Powering Monitor 70's w/ Pioneer 1020?

FearMyWrX

I've heard some people saying that you can blow/clip your speakers by under powering them? I've Been eye balling The M70's and the Pioneer 1020 for a while now and finally found an excuse to pull the trigger. We have a big 4th of July party at our house. The reason I wanted to get these speakers is from reviews and I wanted something that could really pump out some sound.

I know my AVR is pushing out about 110wpc but from what I am reading that is only when people are running R/L now the whole system correct? In any case, I'd most likely just be running the M70's along with an independently powered subwoofer.

I just got everything today and hooked up. So I guess my question is can I get this things turned up pretty loud with out damaging my speakers and or AVR? With things all HDMI'd up I got it up to a little over 0.0 db. The sound range on my receiver is (-60. db ) to 12. When getting them up to that volume they seemed to be handling the sound like champs... I just want to make sure... I just spend a little over $500 for everything brand spankin new and I'd hate to make a stupid mistake and blow through all that for nothing.

Thanks for all help and feedback in advanced. Im reading as much as possible and trying to self educate aswell.

B Run

As long as it sounds clear and clean you're probably ok. Just be careful if you hear any distortion.

FearMyWrX

It sounded relatively clear.... I just don't want to make sure I am not overloading anything. There is a slight loss of clarity when really turning it up, not like a crappy car stereo though... If that makes sense.

Glowrdr

Just to play it safe, I would definately keep it below the 0 mark. And when you say there is a slight loss of clarity - the next step is clipping. Just keep that in mind before you try to inch up the volume little by little.

It's not going to magically blow up your system the first time, but you do want to keep it in the back of your mind to not be cranking the system up all the time. Have fun though!

FearMyWrX

Oh of course, I didn't just hook it up then see how loud it could go. I've been gradually playing with it for the last 8 hours or so. Trying of differnt genres of music and what not. Where there seems to be the "Slight Loss" is when Im playing stuff with heavy bass (Rap/Hip hop) sometimes that can slightly distort the mids... I just played FireWorks by Katie Perry and wow.... Sounds Amazing without the loss of quality at the higher volumes, maybe due to the lesser amount of base.


So pretty much these speakers aren't going to be underpowered on my AVR?

FearMyWrX

So I Just turned off the Center Speaker (15 year old yamaha speaker, still rips though and turned down the sub and the P70s got extremely loud and didn't seem to loose any sound quality.

The loss of quality must have been from the old Yamaha Center and the Sub not being able to keep the notes clear at that volume.

B Run

I'd put some time on those speakers before pushing them too hard too. They're not even close to broken in yet.

Glowrdr

For the most part yes. That is a "safe" assumption. But like you have already learned - different music can act different ways. Plus, once the receiver starts heating up, it can act a little different as well. I've got the SC-37, and I don't even crank it up all the way just to play it safe. The nice thing about these speakers (I have the same) - is that they can handle a lot more than we can give them. Think of it more this way... it's not necessarily underpowering them. It's feeding them dirty power. Anything above about 50% volume introduces unwanted noise. This is what actually damages the speakers. You can clip these speakers with a 100 watt amp just as easily as a 400 watt amp - there is no magical safe number.

FearMyWrX

B Run - Thanks for the Advice, I've only played them hard for a combined 3 or 4 minutes I'd say. Ill keep it mild before I try experimenting too much. It's hard to wait to really see the speakers capabilities. It is seeming that ever song they are starting to sound better.

Glowrdr - Thanks for a more understandable about the Clipping and how it works. Its understandable that over 50% can start feeding it dirty volume energy. I have also found that my receiver has started to get a little warmer as Im pumping a lot of juice through it. Something I need to keep an eye out on aswell.

These questions are coming from the fact that I have some old but still seemly decent audio equipment and I just wasn't exactly sure what to expect with todays days speakers..

Also Im in a 6500 sq ft home and I'd like to hear the music through out the house and also while Im working outside.

Lietuvis91

Since you have a sub, set the m70s to small or some hz rate around 80hz depending on what settings the 1020 allows, avoid full or large or whatever pioneers use. This will take some load off the speaker making better use of the little power it does get from the receiver, and should result in cleaner/clearer sound at higher volumes, and help to minimize the chances of any damage, hopefully. Play with the settings on your sub to fill in the lower frequencies to your taste.

Good luck!

FearMyWrX

Thanks,

Thats something that I will do. There are sooooo many options with this/these new receivers. I have a lot of reading in the manual to try to figure all of this out. This receiver was suppose to be EASY TO USE, where it maybe compared to others but still very complex (in my mind) hah.

txcoastal1

Fear I had a couple of trip in a couple weeks including my LSi25 on a 1020...your cool

If you can let the speakers run on medium if u go to work tomorrow or whenever but like others said if your music warbles turn it down