Getting new reciever got a question (1 Viewer)

[gnarly0531]

so im sorry if a similar question has already been asked but im pretty new to home theater know some basics but still plenty to learn. so im helping my dad out because his current receiver a dolby/dts 5.1 and dolby pro logic I. so it is a little dated and the subwoofer pre out is not working and he would like to upgrade. im looking at an Onkyo TX-SR508. currently his speakers are 100 watts at 8 ohms max. The reciever is rated at 80 watts per 8ohm channel. so here is my question it says 80 watts at 8ohms but doesnt this only apply if im going to have all 7 speakers in the 7.1 array wired, if i only had 5 what would the watts look like to all 5 channels? And another question is do you think if i upgraded to something that says 100 watts at 8ohms the 100 watt max 8ohm speakers will be ok an example receiver would be the Onkyo TX-SR608. thanks for the help guys sorry if the question is confusing.

 

[misterbk]

The 100w on the speakers is a maximum rating. It does not indicate that the speaker will "try" to draw that power from the receiver, just that if you continuously drive the speaker with more than that amount of power the speaker is likely to stop working.


In a way you might be correct that a receiver driving 5 channels might gain the capacity to pump out a few more watts, but that is not how they are built. The receiver has a common power source, but an independent amplifier for each channel. Each amplifier is set up so that when the volume is at max it will put out a certain maximum power. Not putting a speaker on some channels won't cause more energy to flow through the other channels, it will just put less drain on the common power source.


BUT - I all but guarantee you that none of that will matter to you. I have two speakers on an 80w-per-channel receiver. If I raise the volume to 75% the system is "stupidly loud" and I would never keep it at that level for fear of losing my hearing and/or neighbors arriving at my door with torches and pitchforks. If your old amp was capable of putting out 100w of power and you never raised the volume knob past 40%, you still have plenty of room to crank it up at 80w.


Now, if your speakers have less volume output per watt than mine do, and you found yourself cranking your old receiver up towards max, then it's possible you might want a receiver that goes up to the limit of your speakers. I've just never seen an amp capable of 80w-per-channel actually being used with the volume over 50%.

 

[gnarly0531]

all of what you said makes perfect sense i forgot to take into account the volume control, you are right i normally never go above around 50% either. thank you for the reply it has helped a lot. and also i know this is changing the thread topic but what are opinions on onkyo's receivers.

 

[misterbk]

Trying to figure that out myself! I've been hovering over the "buy" button on one of those for months...