I have the following setup polk rt800 cs400 rtfx surrounds kenwood 103sw sony str-de925 receiver. I am looking to upgrade my a/v receiver. Also want to add rear surrounds. Any suggestion on a receiver, budget in the $1000.00 range.
I would recommend the Elite-vsx53 or the Marantz 7400. Both have excellent power supplies and the kind of sonics that match well with the Polk's. The H/K 630 is also worth a listen but is not quite as good a value as the other two IMO. If you can still find a hold over H/K 7200 that would be a great choice but the H/K are very shy on inputs. All will sound very nice with your Polk's which I like by the way. Good luck.
curious
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hey therealelitefan - will the elite or the marantz drive both 4ohms and 8 ohms speakers (polks) ?
Not so well. I dont know how low does the Polks drop, but if it's close to 2 ohms then the Marantz and Pioneer are not best choices. H/K will do a better job.
curious
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how about yahmaha? how will that handle the ohms situation?
Yamaha and Polk would be a bad combination sonically. I think the Elite 53 will drive a 4 ohm speaker as that's a standard of a THX receiver, it must pass a 3.2 ohm spec. This subject has been up for debate on this board but I will defer to the THX spokesman who answered this question in last month's issue of Home Theater.
curious
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thanks i will be sure to look at the elite 53 any other suggestions for my polks?
Just the usual suspects above. H/K and NAD and Marantz if they drive 4 ohm speakers. I know a dealer who sells Dynaudio speakers[4 0hm] with Marantz and tells me it's no problem but I don't know for sure. Which Polk's do you have?
curious
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i just bought (more like stealing, great deal) on a center speak-csi30 and a pair of rt35i. again, i am now in search of a receiver that will match up well with these. i hate to go over a $1,000.
What about denon 4303 or 4305? Why don't receiver mfr. list spec's for 4 ohms? Am I right in assuming that a reciever should be able to produce twice the wattage when driving 4 ohm speakers? these are the specs for Polk's RT series overall Frequency Response 30Hz - 26kHz Lower -3dB Limit 45Hz Upper -3dB Limit 25kHz Nominal Impedance 8 ohms Recommended Amplifier Power 20 - 150 w/channel Efficiency 90 dB
Most manufacturers don't list specs for 4-ohm speakers because most of them don't design receivers to drive them. Most receivers do not employ power supplies that are robust enough to handle the high-current demands of 4-ohm speakers, particularly at higher volumes.
However, since there are relatively few 4-ohm speakers on the market, I doubt that companies specializing in mass-market products are really all that concerned about them.
Some receivers will "cheat" by allowing you to engage a current-limiting switch, which keeps the speaker from drawing too much current through the power supply.
Also, as far as the THX spec goes, keep in mind that a 4-ohm speaker would likely drop down to 2 or 3 ohms for the lower frequencies, since it is only nominally rated at 4 ohms.
Am I right in assuming that a reciever should be able to produce twice the wattage when driving 4 ohm speakers?
Yes, in theory, a perfect amplifier would double the output power at half the impedance. However, you are rarely if ever going to see this in a receiver, particularly for continuous power output.
Here's some power measurements of AVRs with different loads. All numbers are 20ms burst power to five channels (per channel). 8/4/2 ohm:
H/K AVR325: 87 / 110 / 120 W Pioneer AX3(=53): 115 / 175 / 72 W Yamaha V1400: 130 / 120 / 54 W
As you can see H/K is the only one with no problems at 2 ohms. Though the Pioneer is the overall winner and will propably work fine with 4 ohm speakers.