2 part question re: M70s and PSW110

sponger

Just recently switched out a pair of M50s for M70s, which are hooked up to a Denon AVR 1612. They sound great, but at the same time they also seem like they're being underpowered. They aren't quite as responsive to volume increases as the M50s were. They definitely fill the room a lot better, but 75W/ chann is all the AVR 1612 can offer. So, I'm worried that I'm going to clip the amp and burst a tweeter or something to that effect. Is that a legitimate concern?

Re: the PSW110...it does not have an off switch, but it does have what appears to be an auto standby switch. Just to be on the safe side, I leave it on the "On" setting and shut off the power strip it's plugged into after each use. I remember the amp still being warm after several hours of being in standby (i.e., "auto") mode , so I'm reluctant to use that setting. Am I being paranoid?

Thanks.

cnh

1. Yes, do be careful, if you go to the reviews section in the Polk menus above you will read any number of people who did just that, i.e., blew a Monitor series tweeter or two by clipping their AVR! So don't get too ambitious with that Denon. You might want to think about upgrading to an AVR that has Pre-outs for the addition of a power amp that can better handle the 70s?

2. The AUTO switch on a sub is what most people use. Unless you have a "defective" unit you're OK. Why leave your plate amp on all the time?

Take care not to overdrive the PSW 110--it does have ITS limits.

cnh

B Run

Yeah I'd definitely take it easy on the volume with that AVR. I had a Denon 1910 and cranked it up to demo a movie and clipped a tweeter when I had the Monitor series. A beefier AVR with pre outs for future upgrades is always a good option.

hochpt21

I had M50's in my two channel and switched them out for the 70's. I was powering them with a similar avr. The 70's had a bigger sound, but seemed to lack the clarity and punch that the properly driven smaller speakers had. I added an amp to the 70's and that cleaned it up for me. If your listening at reasonable levels, however, I wouldn't think you would damage the speakers.

cnh

h21 is right. I actually run the same speaker set up with M70s, CS2, M30s and a 300/600 watt 12" sub on an Onkyo TX-SR 805 (which weighs almost 51lbs and can pretty much deliver its stated ratings of 130 watts or more per channel, which most AVRs cannot). Even on this I don't "blast" the M-70s but can get pretty loud. No damage so far. But to tell you the truth, the M-70s were more musical when I was running them on a Denon AVR 2807 as a pre-amp with an Adcom GFA-555 (200 watts x 2) power amp. Really, really opened things up! But since I don't really use the M-70s much for two channel anymore the Onkyo by itself is plenty of power for HT. Room is not that big!

cnh

sponger

I appreciate all the replies. They were very helpful. I'm not one to crank it, so I guess I'm OK for the time being. I had been tossing around the idea of getting an external amp for the receiver, but I guess I would need to find one with line-level inputs, being as that this AVR does not have pre-outs. I'm not sure if there is such a thing for HT amps.

I'm still iffy about leaving the sub in standby mode all the time. My previous AVR had pass-through power outlets, so I'm used to the idea of the sub turning completely off when the AVR is off. Just seems like too large of a piece of equipment to be left on at all even if it is "standby."