Help deciding which amplifier to keep for Monitor 7 and 10

tin_can

Hi!
I recently obtained Monitor 10's and they joined my Monitor 7's that I got earlier. I haven't played them yet as I want to do the shifting magnet fix first. In any case one of the sellers also threw in an amp. So now I have two but I'm thinking I don't need both. Not sure how to decide which to keep. They are:
1. Denon DRA-1025R
2. Yamaha HTR-5640

I'm looking at the specs and it seems they should be able to drive these speakers (at 4 and 6 ohms) but not sure. There is a number of power ratings (continuous, DIN, dynamic, etc.) at various ohm ratings that I'm feeling a bit confused. Can someone shed some light onto this?

Nightfall

Those are both old AVRs not amps.

Listen to both and pick the one you think sounds best.

stevep

For stereo usage I expect that Denon is going to be the better option but as Nightfall suggests, listen to both and pick the one you think sounds best.

The Denon maybe a AVR but it's really a high end stereo receiver with composite video switching tacked on rated @ 125W/channel where the Yamaha is an pre-HDMI entry level AVR claiming 75W/channel.

tin_can

You're right. They're AVR's. I guess I can't edit that now? While true that listening would be best, that won't happen for a while and even before then I'd want to know if it would be safe and if I should expect them to work well with those speakers. I'm a novice at this but I've seen terms like "impedance matching" and also that using amplifiers (or AVR's as it were) that are not strong enough could damage the speakers? At this point I have more questions than answers. Like I said, I'm looking at the specs and I think they should work fine, but it would be nice if someone could confirm. Even better if they had experience with both and if they thought one is better than the other especially since older gear may have quirks that could be important but only a few know about them.

mhardy6647

Good advice so far -- the only way to tell which "is better" (i.e., sounds better to you, @tin_can) is to listen.

Neither is likely to be the best match for them, even if the nominal power output is more than adequate. Either will work fine, but neither is likely to be the sine qua non for either the 7 or the 10.

Sorry.

tin_can

mhardy6647 wrote: »

Good advice so far -- the only way to tell which "is better" (i.e., sounds better to you, @tin_can) is to listen.

Neither is likely to be the best match for them, even if the nominal power output is more than adequate. Either will work fine, but neither is likely to be the sine qua non for either the 7 or the 10.

Sorry.

No problem! Nothing to be sorry about as I'm just learning at this point and appreciate any information. I just wanted to know if it would be OK to use them for these speakers. I'll listen to them after I overhaul the Monitors. However, since it sounds like there may be better choices for amplification here, any pointers on what I can start looking for in the meantime?

stevep

Either of these receivers will power either set of speakers. You just need to respect their limits and not crank the volume knob.

When I first bought my Monitor 5's they were powered by a Denon DRA-625RA which is a lower powered version of your 1025. That worked great for years. I have some Monitor 10's connected to a Pioneer VSX-92TXH and although it has more power that your Yamaha I don't find the need to turn it up where the difference would make a difference.

I've run both off my Marantz MA-500 monoblocks which are 125W each and also off my weak Marantz 2015 with a whopping 15W/channel. As long as I don't drive either past it's abilities the speakers sound great but the little receiver isn't going to get as loud.

Since you have both receivers now, hook them up and decide which you prefer. You can always go crazy and spend more money later. When it comes to that the sky is the limit.

tin_can

Thank you! So that's what I'll do: listen to both and start exploring from there. I'm looking for "quality" sound rather than "loud" sound if that makes sense.

stevep

Makes perfect sense to me.