre-outs as well (go ahead and connect the NAD, if anything it should improve the overall sound by releiving the power supply from having to power all the channels).

 

[Jake K]

wow! are you sure? I have the AVR125 with even less power and it is very audible well below that. Is your room very large?

 

[Charles Gurganus]

Make sure your receiver has preamp outputs for the main channels before buying an outboard amp.

 

[Greg Kerber]

Thanks for all the good advice, I appreciate it-

Reply to Jake K- Room is not too large- probably 20ft by 25 ft, regular ceilings. The -35 bit is only for some music DVD's or satellite movies, for CD music -35 is comfortable low level listening volume- I wonder if my settings on the rcver are off, this is first home theater rcver, my old NAD was pretty basic.

Reply to Robert- As to the SPL meter, never have done a test but I don't listen to movies extremely loud. The HK does have preouts so I might as well try adding the NAD to check it out.

Sorry to all to be a pain, but how do I properly hook up the NAD? System includes a satellite rcver, CD & DVD. Thanks

 

[Tim Streagle]

I run 6 0hm load on my 525 with absolutely no difficulties. Doesn't even get hot. Easy to match other 8 Ohm speaks in the system with pink noise. There is probably another issue at the heart of the problem. Continue checking connections and set up.

 

[Jake K]

He is running two 4 ohm speakers and three 6 ohm speakers, that is probably the cause of the receiver shutting down.



Connect the left and right front channel pre-outs on the H/K to any two inputs on the NAD, then turn off any bass management on the NAD, then switch it to whatever input you used, and finally turn the volume control all the way up on the NAD. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about the volume control, that seems like the way it should be done.

Then just recalibrate the speakers and crank it up for a while to see if it shuts down. With the 4 ohm load taken of the H/K it should work fine.