Enough power from RC270 to drive Monitor 70s?

ddkalfa

Hi everyone. My system is composed of:

Onkyo RC270
Polk Monitors 70
Polk Monitors 30
Polk Monitor CS2

When I run Audissey, it sets center at -7db, and surrounds at -9db. I find it a bit strange that it's "killing" the center and surrounds that much.

Maybe that has to do with the fact that the RC270 might be struggling to drive the towers, while it can surely drive the 30s and CS2 easily, so the equalization has to kill the smaller speakers to compensate?

I also noticed that when listening to stereo on the towers I can easily go to 75-80 and even 85 volume on the receiver (from 0 to100) when having a party at my house. OK, it is loud, but it is not insanely or window-breaking loud, as one would expect when getting that close to maximum volume .. So maybe that would also account for not enough power to drive the 70s?

What are your thoughts?

My question also derives from the fact that my RC270 is presenting problems with the infra-red sensor, so I can't control the receiver through the remote (which is a real pain). So I will return it to Amazon, and was wondering if I should get the same receiver again, or maybe invest a bit more and get something else that will enhance sound on the 70s? I would be able to invest a bit more, like 100-150 or so, but not more..

Ron Temple

That receiver will drive your 70s just fine. If I were you I'd go into the setup options and change your M/V scale from absolute (0-100) to the other method (can't remember what it's called), but it usually starts at -80 to + 8 or so. When you're at -0, supposed reference level(that depends on many things), then you know there's not much gas is left in the tank...and it will be very loud. Most of us watch movies from -20 to -10.

As far as where Audyssey sets your center and surrounds. It calculates distance and volume so that all your speakers arrive at your ears simultaneously and level matched. It's not crushing anything. If it doesn't sound quite right to you, run it again or get a SPL meter and do it manually. I do both, manual first, then run Aud. The speaker level trims should be in the negative to avoid clipping. The IR issue maybe a deal breaker, but the unit is equivalent to the 7xx series, has pre-outs and should be a great solution for your speakers.

dnoyeB

I had that exact receiver with those same front speakers. I also felt that the speakers could handle everything the AVR could throw at them. I could max the AVR and still not distort the speakers. I put the AVR into bi-amp mode. I felt that was good enough.

Anyway, I bought the 270 because it had pre-amp outputs. So you can always buy an external amp. I don't think you will find much more power out of an AVR for just a few hundred dollars more.

I ended up getting an Audiosource 310 amplifier. Unfortunately, I returned the 270 because I was unhappy with its internet behavior. So I haven't really tested the amp with the 70s and a proper AVR yet. Got a used pioneer on the way.

mdaudioguy

dnoyeB wrote: »

I had that exact receiver with those same front speakers. I also felt that the speakers could handle everything the AVR could throw at them. I could max the AVR and still not distort the speakers.

No distortion at max volume? That's probably because your hearing is shot.

slammin86

I have the same setup (see sig)

Although I felt the 70's did "ok" off of the rc270, I suspected something was lacking. I began looking for a 3 channel amp to drive my center and towers and came across the acurus. Now the front 3 channels are getting a real 200+ watts a piece and the difference is night and day.

dnoyeB

mdaudioguy wrote: »

No distortion at max volume? That's probably because your hearing is shot.

I mean the speakers were not the source of the distortion. It was obvious that they could take more power than they were receiving.

Geoff4rfc

dnoyeB wrote: »

I had that exact receiver with those same front speakers. I also felt that the speakers could handle everything the AVR could throw at them. I could max the AVR and still not distort the speakers. I put the AVR into bi-amp mode. I felt that was good enough.

dnoyeB wrote: »

I mean the speakers were not the source of the distortion. It was obvious that they could take more power than they were receiving.

?????????????????? This is generally where clipping occurs, by feeding too much into the speaker with an underpowered source. The result should have been in the form of distortion.

That is one special 270 you had, should've held on to it.