HT newcomer

brims

I've just recently decided that I wanted a home theater system. After some research I bought a new 55" Samsung 7100 series LED TV, a pair of RTi A9s, a CSi A6, a set of RTi A3s, and a DSW Pro 550wi sub. I've been researching receivers and I think I've decided on the Yamaha RX-A3020, and I'll put a Furman Elite 15 PFi to protect the equipment.

Is the A3020 a good unit? Everything I've read leads me to believe it's a quality unit and I've read through the manual and it seems like it would be a good unit to work with. I know Yamaha has been a big name in the sound industry for a long time, and it sounds like they really put a lot of work into their audio decoders and their surround sound tweaking algorithms.

I've been trying to make heads or tails of the power specs. The specs say 150 watts per channel, then the rated output power for 2 channel driven lists the different speaker outputs and shows 150 W + 150 W. At the end of the specs it states power consumption is 490 W, if I run a 5 speaker system that's 98 watts per channel if I don't include any overhead or power loss. Does this mean the receiver will output 150 watts on 2 channels only?

With my reading, the A9s are power hungry, so I guess an amp is in my future as well. Based on some searches on this forum I'm leaning towards an Emotiva, either the XPA-3 or XPA-5. It seems like I really don't need the surrounds to be powered off an external amp so that makes me lean towards the XPA-3. I was originally thinking about bi-amping the A9s but read that in order to do it properly I'd need to bypass the crossovers and get an external active crossover and feed that into 2 seperate amps. Or would I be able to use the second set of pre-outs on the A3020 and feed those through one of the XPA-5 channels? Or would the XPA-3 work fine to power the A6 and the A9s?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to straighten these issues out in my head before I spend money on equipment to run these speakers that turns out to be all wrong. Thank you for your time.

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk!

Great speaker choice for HT above. Also, the new Yamaha Aventage series receivers are quite nice--yours is one (not enough power, though, for the Rti-A9s and center-but you can run all your surrounds off the Yammie with no problem).

I'd go for a 2 or 3 channel power amp. And I'd be thinking "used" and "warmer" than an Emotiva because of the nature of the Rtis (they're forward in sound). Something like a B&K or a Parasound would work well?

Have fun. Nice start!

cnh

brims

Where else besides Audiogon should I look for used equipment? Any recommendations as to specific models or lines of amps from B&K or Parasound I should be looking for?

Erik Tracy

I'd start with the basic set up you have laid out above - some good choices all around.

Then....relax.....enjoy the sonic goodness - take a rest, get to know your system.

You can always upgrade later after you get a feel for how your system sounds and what the next step should be.

gce

I have the lower Yamaha 810 powering what I have in my sig. The Yamaha's are great for HT and your choice of speakers are great for HT also. If you get the 3020 I'd do what Erik said and enjoy n' get to know your system. If later you think you need more power for the 9's then add an amp.