Power

I have polk monitor 75t speakers they say 20 to 275 watts... I running 120 watts to each on my hk 3490.. My? Is will they play louder and sound better if I use a pa audio amp 300 rms to each

Best Answers

  • Justinthomas1977
    Justinthomas1977 Posts: 35
    Answer ✓
    Mad power and an equal amount of sound quality. There was a small amount of buzz about this amp on some Home Audio boards. Some people said such an inexpensive amp just couldn't sound good and had no place in a Home Audio rig. Funny thing is, this was said by people who hadn't heard it. Those who heard it in their systems were amazed at what they heard. Even more impressive is that it delivers sonic performace rivaling that of MUCH more expensive audiophile amps. I'm driving a pair of Magnepans which are VERY revealing speakers and they reveal this amp to be wonderfully powerful and transparent.

    The bass is clean, tight and powerfull. The mids are totally transparent. The highs are very detailed, clear and extended. Whatever your source supplies, it will be faithfully passed on to your speakers. I've been an audio enthusiast for over thirty-five years and these ears know good sound when they hear it. Detail, dynamics and headroom. This amp has these by the boat load. Listen for any sonic warts or shortcommings and you won't hear any. Often, high end speakers present difficult loads, have low sensitivity or just plain don't sound good unless driven by a powerfull amp with plenty of headroom. Usually these amps are very expensive. With a EP1500, you can drive these speakers without going broke to do so. If you're going to seperates for a music system or bypassing your HT receiver's onboard amps to get big power, this is your ticket. A big, high quality SS amp just makes speakers play better!
  • Justinthomas1977
    Justinthomas1977 Posts: 35
    Answer ✓
    Lol OK bye I'm leaving
  • Justinthomas1977
    Justinthomas1977 Posts: 35
    edited September 2018 Answer ✓
    How but this.. Is it Better then my 120 wpc hk 3490 receiver ki83po61hxcm.jpg
  • Justinthomas1977
    Justinthomas1977 Posts: 35
    Answer ✓
    FestYboy wrote: »
    Like I said Justin, look at eBay to save some (a lot) of money on the 545...

    https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/223159318137

    I'm in Canada your dollar is diff then shipping I think 300 is cheap
«13

Answers

  • mlistens03
    mlistens03 Posts: 2,767
    They’ll sound better on the H&K, but not because of the power rating. The H&K is a better amp, designed for sound quality, whereas the pro amp is designed to be able to take lots of abuse, such as running at 100% power for extended periods of time.
    Take this advice from a guy who bought a pro amp, and is now stuck with it. :)
  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 6,646
    The higher number of watts is less a factor than the quality of watts, and amps (current) even more so. Most PA amps sacrifice sound quality for ability to provide volume in larger rooms (venues as apposed to home listening).
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    I have polk monitor 75t speakers they say 20 to 275 watts... I running 120 watts to each on my hk 3490.. My? Is will they play louder and sound better if I use a pa audio amp 300 rms to each

    No
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    Short, sweet, to the point, and correct. LOL.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • Viking64 wrote: »
    The higher number of watts is less a factor than the quality of watts, and amps (current) even more so. Most PA amps sacrifice sound quality for ability to provide volume in larger rooms (venues as apposed to home listening).

    These speakers will clip and blow tweets when I put up vol to high so I thought more power will solve this
  • mlistens03 wrote: »
    They’ll sound better on the H&K, but not because of the power rating. The H&K is a better amp, designed for sound quality, whereas the pro amp is designed to be able to take lots of abuse, such as running at 100% power for extended periods of time.
    Take this advice from a guy who bought a pro amp, and is now stuck with it. :)

    How much more crappy did they sound..? And how bout 300w to each with home amp but they wayyyyy more money
  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 6,646
    These speakers will clip and blow tweets when I put up vol to high so I thought more power will solve this

    Well, that's another question altogether. The answer is likely "yes" that this might solve clipping issues. Will it play LOUDER? Most likely. Will it sound BETTER? Very unlikely.

    Loud. Good sound. Inexpensive. Pick 2 of the 3.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    Viking64 wrote: »
    The higher number of watts is less a factor than the quality of watts, and amps (current) even more so. Most PA amps sacrifice sound quality for ability to provide volume in larger rooms (venues as apposed to home listening).

    These speakers will clip and blow tweets when I put up vol to high so I thought more power will solve this

    First lesson, all watts are not created equal.

    Second lesson, to increase the volume level by 3dB it takes twice the power. Going from your 120wpc amp to a 300wpc amp will gain you roughly 3.5dB.

    Third lesson, one can make just about any amp clip by turning up the volume too far.

    Fourth lesson, a cheap amp gets you bad sound.

    Fifth lesson, a good amp costs money.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    6th lesson....if you like it louder, you bought the wrong speakers. Buy speakers that can handle that loudness like PA speakers, Crappier sound, but they'll go louder.

    7th lesson....everything has it's limits. Turn the volume knob down if you don't want to keep blowing tweets.

    8th lesson....those "recommended watts" on the back of speakers mean little.

    9th lesson....get your read on and learn about audio. More to it than just buying a pair of speakers and cranking on the volume knob.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    10th lesson, take heed to the advice here. I did, but must admit took a lot longer than 24hours to get 9 lessons! You must be in the condensed course!

    Welcome Justin! Hang around, lots of good advice here, and information.

    My tenure here on CP has been very informative, and fun! :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
  • mrloren
    mrloren Posts: 2,454
    edited September 2018
    If you want loud, get Cerwin Vega. About all they are good for is going very loud.

    Now if you want sound quality please listen to these people.
    When I was a kid my parents told me to turn it down. Now I'm an adult and my kids tell me to turn it down.
    Family Room:LG QNED80 75", Onkyo RZ50 Emotiva XPA3 GEN3 Oppo BDP-93,Sony UBP-X800BM. Main: Polk LsiM 705Center: Polk LSiM 704CFront High/Rear High In-Ceiling Polk 80F/X RT Surrounds: Polk S15 Sub: HSU VTF3-MK5
    Bed Room; Marantz SR5010, BDP-S270Main: Polk Signature S20Center: Polk Signature S35Rear: Polk R15 Sub: SVS SB2000
    Working Warehouse; Yamaha A-S301, Sony DVP-NS3100ES for disc Plok TSX550T SVS PB2000 Mini tower PC with 400GB of music
  • I'm done here. And I no all this stuff ppl are telling me I been in home and car audio long time I just have never heard pro audio stuff ever in home audio.. And this a polk audio forum polk ain't that great of a speaker I bought for the cheap price.. In other high quality forms ppl say some of the pro stuff sounds good... I'm looking for clean and loud I don't care about Sq hell I think cerwin Vegas sound good any ways thx I'm finished here
  • Oh and I sold my klipsch rf82s I miss those they got loud and had high sensitivity only sold cuz they got all banged up
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    The scary thing is that he walks among us. There should be an IQ test given before someone can join here.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • polrbehr
    polrbehr Posts: 2,825
    edited September 2018
    F1nut wrote: »
    The scary thing is that he walks among us. There should be an IQ test given before someone can join here.

    He plays a good game of golf though, have to give credit where it's due ;)

    Seriously though, stick around, it's not that bad here and you can get some really solid
    advice. NO ONE will intentionally steer you wrong.
    So, are you willing to put forth a little effort or are you happy sitting in your skeptical poo pile?


    http://audiomilitia.proboards.com/
  • Milito
    Milito Posts: 1,907
    Just because they tell you what you don't want to hear, doesn't mean it's wrong. There are some people here who know a lot about audio.
    Yamaha RX-A2070, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp, Benchmark Dac1, Bluesound NODE 2i, Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport, Parasound Zphono USB Phono Preamp, Fluance RT85, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Polk L600's, L400, L900's, RC80i's, SVS 3000 Micro, Audioquest Interconnects and Digital Cables, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, Cullen Gold and Crossover Series Power Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 12AWG OCC Speaker Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha Analog Interconnect Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 11 OCC Custom Power Cable, Signal Power Cable, Furman PL-8C 15 Power Conditioner, Sony 65" 900F, Sony UBP-X700, Fios, Apple TV 4K, Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables.
  • Justinthomas1977
    Justinthomas1977 Posts: 35
    edited September 2018
    Will this rotel 70wpc be a down grade from my hk 3490 120wpc louder sound better? 9zmfagjk11v0.jpg
  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    Rotel makes very good amps. All things being equal at the very least it will be equal to the HK since the only job that the Rotel has to do is power your speakers. Go for it.
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    F1nut wrote: »
    The scary thing is that he walks among us. There should be an IQ test given before someone can join here.

    But, but... then y'all wouldn't have me...

    umm...

    wait...

    OK, I see your point.
  • mrloren
    mrloren Posts: 2,454
    My Teen setup was 15" Cerwin Vega (D9 I think) and Polk bookshelf speakers. When I wanted it loud I used the Vegas, when I wanted SQ I used the Polks.

    Car audio to home audio is a a lot different. Cars are small compared to homes. A lot more space to fill in a home.

    A receiver has a lot to task the power supply with. As in car audio you get better cleaner power from a separate amp.
    When I was a kid my parents told me to turn it down. Now I'm an adult and my kids tell me to turn it down.
    Family Room:LG QNED80 75", Onkyo RZ50 Emotiva XPA3 GEN3 Oppo BDP-93,Sony UBP-X800BM. Main: Polk LsiM 705Center: Polk LSiM 704CFront High/Rear High In-Ceiling Polk 80F/X RT Surrounds: Polk S15 Sub: HSU VTF3-MK5
    Bed Room; Marantz SR5010, BDP-S270Main: Polk Signature S20Center: Polk Signature S35Rear: Polk R15 Sub: SVS SB2000
    Working Warehouse; Yamaha A-S301, Sony DVP-NS3100ES for disc Plok TSX550T SVS PB2000 Mini tower PC with 400GB of music
  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    "all shut eyes aint sleep and all goodbyes aint gone"
  • Wow ppl on forms got lit of time on there hands... I can't tell diff frm a sony receiver frm a marantz or onkyo
  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    I can't tell diff frm a sony receiver frm a marantz or onkyo

    Sounds like a personal problem.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 6,646
    Wow ppl on forms got lit of time on there hands... I can't tell diff frm a sony receiver frm a marantz or onkyo

    Oh dear.
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    Justin Justin Justin. Listen and learn. Nice and easy. Don’t try and go toe to toe with these guys, they really know what they’re talking about. I’m a testimony to their tutelage. Come in with open mindedness, not fists clenched and swinging. Read my threads. You too can take a similar journey.
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.