Do I need an Amp?

johnny_utah

I just got my Rti6's and FXi3's to go with my CSi3 center speaker. I am using an Onkyo 601 receiver, sends 85watts per channel. The RTi6's say they can handle up to 120 watts, The FXi3's are the same (i think), and the CSi3 says it can handle up to 180watts. I read that you could damage a speaker by playing it to loud if it was under powered. So are they? Do I need an amp or is there anything I can do? Thanks.

Willow

not sure how conservative onkyo ratings are...but most good receivers will have more than enough power...I have an 85w/channel receiver and I have rti4 csi3 I say you are better off with what you have than getting a 100w say from kenwood or sony.

scottnbnj

Originally posted by johnny_utah
I read that you could damage a speaker by playing it to loud if it was under powered. So are they? Do I need an amp or is there anything I can do? Thanks.

not knowing your gear or how loud you like your music and not being an expert on not breaking gear, i think, ideally, your music should sound better as you turn it up. when you want it at levels where it's sounding worse than lower levels, then, i think, you probably need more power. that aside, a good rule of thumb, if you're spending lots of time in the 11-12 o'clock area, you're probably close to needing more power. if you want to go above that, you probably need more power and you'll probably hear improvement if you get it.

as far as damage, i think when turning it up there should be some area between sounding better, small distortion, large distortion and system failure. where if you keep it lower than where the distortion begins, you're not going to get into trouble.

)

PolkThug

You don't need one.

Regards,
PolkThug

fireshoes

The 601 is a nice receiver and you should be okay with it if you're not getting too crazy with the volume, but more is better, and if you've got the money to drop on an amp then go for it. All it will do is improve your performance.

johnny_utah

For future reference, if I were to get any amp, what would be a good one to go with? Would I amp all my speakers? How much would I notice the upgrade? Thanks.

Violator

You shouldnt need an amp. My step father has the same reciever as you do... and he has the bose 701's which are 6ohm speakers. You are using 8 ohm speakers. and in case u didnt konw... the lower the ohm the more power the speaker requires... andyway..... ive hooked up my polk rti 7's and the onkyo 601 handled with more power than they needed. so your alrighyt. u dont need any amplification. if you did get some amps. you would notice better overall quality but not much. i have a harman/kardon 225 reciever wtih an old harman/kardon pm655 amp which has 100 watts rms / side *4 and i have mpore than enoutght power for my rti 7's and 38's.

Violator.. now u know where the name comes from

johnny_utah

Thanks you drunk SOB. I appreciate your response now go get some sleep.

gidrah

If you were that sorry why didn't you just backspace, not giggle, or at least edit?

IMHO - You'd only need another amp (if possible to connect) if you hear distortion or have a large room and crank it out. You should be fine.

eagertrader

I asked myself the same question early this year. Then I rephrased the question to: Would my musical experience get a substantial improvement with an AMP?
And the answer was a definite YES!

I bought on ebay for $250 + shipping and ADCOM 555 MK-II amp that puts out 200W of high current amplification on two channels (this bad boy went for well over a grand when new).
I have a pair of Polk LS-90 which were the top-o-the-line in '93 and allow for bi-amping. The Low and mid-range woofers are connected to the amp.
The tweeters are connected to the front main speakers on the receiver.
The result is that I've gotten a more defined and wider soundstage, and lots of punch and clarity even at low volume. If you can afford it, in addition buy a sub that has line inputs and outputs, and then run the pre-outs on the receiver to the sub, which's crossover set at either 120hz or 80Hz, depending on your speakers (monitors or towers), will not allow the lower sounds to reach the amplifier now connected to the sub line-outs. This will make the speakers sound more efficiently, extremely rested and at ease. I never new how awesome my system could sound until I fine tuned it with this set-up.
Hope this helps.

jefft1314

You shouldn't need amps if you're running bookshelf speakers. Just my .02. If you were to change out the rti 6's for some rti 10's or 12's then you would defitniely need an amp, but for now, the onkyo should handle your set up fine, unless like everybody has said you have a large room or enjoy ear bleeding levels. And if you decide to amp you should really only worry about the front soundstage, in my opinion amping the rears (unless you're a big sacd or dvda fan) is a waste of money as the improvement you might notice for dvd's will be miniscule.