AVR 146 with RM6900?

northhillca
northhillca Posts: 6
edited April 2007 in Basic Hookup/Wiring Questions
I am thinking of buying HarmanKardon AVR 146 which is same as AVR 144 with HDMI passthru for most part. My concern is that RM6900 specifications suggest amp power between 20 and 150 watts per channel. The max power output of AVR 144/146 is 30 watts per channel with 8 ohm impedence.

Now driving speakers with at or below minimum power rating will probably damage it eventually. What I am not sure of is whether 30 watts max is enough power when low limit of speaker is 20.

Any suggestions? thanks.
Post edited by northhillca on
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Comments

  • liordra
    liordra Posts: 152
    edited April 2007
    when I was in the market for an AVR I considered the HK 235, the WPC raiting is half (or even less) of what I compared it with, and it was as powerful and even more in some cases. Karman Kardon claims theirs are High Current Capability AVRs.

    that said, under powering (not neccesarliy the case here) will damage a speaker, because at high volumes you stress the amp so it produces lots of distortion and by the time you here it you've blown a driver.
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  • aaharvel
    aaharvel Posts: 4,489
    edited April 2007
    northhillca either one of those receivers will be able to drive the RM series speakers no problem. Wattage specs from AVR manufacturers are only half the story. Add in quality of the power supply, if the wattage is measured with all channels driven simulataneously 20hz-20khz - like Harman does with it's product lines (instead of 2 or even 1 channel driven at a time at just 1khz like say for example.. Sony). Regarding that, Liordra made a great point about his avr-235, and I can attest to that as well.

    If you want the h/k, get the h/k. You could do alot worse.
    Welcome to Club Polk.
    H/K Signature 2.1+235
    Jungson MagicBoat II
    Revel Performa M-20
    Velodyne cht-10 sub
    Rega P1 Turntable

    "People working at Polk Audio must sit around the office and just laugh their balls off reading many of these comments." -Lush
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  • daboyz
    daboyz Posts: 5,207
    edited April 2007
    I don't believe the AVR146 has preouts for future expansion(amps) so if you ever want to upgrade I'd go up at least to the 235. I bought the AVR125 a few years ago and loved it until I wanted to upgrade and couldn't from lack of preouts. Try Harman Direct on ebay or go straight to their website for great deals on refurbs.
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