Power needed for monitor 70 speakers?

runningman

will a yamaha 673 power a monitor 70 speakers sufficiently? would I be better off getting monitor 60 speakers with
this setup?

or another combo would be yamaha a1010 with monitor 70 speakers. any thoughts on this combo setup? was
going to pair it up with a cs2 center channel. this setup will be almost 100% dedicated to HT

thanks

hochpt21

Those speakers are fairly easy to power so I would go with the 70's and the cs2. My guess is that either receiver would do just fine.

piker

Are you running just a 3.0 setup? Or 5.1? 7.1? I only ask because you mentioned the 70's with a CS2 center, but then said it's for HT use.

I went from Polk M50's, to M60's, and now M70's. The 50's and 60's were fine being driven in a 5.1 surround configuration with only the receiver to power them. I have an Onkyo that dishes out 110watts/channel when driven in two channel, but obviously with 5 speakers driving them I wasn't getting anywhere near that much power to the M70's. It didn't sound that great. I thought the 60's were better.

Then I got an amp and fed 200watt's to each speaker. It really opened up the sound, making it full and more dynamic. Some say the M70's are easy to drive, but I know from first-hand experience that this isn't so. An amp makes a world of difference when you get into the more power-hungry speakers. There's a reason the M70's have a 275 watt power recommendation while the 60's are only 200.

hochpt21

piker wrote: »

Are you running just a 3.0 setup? Or 5.1? 7.1? I only ask because you mentioned the 70's with a CS2 center, but then said it's for HT use.

I went from Polk M50's, to M60's, and now M70's. The 50's and 60's were fine being driven in a 5.1 surround configuration with only the receiver to power them. I have an Onkyo that dishes out 110watts/channel when driven in two channel, but obviously with 5 speakers driving them I wasn't getting anywhere near that much power to the M70's. It didn't sound that great. I thought the 60's were better.

Then I got an amp and fed 200watt's to each speaker. It really opened up the sound, making it full and more dynamic. Some say the M70's are easy to drive, but I know from first-hand experience that this isn't so. An amp makes a world of difference when you get into the more power-hungry speakers. There's a reason the M70's have a 275 watt power recommendation while the 60's are only 200.

Easy to drive relatively speaking. My 70's sounded better with the B & K added when I ran them two channel, but even so...I definitely preferred the 70's over the 50's for HT even with just a reciever. But that is my preference only...not saying that you are incorrect.

tonyb

piker wrote: »

Then I got an amp and fed 200watt's to each speaker. It really opened up the sound, making it full and more dynamic. Some say the M70's are easy to drive, but I know from first-hand experience that this isn't so. An amp makes a world of difference when you get into the more power-hungry speakers. There's a reason the M70's have a 275 watt power recommendation while the 60's are only 200.

Actually, they are easy to drive, you took away power in a surround sound scenario on a mediocre HT receiver. When you take power away and the result is poor performance, it doesn't make the speaker power hungry.

An amp will make a difference on any speaker, thats a given, not because of watts but because of current available.

sponger

I think they sound great running off my receiver. No doubt they'd sound noticeably better with an amp, but it's not a priority of mine. I don't crank them very loud anyway.

They definitely have a wider, deeper stage when compared to the 50s. I've never stacked them up against the 60s, but I think the 60s have 1 midrange driver and 2 midbass drivers? The 70s on the other hand have 2 midrange drivers and 2 midbass drivers. I'm not certain, but I think that the second midrange driver is probably what's giving the 70s the much "bigger" sound that I'm hearing. It's clearly noticeable and my ears appreciate it.

Being as that I'm using a sub, I can't really tell for sure if I'm taking advantage of the two 6.5" midbass drivers. So, again, I think the real plus with these speakers is the added midrange. That's just a guess.

sponger

ok just go ahead and disregard that last post of mine. Just realized that there is no differentiation between midrange and midbass drivers in the monitor series.

Lietuvis91

M70s do have a bigger sound stage compared to m60s, and are a supperior speaker,b ut running off of an average avr they lack detail, as the sound tends to get muddy due to lack of power. If you want the m70s, get an avr that has pre-outs, so that you can buy an amp later. Otherwise, I'd go with m60s. M60s with a good sub have superior detail and is a cheaper setup.

RamZet

I had my pioneer VSX521k powering them last year with no problem (110w per ch). I then switched to a B&K AVR305 and that powered them fine too (I think its 150-200w/ch). I then switched them to a Marantz SR4002 (65w per ch) and even that was enough. I have them on a Rotel RMB1072 at 100w per ch, they sound nice. I think 100W is the best match for the monitor 70s
So my point is YES your yamaha 673 will be great. If my cheapo VSX521k could do it then so can the Yamaha.

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk, runningman!

sponger wrote: »

ok just go ahead and disregard that last post of mine. Just realized that there is no differentiation between midrange and midbass drivers in the monitor series.

Actually the top driver and the tweeter of M-70s are designed to work in tandem with a more gradual slope to the cut-off frequency to the 6.5" top woofer than the bottom three woofers. Or what Polk refers to as a cascade crossover?

Also, to the others. I've run M-70s on a Denon AVR 2807 (110 Watts x 7, 31 lbs.) and that was OK but not great. Then I added an Adcom GFA-555 (200 watts x 2) and I thought I had an entirely NEW set of speakers. The M-70s opened up in ways you can't imagine, even at lower volumes. So, can you run M-70s on an AVR of 100 watts? Sure. Will they sound their best in Two channel, NO!

Will they be OK crossed over at 60 or 80hz with a great SUB on an AVR for HT. Yes. Just don't expect great two channel performance!

cnh

Geoff4rfc

Welcome aboard runningman!

I agree with cnh. I've had very similar experience with Monitor70's. Sounded pretty decent with just the AVR, great improvement with an amp. One time I drove them with an amp with a higher power rating than the speakers and that was the best I'd ever heard them, in fact, for H.T. they put out some pretty heavy bass when I drove them with an amp rated at 300wpc.