Did I make a mistake? Do I need an amp?
bansheesho
Posts: 227
So I ordered a set of KEF q900s which should be here on Friday. My intent was to buy a good speaker in my price range that I could use my receiver to power for a year or two... I thought this would be fine since the q900s are listed as 8ohm speakers... Well I did some more looking and I came across this article which says the impedance drops as low as 3.17ohms and a good power amp is needed...
http://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-q900-loudspeaker-measurements
So did I just bone myself?
http://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-q900-loudspeaker-measurements
So did I just bone myself?
Pioneer SC-25 | Adcom GFA-555 | KEF q900 Front | KEF q600 Center | Polk Monitor 30 Rear | Polk CS2 Rear Surround | Polk DSWPRO 660wi sub
Post edited by bansheesho on
Comments
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The SC-25 is pretty stout... will the KEF's sound better with a GOOD quality external amp? I think so, but that would be for your ears and wallet to decide at a later time. For now, enjoy the tunes from your new speakers and don't sweat the little stuff.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
You'll be fine. Q900s may dip into 3-4 ohm territory temporarily, but wont stay there consistently. And your sc25 is designed to handle 4 ohm loads anyway, so you should have nothing to worry about.Living Room 7.1 HT Rig:
M70 | CS2 | M60 | Atrium5 - Surr. | SUB - Emotiva ULTRA12 + Tara Labs sub cable | Pioneer Elite VSX-52 | Parasound HCAs 1000A | Sony BDP-S790 | Belkin PureAV PF60 | MIT Exp2 Wires
Bedroom 5.0 HT Rig (Music/Movies/Gaming) :
LSi9 | LsiC | Lsi/fx | Marantz SR7002 | NAD T955 | Sony BDP-S360 | Belkin PureAV PF30 | AQ Blue Racer II ICs & AQ Type 4 wires | PS3 -
No receiver is going to make any speakers sound good for music so its no big deal, the pioneer will handle them for HT. You will at some point add an amp and to that you can add a tube pre for a true 2 ch
My martin logans dip way down but my pioneer receiver powered them ok for HT at moderate volumes. When i added tubes my speakers sounded like they were a brand new upgraded pair -
What kind of levels are moderate levels? I generally listen to stuff in the -23 to -15 range.. it might go a little higher with music, but not much.. maybe -11Pioneer SC-25 | Adcom GFA-555 | KEF q900 Front | KEF q600 Center | Polk Monitor 30 Rear | Polk CS2 Rear Surround | Polk DSWPRO 660wi sub
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There are some receivers out there that can sound VERY, VERY good for music and the Elite you have is one of them. You may find that you need nothing else to be quite content. I would not worry at all about your setup until you feel like trying something else.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
polkfarmboy wrote: »No receiver is going to make any speakers sound good for music so its no big deal
I completly disagree! Many higher end receiver's sound plenty good,and your Elite is one of them!
And remember,those Q900's will be a bit bright til they break in!"Everything I ever did in my life worthwhile I caught hell for" -
Yeah you're fine bansheesho. I haven't tried playing my Q900s directly off the SC 57, but I suspect they'd be just fine - the Elite SC amps are much closer to external amps than your run of the mill receiver. I'd say save your $$ ..get a nice DAC or something instead (later on). In the meanwhile, just enjoy like these guys have suggested.ALL BOXED UP for a while until I save up for a new place
Home Theater:
KEF Q900s / MIT Shotgun S3 / MIT CVT2 ICs | KEF Q600C | Polk FXi5 | BJC Wire | Signal / AQ ICs | Shunyata / Pangea PCs | Pioneer Elite SC 57 | Parasound NC2100 Pre | NAD M25 | Marantz SA8001 | Schiit Gungnir DAC | SB Touch
2 Channel:
Polk LSi9 (xo mods), Polk DSW MicroPro 2000 sub | NAD c375BEE | W4S DAC1 | SB Touch | Marantz SA-8001 | MIT AVt 2 | Kimber Hero / AQ / Signal ICs | Shunyata / Signal PCs -
bansheesho wrote: »What kind of levels are moderate levels? I generally listen to stuff in the -23 to -15 range.. it might go a little higher with music, but not much.. maybe -11
I would take what the PFB says with somewhat less than a grain of salt. Your receiver is more than up to whatever you ask it to do.
My Pioneer can run a set of Magnepan MG-20's with plenty of authority, and they are far more demanding than the KEF's.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Thanks for all the responses... I am grateful for the advice.
Next step is the q600 center channel in a couple of months after the wallet has time to heal a little... This rabbit hole is deep indeed. At least I found my way out of the computer hardware rabbit hole so I'm not stuck in two at the same timePioneer SC-25 | Adcom GFA-555 | KEF q900 Front | KEF q600 Center | Polk Monitor 30 Rear | Polk CS2 Rear Surround | Polk DSWPRO 660wi sub -
Have you thought of combining your PC with your HT rig? I am listening to two channel on the big rig while using my 42" LG for my computer monitor.:cheesygrin:The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
bansheesho wrote: »What kind of levels are moderate levels? I generally listen to stuff in the -23 to -15 range.. it might go a little higher with music, but not much.. maybe -11
My logans need to be higher on the dial to get the same spl as the rti's but basically the higher up with the volume you go on a receiver the more distortion you will experience
Edit... I bought a cheap tube integrated for $550 for 2 ch and the SQ blows me away and it differentiates from a receiver in a way that its never sounds loud like the receiver because the distortion is so low. I think you should look into getting the most out of your new towers and really unleash their full potential -
polkfarmboy wrote: »My logans need to be higher on the dial to get the same spl as the rti's but basically the higher up with the volume you go on a receiver the more distortion you will experience
I call BS on your blanket statements like this. The Pioneer Elite SC-25 the OP is using has all the guts he will need for the KEF's. If he were driving ML's or Maggies, I would be giving a different answer. Stop trying to confuse the issue, and leave it to those that know.
Rock on Banshee, you are on the right path.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
nooshinjohn wrote: »I call BS on your blanket statements like this. The Pioneer Elite SC-25 the OP is using has all the guts he will need for the KEF's. If he were driving ML's or Maggies, I would be giving a different answer. Stop trying to confuse the issue, and leave it to those that know.
Rock on Banshee, you are on the right path.
John you call BS on everything except what you say. If you like having a pioneer elite for music and think its great sound quality then fine but I think not -
And your experience ith ICE powered Pioneer Elites would be???
The VSX line and SC's are not the same.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Have you thought of combining your PC with your HT rig? I am listening to two channel on the big rig while using my 42" LG for my computer monitor
The gaming rig makes too much noise for that... 2 graphics cards, water cooling, case fans 3 hdds make it a bit to loud, but I do stream some stuff from it over the network directly to the receiver..
I very well may pick up an amp for it later on down the road, but for now the idea of picking up the sc-25 was to use as a good base and a decent power source for the speakers ...
Just picked up Danny Combs - Guitar out Front for the first play on the new speakers (BTW good finger style guitar player) (Also happens to be recorded at my brothers recording studio Gravity Boots Records)...Pioneer SC-25 | Adcom GFA-555 | KEF q900 Front | KEF q600 Center | Polk Monitor 30 Rear | Polk CS2 Rear Surround | Polk DSWPRO 660wi sub -
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bansheesho wrote: »The gaming rig makes too much noise for that... 2 graphics cards, water cooling, case fans 3 hdds make it a bit to loud, but I do stream some stuff from it over the network directly to the receiver..
I very well may pick up an amp for it later on down the road, but for now the idea of picking up the sc-25 was to use as a good base and a decent power source for the speakers ...
Just picked up Danny Combs - Guitar out Front for the first play on the new speakers (BTW good finger style guitar player)...
Maybe bridge the gap between the computer and receiver with a little tube buffer for smoothing out the digital. I hope you really enjoy the new speakers when they arrive and look forward to seeing pics of them set up -
Great advice so far. You'll be fine with what you have, that's a nice receiver.
PLEASE check back in and do a write up of what you think of the Q900's.
