"chrisc" <cchristanis@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:13stjp0ndfct71b@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>I know these are outdated. I am unhappy with the power and clarity of the
>receiver and or speakers. I assume they both have to do with it. I
usually
>only turn the receiver up 1/2 - 3/4 volume. Would I benefit more from
>replacing the speakers or receiver? The receiver is 110x2 and the
speakers
>are 150 wts. I would like to replace the receiver because it needs to be
>upgraded to catch up with todays home theater setups (hdmi, surround,
other
>inputs, etc.). Thanks alot
>
You will find that as far as the sound of your system goes, upgrading your
speakers will have more impact than anything else, by a factor of about
10.
Your system will only EVER sound as good as the loudspeakers, no matter
whether you spend $25,000 on the other components.
More power DOES NOT always equal better sound. If you can add, subtract,
multiply, and divide, there are simple formulas to use to determine how
much
power you need to fill a room to a certain sound level. It depends on the
efficiency of your speakers... they range from a low of about 85db/W/m to
as
high as 107db/w/m and the size of your room. Every three decibels is a
doubling of sound level, so 106db speakers will put out roughly 7 times
the
sound for a given input than 85db/w/m speakers. What that means is that a
15wpc tube amp will drive 106db speakers as loud as a 100+wpc amp will
drive
the 85db/w/m ones. If you're never going above 1/2 with your 110wpc,
you're
wasting your money buying an amp with "more power". Also, realize that
doubling the sound level from, say, 104 to 107db will be basically
unnoticable to the listener... your ears will be bleeding anyways. As a
reference, there are tube amplifiers built which cost >$5K, some several
times that, which put out 1-3wpc. The whole quality vs. qty thing. these
amps are used to drive highly efficient horn speakers.
Most modern solid state amps by reputable brands such as Sony, Denon,
Yamaha, etc. are going to give you accurate sound reproduction with
minimal
distortion. There are some in this group that will swear by $80
off-the-shelf Circuit City amps, stating that they are every bit as good
as
something costing 10 times the price. If your amp is old, say 10 years or
so, it will probably benefit from a bit of routine maintenance.
Electrolytic capacitors have a lifespan, resistor values drift, and over
time your amp won't sound as good as it did when it was new.
Unfortunately,
amps are so damn cheap that unless you can do the work yourself, it's
likely
to cost you as much or more to refurbish what you've got as it would to
just
go buy a new one. A nasty attribute of our throwaway society.
Be wary of power ratings on home theatre equipment, they are, for the most
part, a sales gimmick pitched to the more-power-equals-bigger-***** crowd.
Look for continuous RMS output ratings, if they are even used any more.
Just because I build an amp with 200,000uF of capacitance, allowing me a
peak instantaneous output spike of 700W every 20 seconds or so, that does
NOT mean that my amp should be rated at 700W, yet that's how the home
theatre stuff seems to be rated. They also will rate an amp at its'
absolute maximum output, even though that output might sound like **** at
that volume due to high distortion. But it gets the big number on the
box.
Before using the shotgun approach to component acquisition, sit down and
figure out what you want. Do you want multi-channel home theatre, or will
you be happy with two-channel stereo? What kind of music do you listen
to?
what is your usual listening level? Go listen to some speakers. Take
your
speakers over to a friend's place and listen to them on another amp. IF
you
end up with new speakers, how efficient are they? How much power is
likely
to be needed to generate an acceptable level of noise? WHAT IS YOUR
BUDGET?
Do you need new or would something used suffice?
Everybody has their own priorities.
have fun.
Dave
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