Marantz SR8001/ LSI Setup

hockeyboy

Hi everybody. I am building a house and moving in soon (on time but way over budget). I came by a Marantz SR8001 new in the box that I plan to use to drive the following 5 speaker setup for music and theater.

According to the VP at Marantz he has "absolute confidence" that the 8001 will drive this setup, advising that at 4 ohms the wattage output will basically double to 250 (if I understood him right). I have however run into no end of naysayers so am a little worried since I am basically a noob. Does anyone with some LSI experience have an opinion? I cannot afford a amp setup at this time so am hoping my high end receiver will get it done.

Any ideas on cheaply increasing power to the desired setup, or better speaker substitutions given the situation since I am just about to pull the trigger on the speaker buy. I love those 25s so they stay for sure.

Thanks to any who can help.

Front LSI 25's
Center B&W LCR60 (will replace with LSI-C later)
Surround LSI 15's
Sub PSW 1000

cfrizz

Welcome to Club Polk Hockeyboy.

Regardless of what Any VP of Marantz, or salesman tells you, the LSI's need separate amplification of at least 200wpc!

Of course the VP is going to tell you that his gear can drive any speaker on the planet.

Please do a search here on the forum about receivers & LSI's & separate amps & LSI's. You will quickly discover the truth.

You said it yourself..."I have however run into no end of naysayers"

We all can't be wrong. Good luck & let us know what you decide.

engtaz

Well put cfrizz?

engtaz

wingnut4772

Outlaw Audio also told me that their 100 watt per channel 7100 amp would have no problem running my old LSI set up and that was mostly true I guess with low volumes and no real lstening. It's not a receiver situation but just an example of reps looking at specs to determine suitability. I was not happy with the LSIs until I got my Earthquake Cinenova behind them.

engtaz

I picked up 3 - Outlaw M200 for that very reason.

engtaz

tonyb

Cathy's got it.....you may want to re-think the LSI 15's for the rear.
Maybe go with the 9's and free up some cash for amps.

wingnut4772

tonyb wrote:

Cathy's got it.....you may want to re-think the LSI 15's for the rear.
Maybe go with the 9's and free up some cash for amps.

Yes. 15s for fronts and 9s for rears. The Outlaw monos will do ok for the front stage but save money and skip to the good amp. If you go in minute levels of upgraditis like me you will end up spending way more dough. In the long run I was just not happy with the Outlaws for the LSIs.

hockeyboy

Thank you all for your patience for me being a noob. Can I possibly hook up a good power amp to my receiver, or do I have to go with an AMP/PREAMP setup to get the power I need? It would be much less painful to buy an AMP now and PREAMP later.

Secondly, I will have to agree with Wingnut about tip toeing into this. Let's say hypothetically I free up some cash. Are there recommendations for a reasonably priced AMP/PREAMP combo? HDMI output will be critical as I will have an awesome projector and the Stanley Cup playoffs will be on after I am built in.

powerlord

I've been researching seperate amps also for my system,I have speakers like yours also,except mine have two powered 10's,two 6 1/2's,one 4in., and two 3/4 in. tweets in each tower and I run these and the rest of my system with a Marantz SR18 and this system is by no means a slouch,I have upgraditis though and am always searching for a way to make it sound better,I think you would very pleased with a Marantz reciever.I tried a Rotel 1080 on my mains and heard no difference between my reciever or that amp,I do know however that there are amps out there that will make my mains sing like they never have before,everyones advice here is on the money about seperates,but there are recievers out there that will kick those 25's in the butt and Marantz higher end is one of them.:)

ESavinon

I have a marantz sr8001 and i run a pair of sda crs + on the speaker b connectors on the receiver. the speakers sound ok and the receiver with it's toroidal transformer is able to handle 4-6 ohms easily.
The receiver barely warms up at high volume. Although the receiver sounds ok in stereo mode, in my opinion, it just doesn't sound as good as a separate system. I had a 100wpc nad amp connected to a soundstream preamp that blew away the marantz. Don't get me wrong, the marantz is a great receiver for surround sound but if you're going to listen to music in stereo,go separate if you can. another option you have is get an amp,use the preouts on the receiver and biamp the lsi's using the amplifier in the receiver to drive the tweeters and the separate amp to drive the woofers.

hockeyboy

I suspect the way to do it is to give the Marantz an audition with the speaker setup. Thats a great idea ESAVINON if I can figure out the hookup. I can run the receiver and just pick up the amp I want, later adding the pre amp. I wish I had about 6 grand more to drop into a Sunfire TGP-5 and TGA-5400.

Hey Wingnut, where did you get that lighted batman poster? That thing is badass.

ESavinon

It's really simple, just plug in a pair of rca jacks to the l/r preout on the receiver into the inputs of the amps.

ESavinon

hockeyboy wrote:

I suspect the way to do it is to give the Marantz an audition with the speaker setup. Thats a great idea ESAVINON if I can figure out the hookup. I can run the receiver and just pick up the amp I want, later adding the pre amp.

you're going to use the receiver as a preamp/amp combo.

hockeyboy

Thanks man that should work. I am considering a Sunfire TGA7400 for the amp. That monster will keep me from any kind of upgraditis for years.

Later I can move the Marantz downstairs to run my family room and patio, and pick up a TG5 if I get some bonus at work. I think you helped me solve my problem guys. Thanks!