RTIa9's bi-amp powered onkyo 3008.... is it enough

Ginn

I recently bought an Onkyo TX-NR3008 which is pushing out 9.2 x 140watts
Up front I picked up a pair of Polk RTIa9's which are very power hungry, to go with my CSIa6 and FXI3's, and a psw505.

The 3008 allows me to by-amp them so I'm throwing 280watts to each speaker.

Do you think that is enough or do you think I should pick up a power amp? If so what kind of power amp do you recommend? The Onkyo amp is 2 x 80wpc which is apparently more power than my 280wpc onkyo receiver.
I don't quite understand that.

Need help which way to go..... is 280wpc with the 3008 enough or do I need a power amp?

Cheers,

Serendipity

The Onkyo TX-NR3008 does not put out a true 140watts when all 9 channels are driven. Unfortunately, the specs may lead you to believe that it is a 140W*9ch receiver. However, the power output is usually rated with two channels driven 20Hz to 20kHz at an unknown duty cycle.

As a result, I would suggest finding a good power amp such as the Parasound HALO A51 or upgrade to a higher-end receiver such as the Denon AVR-580x series. I experienced a huge performance gain (both sound quality and output) going from my Onkyo to the Denon AVR-5800.

tonyb

Nice receiver, congrats. I would not worry so much about running the 9's on that receiver. It's beefer than most, but to get that last ounce of performance out of them, you could add an amp and up your pleasure. When you biamp from the receiver, your giving the other speakers less power. Just hook them up with one channel each and you should be fine.

justlord

tonyb wrote: »

Nice receiver, congrats. I would not worry so much about running the 9's on that receiver. It's beefer than most, but to get that last ounce of performance out of them, you could add an amp and up your pleasure. When you biamp from the receiver, your giving the other speakers less power. Just hook them up with one channel each and you should be fine.

I like the Onkyo brand myself, but I agree with tonyb. An inexpensive, even used, external dedicated amp would do your A9's justice. Parasound is a nice looking amp that I wouldn't mind buying if I had $5000, and if you have it, go for it. There other amps out there that don't cost as much, including the Emotiva amps, such XPA-2 or for home theater use, XPA-5. What I do like about the Polk forums are the number of audiophiles that pitch in about the number of amps and resources available.

Good luck :-)

rebuy

I think you should use jumpers and forget bi wiring. You have to use 2 sets of outputs to bi wire and that reduces amp output. Even if it's just 5 or 10 WPC, it still reduces output. The less outputs you use, the more power you have to the outputs you are using.

EndersShadow

Short answer from my phone: bi amping as described by onkyo doesn't do what they say it does. Use one set of wire to the speaker and make your own jumper.

I tried it about 5 ways from sunday using my Integra and a dedicated 5 channel amp. Slight difference w a dedicated amp but only @ high volumes w my lsi speakers. You prob wouldn't notice anything w your RTis.

Bi wiring v a custom jumper is a toss-up. I have bi wired and jumpered and couldn't tell the diff. Price wise though it's cheaper to buy regular wire (of high quality) than bi wire cables

Ginn

Thanks for the advice.

So if I was going to just get a 2 channel amp for the RTIa9's how many watts per channel should I be looking at?
They say the speakers need 50-500 so if i'm going from giving them 140-280 (depending on bi-amping them) what should I be looking for from an amp, because a power amp is rated different from my receiver.
Cheers,

tonyb

rebuy wrote: »

I think you should use jumpers and forget bi wiring. You have to use 2 sets of outputs to bi wire and that reduces amp output. Even if it's just 5 or 10 WPC, it still reduces output. The less outputs you use, the more power you have to the outputs you are using.

Huh ?? Where did you come up with you need two sets of outputs to bi-wire ? How does bi-wireing lower wattage output ?

Ginn

I didn't understand that either. The amp is 9 x 140. You can change all the setting in the on screen display to bi-amp the front speakers. I'm only using 5 speakers so i'm not using all the channels.

tonyb

Ginn wrote: »

I didn't understand that either. The amp is 9 x 140. You can change all the setting in the on screen display to bi-amp the front speakers. I'm only using 5 speakers so i'm not using all the channels.

Your also probably not throwing 280 watts at them either. Though that receiver is beefier than their other smaller cousins, I still doubt in 7 channel mode it puts out it's rated power. That said, I'm sure you'll be fine anyway with just that receiver on the 9's. Would it improve with an amp though ? Yep, most likely it would.

domflane

If you have the speaker cable laying around, follow the directions in your Onkyo manual and "bi-amp" them, keeping in mind that it's not actually bi-amping, which to do properly requires two amps. That being said, give it a listen and if you hear an improvement, great. Your AVR can only deliver so much power, no matter how many speakers it's driving or how many channels are being used. Best thing to do is let your ears decide, experimenting is half the fun of this hobby. Welcome to Club Polk