Rookie question about benefits of power (1 Viewer)

[Marshall Sander]

I have the following in wall/in ceiling speakers:

B&W Sig7NT - Freq. Resp. 40hz - 25KHz; Sensitivity 88db; 8 ohms (front left and right)

B&W CCM 80 - Same (rear left and right)

B&W CMC CC - Freq. Resp. 65hz - 20KHz; Sensitivity 88db; 8 ohms (center)

Energy subwoofer (small)

I am thinking of buying a HK 520 receiver (75 Watts per channel @

 

[Saurav]

1. Depends mostly on how big your room is, i.e. how far away the speakers are from you, and what volume you like to listen at. If you have numbers for either of those, people can give you a much better idea. In a small/medium sized room, 75 wpc sounds like it should be fine.

2. Almost certainly, yes. Most people who've tried this seem to like it. If you listen to a lot of music in stereo, this becomes even more relevant.

3. Don't see why not, though I think some of this depends on receiver/hookup specifics. Again, in general, you're probably better off using the external amps for your most important channels (front 2, front 3, and so on, depending on how many channels of external amplification you get). That would be better than using dedicated amps for surround channels and the receiver's amps for the fronts.

 

[Marshall Sander]

My room is 20 x 15. The tv is centered on the 20 ft. wall (with center speaker on top). Front left and right are approx. 8 ft. apart, 5ft. high. Rear speakers are approx. 12 ft. apart, 9 ft. high.

Seating area is approx. 10 ft. from the tv., 5 ft. from back wall.

Most listening is done at comfortable levels -- I don't know a technical way to descibe the sound level, but it's loud enough to clearly hear the music, but low enough to talk to someone 4 ft away. Sometimes I do play it very loud.

 

[Saurav]

I think you'll be fine. I'm running 88dB speakers on 8W tube amps, in a room that's almost exactly the same configuration as yours. That plays loud enough for me (80dB on the second click of my volume control), easily loud enough that you have to yell to be heard over the music. So, 75W should be sufficient