Powering Monitor 60's

unclebiskabobka

I'm still fairly new to this forum, so forgive me if I am not clear in what I'm trying to say. If you have any questions, let me know, and I'll try to clarify what I mean.

I'm looking at purchasing some monitor 60's fairly soon, and I had some questions about powering them. Currently, I have a pioneer vsx-521, 110 w/ch 5.1 receiver, so I'd like a little more power to the fronts, just to go a little easier on my receiver. I've been running monitor 40's in the front, but I'm planning on moving them to the rear as surrounds and replacing them with the 60's. My question is, would it help me to get an external amp or two? This is the one that I'm looking at. *AUDIOSOURCE AMP-100 Stereo Amplifier* I'm working my way through college right now paying my own way, so I don't have a large budget, but I wanted a little more power for not too much money. I was considering getting two of these, and using the bridge capability, using one to power each front speaker. If I bridged this amp, it would send 150W to each speaker. Would this be a significant enough power increase to drive the 60's in the front without putting too much draw on the receiver itself?

Thanks in advance for your help!

_____________________________________
Home Theater:
TV - LG 42" LED
Receiver - Pioneer VSX-521
Front speakers - Polk Monitor 40's Series II
Center - Polk Monitor CS1 Series II
Surround - Polk Audio OWM3

pyrocyborg

Hi!

Well, let's say that bridging an amplifier might be interresting, power wise, but it is not always a safe or good way to achieve power as it create more noise and harmonic distorsion to generate a higher power output As a result, sound quality might go down. Also, I think it lowers the speakers impedance when doing so: A 8 ohm speaker will be seen as a 4 ohm one, which can be bad if your amp can't go at 4 ohm in bridged mode (overheat and such).

As always, it is better to feed quality power to "quantity" power, expecially if you do not drive them hard and if you're in a small to moderate size room.

What you could do, as your Monitor 60 are bi-amp capable, is simply to bi-amp your speakers (which means connecting the high frequencies to an amp, and the lower frequencies to another amp). The main benefit will be more power to both your treble and your bass drivers, without the increased distorsion caused by bridging.

We could argue, however, that buying only one higher power amp might do better, but as budget is always a concern, we must draw a line somewhere.

Another thing: some people do not even need external amp as they do not listen at high volume and/or are in a smaller room. Personnally, I prefer an amp/standmount speakers (bookshelf speakers on a stand :cheesygrin:)/sub combo as it is less stressful in the amp department.

Geoff4rfc

I say just throw the 60's in and let'er rip. Is it just the 4 speakers, or do you have cc as well?

ravaneli

I have the same Pioneer receiver. I am running 2x A7, 1x A6 and 2x f/x500 with it.

I have this guy and I test the power that the receiver draws.

http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1331333341&sr=1-1


Normal TV listening levels - 80W power draw from the receiver. THAT'S IT!

When I turn it up to 70 on the dial (-3db on the channels of the fronts) it goes up to 380 W consumption and starts to distort, but that is unbearably loud.

Your M60 + M40... should be cake for normal listening levels. Just try it before u buy the new amp. And buy a power meter. You will be shocked how little power is actually necessary for normal levels.

tonyb

Why are you measuring the power it draws, instead of the power it produces ?

The receiver is fine on it's own for the M60's and can drive them to their full potential. The monitor line is the easiest to drive in Polk's lineup.

ravaneli

I know what I am measuring.. that's what I have. A 75% efficiency power supply means the output is normally about 60W.

But yeah, that receiver should be enough to drive your setup..

pyrocyborg

Well, as ravaneli said, most of the time (except if you go to concert hall volume level), you won't use up more than 10w per channel. I mean, 75dB is a good listening level, and on fairly efficient speakers, it may only use a few watts of your total output to fill a small to moderate area. Sure, the power draw goes up exponentially once you turn up the volume knob, but still, in most situations, you won't be using even half of what you receiver can send.

So, it depends on both your listening volume "taste" and your room size. If you live in a dorm, or in a "student" apartment like I do, there is no need for crazy loud volume as all you'll hear is walls rumbling... In smaller listening areas (12x16), I do not even think towers are necessary: my LSi7 bookshelf fill that room with clear, detailed and punchy sound, and they're not even using 1/6 of what my amp is capable to power them with.

Also... as it is a HT rig, don't you want a sub? I think it may be preferable, budget wise, to get a pair of bookshelf front (or buy smaller bookshelf for surround like the Monitor 30) and buy a sub, as even towers aren't meant to reproduce every frequencies at the same time while being powered off a receiver... Bass requires a lot of "juice", and having a powered sub might relieve your receiver of that function, giving your front speakers the opportunity to do what they really shine on : higher frequencies.

I understand that adding a sub might be an issue as it comes to space. So, if you're already having trouble fitting all your stuff in, or if you want to keep a good relationship with your neighbourg, forget my suggestion.

Lietuvis91

tonyb wrote: »

Why are you measuring the power it draws, instead of the power it produces ?

Becasue you cannot produce more than you draw

tonyb

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

Becasue you cannot produce more than you draw

I would rethink that one.

Lietuvis91

tonyb wrote: »

I would rethink that one.

We can take this off line if you want but, how so? The basic law of physics is that energy is not created nor destroyed, it is only "coverted". So you cannot make 300watts if you are only drawing 100w. It just doesn't work that way. Unless I am missing your point somewhere...

tonyb

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

We can take this off line if you want but, how so? The basic law of physics is that energy is not created nor destroyed, it is only "coverted". So you cannot make 300watts if you are only drawing 100w. It just doesn't work that way. Unless I am missing your point somewhere...

Unless you store it, right ?

Lietuvis91

Right, short bursts of stored power are possible, sure, but that is not continuous. Isn't that what the "continuous" power ratings vs "peak" ratings are all about?!

Continuously, your amp cannot put out more power than it draws. This would defy the laws of physics.

unclebiskabobka

Thank you for all the suggestions, gentlemen!