perfect match

supertec
supertec Posts: 12
edited September 2011 in Speakers
need advice. my ht setup lsi15s l/r @ 240 watts each---- lsic 200 watts all 4ohm loads. want to purchase the emotiva xpa-3 300 watts rms x 3 @ 4ohms for my front setup. is this too much power for these speakers? i am new to the world of home audio amps plz help!!
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited September 2011
    Welcome to Club Polk Supertec!

    That will be perfect for them. It is always better to have more power than less. Your speakers will only take the power that they need to operate to their full potential. What's important is to make sure that the power is THERE when needed. If you have surround speakers or plan to get some, I would suggest getting the XPA-5 and be done with this upgrade.

    What does the rest of your system consist of. You have bought some great speakers and will get years of joy out of them.
    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
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  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,093
    edited September 2011
    That'll do just fine. There's really no such thing as "too much power". Damage to speakers is done mainly by "underpowering" them.
    "2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
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  • supertec
    supertec Posts: 12
    edited September 2011
    cfrizz thanks a heap for your input greatly appreciated!! the rest of system consists of inegra 7.3 avr, surrond sides and rear polk lxi 5s, velodyne dlsr sub, t.v sony kdl 52xbr-9, sony bdp 1000es, sony cdp 335e, x-box 360 elite panamax 1200 power conditioner. sounds like great idea for 5 channel amp then i can add a 2 channel amp for my sides later.
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  • teamjhertz
    teamjhertz Posts: 361
    edited September 2011
    I had a XPA-3 on my LSi15's and LSiC and it sound great.
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  • 20hz
    20hz Posts: 636
    edited September 2011
    pearsall001 wrote: »
    That'll do just fine. There's really no such thing as "too much power". Damage to speakers is done mainly by "underpowering" them.

    yup probebly 90% of the dead speakers out there is from underpowering .
    its amazing how much power and for how long a good amp powers speakers !
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  • byfthalone
    byfthalone Posts: 345
    edited September 2011
    not to sidetrack this thread but what does underpowering do to a speaker? sorry if this is a novice question...
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  • rebuy
    rebuy Posts: 695
    edited September 2011
    byfthalone wrote: »
    not to sidetrack this thread but what does underpowering do to a speaker? sorry if this is a novice question...

    If the sound level you want to attain requires more power than your amp can produce it drives the amp into clipping and can burn your speakers voice coils up. That is why it is good to have more power than you need.
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  • dave shepard
    dave shepard Posts: 1,334
    edited September 2011
    It's not so much of underpowering the spoeakers that blows them it's not having quality power. You can have a tube amp which will have less power then a SS amp and not have a problem powering them to levels that will be more then you need. You can also have a quality lower powered SS amp such as a Mcintosh, M.L., Krell etc and never have an issue with it, simply putting a 2-3-400wpc amp behind a speaker does not mean you will not have a problem, my 2 cents.

    Dave
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited September 2011
    If a person has the money for a tube amp and likes the different softer sound of tubes fine. The same with having the money to purchase a Mcintosh, ML, Krell etc. that's great.

    Just about any electronic gear can give you problems for a variety of reasons.

    This isn't about problems, this is about ensuring that the OP has power to drive his speakers to their full potential. And usually the most economical way to do that is to get a high WPC amp to power the speakers.

    If the OP wants to experiment later on down the line with different types of amplification he is more than welcome to. We are simply trying to get him up and running as quickly as possible with a system that he can enjoy for quite some time that will sound terrific.
    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
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited September 2011
    supertec wrote: »
    cfrizz thanks a heap for your input greatly appreciated!! the rest of system consists of inegra 7.3 avr, surrond sides and rear polk lxi 5s, velodyne dlsr sub, t.v sony kdl 52xbr-9, sony bdp 1000es, sony cdp 335e, x-box 360 elite panamax 1200 power conditioner. sounds like great idea for 5 channel amp then i can add a 2 channel amp for my sides later.

    My pleasure Supertec, glad to be of help. Sounds like you have a good plan in place to have a rocking system! Enjoy.:smile:
    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
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  • dave shepard
    dave shepard Posts: 1,334
    edited September 2011
    cfrizz wrote: »
    If a person has the money for a tube amp and likes the different softer sound of tubes fine. The same with having the money to purchase a Mcintosh, ML, Krell etc. that's great.

    Just about any electronic gear can give you problems for a variety of reasons.

    This isn't about problems, this is about ensuring that the OP has power to drive his speakers to their full potential. And usually the most economical way to do that is to get a high WPC amp to power the speakers.

    If the OP wants to experiment later on down the line with different types of amplification he is more than welcome to. We are simply trying to get him up and running as quickly as possible with a system that he can enjoy for quite some time that will sound terrific.

    Those Mfg. examples were just examples. The point is that under powering a speaker being the cause of blowing drivers is just not true you do the damage from dirty power or refered to as distortion and you can get it from a Giga WPC amp that can't produce clean smooth power. I would always suggest that a person look at getting a higher quality amp even if it is not the most powerful because it will always outperform a lesser quality amp (I'm not saying he's looking at one now) but I am saying don't get caught up in the power rating as a sign of quality or assurance that you wont damage your speakers.

    Dave
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited September 2011
    And just what do you determine that "higher quality" on? How do you determine that the giga wpc amp doesn't/isn't producing smooth clean power? How do you determine that the higher quality, less power amp will "always" outperform this lesser quality amp?
    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
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  • Esreuter
    Esreuter Posts: 176
    edited September 2011
    What the hell is a gigawatt?

    ESR
    :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
    AVR: Sony 5600ES
    Center: CS2II (Clarity Caps PX, Perfect Lay coil, Mundorf resistors)
    Front: Monitor 70 II (Clarity Caps PX, Perfect Lay coils, Mundorf resistors)
    Surrounds: Monitor 40 II (Clarity Caps PX, Perfect Lay coil, Mundorf resistors)
    Rear Surrounds: Monitor 40 II (Clarity Caps PX, Perfect Lay coil, Mundorf resistors)
    More to come :biggrin:
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  • dave shepard
    dave shepard Posts: 1,334
    edited September 2011
    cfrizz wrote: »
    And just what do you determine that "higher quality" on? How do you determine that the giga wpc amp doesn't/isn't producing smooth clean power? How do you determine that the higher quality, less power amp will "always" outperform this lesser quality amp?


    Cathy,

    I didn't want to and am not going to get in an arguement about the differances in amps and their power I think we have all covered this before the best thing I can suggest is buy the best you can buy but if you can audition some models in a store somewhere do it.

    Dave
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,995
    edited September 2011
    1.21 gigawatt = 1.21 x 10^9 watts or or 1.21 billion watts. Also known as 1.0 DeLorean :-)

    also, 1.21 gigawatt = 16,226,367.3 horsepower
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,014
    edited September 2011
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    1.21 gigawatt = 1.21 x 10^9 watts or or 1.21 billion watts. Also known as 1.0 DeLorean :-)

    also, 1.21 gigawatt = 16,226,367.3 horsepower

    Yeah but.....will it drive M70's ?:tongue::tongue:
    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
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  • Esreuter
    Esreuter Posts: 176
    edited September 2011
    It will, but you have to mod it adding a Mr. Fusion, otherwise you'll have a major paradox.

    :biggrin::biggrin:
    ESR
    AVR: Sony 5600ES
    Center: CS2II (Clarity Caps PX, Perfect Lay coil, Mundorf resistors)
    Front: Monitor 70 II (Clarity Caps PX, Perfect Lay coils, Mundorf resistors)
    Surrounds: Monitor 40 II (Clarity Caps PX, Perfect Lay coil, Mundorf resistors)
    Rear Surrounds: Monitor 40 II (Clarity Caps PX, Perfect Lay coil, Mundorf resistors)
    More to come :biggrin:
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,995
    edited September 2011
    I think it's best to bi-amp, as well...
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  • supertec
    supertec Posts: 12
    edited September 2011
    i saw the rotel 1552 & 1582 amps as well. how does the emotiva xpa-3 compare to the rotel amps?
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited September 2011
    rebuy wrote: »
    If the sound level you want to attain requires more power than your amp can produce it drives the amp into clipping and can burn your speakers voice coils up. That is why it is good to have more power than you need.

    +1

    This is true of both tubes and solid state.
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,014
    edited September 2011
    When I saw the thread title, I thought "cool, Halle Berry pics ", couldn't have been that lucky.
    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
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited September 2011
    supertec wrote: »
    i saw the rotel 1552 & 1582 amps as well. how does the emotiva xpa-3 compare to the rotel amps?

    Rotel is an outstanding company that makes solid gear. Go with the 1572, 1582 or the 1575 for multichannel use.
    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
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,864
    edited September 2011
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    also, 1.21 gigawatt = 16,226,367.3 horsepower

    Is that Brake Horse Power ?
    Sal Palooza
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  • pietro944
    pietro944 Posts: 720
    edited September 2011
    tonyb wrote: »
    Yeah but.....will it drive M70's ?:tongue::tongue:

    ...it will drive you to the car wash....and back:smile:
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  • supertec
    supertec Posts: 12
    edited September 2011
    are emotiva amps less quality than rotel.
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  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,336
    edited September 2011
    http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=3&oq=emotiva+vs+&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS422US423&q=emotiva+vs+rotel

    Google is your friend....its a pleasant weekend lets try to keep it that way....discussions like this and great cable debates start a "soap opera" effect
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
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