Amp/receiver for Polk SDA-2a?
Options
Babelfish
Posts: 2
I may be picking up a pair of Polk SDA-2a speakers, but my current receiver -- an Onkyo TX-SR605 -- is 6/8-ohm, while the speakers are 4. I understand that I can run these together, but I'd really rather not.
Let's say I have about $600 to work with (I can sell the receiver for 350-400). I'd like to have surround after I'm done, but it's not absolutely required -- I could settle for stereo for the time being, if I had the ability to move up to surround in the future.
So, I'm thinking of a few options:
(1) Moving to a receiver which can power 4 ohm speakers by itself.
(2) Moving to a receiver with preamp-outs for fronts (the 605 only has preamp outs for zone 2) and getting an amp which will power 4-ohm speakers.
(3) Putting a 7.1 192/24 sound card (HT Omega Claro) in my computer and getting a couple of amps (or just one for now) to power my speakers. [Edit: Having looked around, it looks like I wouldn't have any way of hooking a sub up with this method -- the outs on a sound card are front, surround side, surround back, and center/sub. The last two, unfortunately, are a single out, and merely splitting those through a Y cable doesn't seem like it'd work properly. Perhaps I'm wrong?]
I know I won't find anything great new, so I'm looking used, probably -- I've been trolling AudiogoN and eBay.
Basically, I want to keep things as cheap as possible while maintaining decent sound quality. I'm a student right now, so I can't spend what I'd really like to, and I can always upgrade a bit later in life.
Does anyone have suggestions? Which of the above options, 1, 2, or 3, is best? Any specific components you'd recommend?
Thanks!
Let's say I have about $600 to work with (I can sell the receiver for 350-400). I'd like to have surround after I'm done, but it's not absolutely required -- I could settle for stereo for the time being, if I had the ability to move up to surround in the future.
So, I'm thinking of a few options:
(1) Moving to a receiver which can power 4 ohm speakers by itself.
(2) Moving to a receiver with preamp-outs for fronts (the 605 only has preamp outs for zone 2) and getting an amp which will power 4-ohm speakers.
(3) Putting a 7.1 192/24 sound card (HT Omega Claro) in my computer and getting a couple of amps (or just one for now) to power my speakers. [Edit: Having looked around, it looks like I wouldn't have any way of hooking a sub up with this method -- the outs on a sound card are front, surround side, surround back, and center/sub. The last two, unfortunately, are a single out, and merely splitting those through a Y cable doesn't seem like it'd work properly. Perhaps I'm wrong?]
I know I won't find anything great new, so I'm looking used, probably -- I've been trolling AudiogoN and eBay.
Basically, I want to keep things as cheap as possible while maintaining decent sound quality. I'm a student right now, so I can't spend what I'd really like to, and I can always upgrade a bit later in life.
Does anyone have suggestions? Which of the above options, 1, 2, or 3, is best? Any specific components you'd recommend?
Thanks!
Post edited by Babelfish on
Comments
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Pickup an HK refurb from ebay with pre-outs, then a nice vintage 2 channel, Adcom, Carver, Parasound, B&K, Rotel, etc that fits your budget. You should be able to get close to your $600 budget.
Combo rig:
Onkyo NR1007 pre-pro, Carver TFM 45(fronts), Carver TFM 35 (surrounds)
SDA 1C, CS400i, SDA 2B
PB13Ultra RO
BW Silvers
Oppo BDP-83SE -
I actually just found a Marantz SR7001 factory refurb for $500 which I may give a try -- I've been told it has no trouble powering 4 ohm loads, though I can't verify this through specs from Marantz themselves.
