RM20's and Panasonic SC-PT650

rsmiley

I recently purchased the RM20 5 pack with a PSW10 subwoofer but I won't be buying the new receiver until Christmas. I currently have a Panasonic SC-PT650 system and I was wondering if I can use the receiver to drive my speakers. I don't care about the receiver per say but I don't want to damage my speakers in any way shape or form. The power specs on the receiver are as follows.

FTC Output
Front 63 watts @ 3ohm 1%THD
Rear 34 watts @ 3ohm 1%THD
Center 113 watts @ 6ohm 1%THD
Sub 121 watts @ 6ohm 1%THD

apphd

Not familiar with the Panny but the amp outputs you list are very questionable looking. 63W @ 3 ohm would not give you much into an 8 ohm load. Then with 1% THD I would be worried. I think you would need (or at the very least be tempted) to crank the volume just to use it on a daily basis. It just sounds to me like it would be very easy to send crap to your speakers which could damage them. Wait and see what someone more knowledgeable than me has to say, but I don't think I would try it.

One thing I'm pretty sure of, it looks like the sub output is amplified. The PSW10 is an amplified (powered) sub, so you would not want to use the sub out from the Panny unless you used the speaker inputs on the PSW10. But again I'd see what others had to say.

Knucklehead

I think you got it right apphd, personally I wouldnt chance it, dosent sound like you would be able to use the sub anyway. Those are some strange specs for sure. Good Luck.

rsmiley

The specs on the receiver listed 2 different power ratings RMS and FTC. The previous ones were FTC. The following are the RMS.

Fronts - 125W x 2 (1kHz 3ohm, 10% THD)
Center - 250W (1kHz 6ohm, 10% THD)
Rear - same as front
Sub - same as center

I figured the FTC would be more accurate as to what I should be using but maybe I'm wrong?

Knucklehead

This is what I found:

Amplifier Output Details 125 Watt - 3 Ohm - THD 10 % - 2 channel(s) ( Front ) , 250 Watt - 6 Ohm - THD 10 % - 1 channel(s) ( Center ) , 125 Watt - 3 Ohm - THD 10 % - 2 channel(s) ( Rear ) , 250 Watt - 6 Ohm - THD 10 % - 1 channel(s) ( Subwoofer )

Not much good here trying to drive your new Polks, you would most certainly damage them. Again, the receiver has a powered output for the sub so you would not be able to use the PSW10 as this is a powerwed sub. My reccomendation is to use your Panny speakers that came with the receiver until you can get a decent new or used AVR. Welcome to CP. Your money will soon be flowing freely from your wallet.:eek:

AudioGenics

are those distortion figures correct 10% ?

Knucklehead

hard to believe isn't it?

rsmiley

Yes this THD is correct. From what I've read under powering the speakers won't hurt them but turning up the receiver in order to hear sound may smoke the receiver.

Knucklehead

You WILL damage your new speakers.....I wouldnt do it IMO.

rsmiley

Pretty much what I thought. Wait till I tell the wife I spent $400 on speakers to collect dust for 5 months. However the speakers are awesome I used them on my Yamaha receiver in the basement with my other setup to check to make sure they worked. Time to play the waiting game.

Knucklehead

The only thing i can suggest is to buy used, i bought my AVR from a CP member and couldnt be happier. Maybe you have some leverage here with the wife, you have some nice speakers but cant use them...hint hint...

Also if your Panny system still works, put it on Ebay or Craigslist, might just give you a good start on a used AVR.

apphd

rsmiley wrote: »

Yes this THD is correct. From what I've read under powering the speakers won't hurt them but turning up the receiver in order to hear sound may smoke the receiver.

Not sure if you miss typed this but under powering speakers generally leads to turning up the volume to a point you induce clipping which will damage your speakers and amp. Your speakers will only draw what they require, and seldom do you need to worry about over powering a speaker.

TECHNOKID

apphd wrote: »

Not sure if you miss typed this but under powering speakers generally leads to turning up the volume to a point you induce clipping which will damage your speakers and amp. Your speakers will only draw what they require, and seldom do you need to worry about over powering a speaker.

I agree with apphd's statement above.

Normally your problem would be with the impedence but the RM series has a High impedence input due to it's crossover therefore you shouldn't have any problems driving your RMs with the cheap Panny. The only concern would be to not push too hard in order to avoid clipping as HTIBs powers are usually over rated and pushing the amp too much/hard would definitely damage your new speakers (at least the crossovers).

Cheers!
TK