Matching your wattage.

Esreuter

Hey forum,

So, been thinking about my external amplifications.

I was really going to go with a Xpa2 for the front channels 300watts@8ohm and then a xpa5 for the rest of the system 200watts@8ohm.

But i have been thinking, it is a good idea to mis match your wattage?

Will this cause an imbalance among speakers in a 7.1 setup?

any one have any experience mising or keeping your wattage all the same, please share.

ESR:loneranger::loneranger::loneranger:

Syndil

FWIW my GFA-6000 is a 5-channel amplifier. 3x 100W + 2x 60W. The reasoning here is that the surrounds in a 5.1 channel setup are not going to be full-range speakers and therefore do not require as much power to be driven as the fronts or the center. They are also usually closer to the listener and therefore do not need to be as loud as the fronts or the center either. Works just fine.

tonyb

That all depends on what surrounds you have. Generally speaking, don't worry about matching wattage as the gain can be adjusted through speaker levels and thats how you match everything up. Given you have monitors, the xpa5 is more than enough alone.

dudeinaroom

I might be wrong..... but I think your adcom GFA-6000 is from the days of prologic when they were running limited bandwidth to the rear channels so there was no need for equal wattage. If you're running with out a sub, or no x-over on your mains I see no problem having a little more up front as bass is where the majority of an amps grunt work is done.

Syndil

ProLogic vs current formats has nothing to do with whether or not you need equal wattage.

dorokusai

Nope. This is not an issue you need to be worried about.

SDA1C

I'f you go with Emotiva, I'd be more incline to use the xpa-3 for the front and center and an xpa 5 for the rest.

Yes you.ll have a lingering channel in 7.1 but if you decide on a center rear you are already set for it. The dialogue center in a theater needs just as much as the fronts.

mdaudioguy

I once ran my fronts with an XPA-2 and my center and surrounds with an XPA-3. Once the AVR's auto-calibration was completed and everything was level-matched, the stage was seamless across the front 3. The wpc do not need to be equal. The combo you suggested would serve a HT application nicely. I'm thinking the XPA-2 would work nicely with music in 2-channel mode.

Esreuter

thanks every one.

I was hoping that the mix of the 2 amps would work.

I chose the xpa2 for the towers because of that reason, they are towers and i believe they needed a little more omph.

Sounds like I wont have much to worry about with all the calibration stuff out there and the power will blend in nicely and wake the system up to its full potential.

Please feel free to add more, I am always looking to learn.

ESR:loneranger: