How important is wattage...

Don't confuse wattage with currant. Wattage is much less important. Its high-currant that will give you more accurate and detailed sound. No avr receiver ( under 5k ) will give you "great" currant. But they will shout about wattage to confuse the buyer! I've been thru the avr stages with denon (1083's 987's and the like) all lacking in depth, detail and accuracy. Went to ss high-currant 80w but with about 45/50 ampere and its an incredible improvement!!! Also consider the efficiency of your speakers,the sensitivity is imp.if your speakers are 4olm most avr receivers aren't stable at less than 8olm ( due to low currant. If you have a sensitivity of say mid 90's. Wattage is less imp. As far as volume is concerned! Once u exp. High-currant, wattage is (not quite but virtually) irrelevant. Subject to your speaker sensitivity! If u have pre outs (and u should) u can bypass the amps and put some nice amps (high-currant) in the sys. However u will be setting yourself up for the next upgrade---the processor also compromised in avr's. So don't expect any one piece of equip. To solve all your needs, it a synergy between all equip. You can build a great "vintage ht with high quality amps and great processors for less than 1k + speakers but you will need to spent over 4k for a new avr that won't be as good or detailed. You can buy and experiment and sell what you don't care for ( and learn what u like) for a lot less loss of money than new avr's.

Think of wattage like you would horsepower in cars. It's just a very small fraction of the big picture--and it's all about the implementation and quality of build.

soundfreak1 wrote: »

Sorry for the triple post,GD fat fingers and small keys!!!

That sucks....you ended up spelling current wrong 15 times instead of just 5

marvda1 wrote: »

most times when i think of high current it is the amps that double down as impedance is halved. for example, 100 watts 8ohm, 200 watts 4ohm, 400 watts 2ohm impedance and some of the truly high current amps will specify into 1ohm loads. and yes they most go below 4ohm loads which rules out a lot of av receivers.

madmax wrote: »

I go by this as well if current numbers are not given. To double down like this requires adequate current. To be able to do this is the definition of a high current amp.

Just be aware that some of the less scrupulous manufacturer's will rate the power @ 8 ohm 20-20 and then 4 ohms at 1Khz.

So be aware of that when reading specs, if you go by the spec sheet. It's also not the be all spec for all designs.

The Aleph is 30 wpc @ 8 ohms and 40 wpc @ 4 ohms. There is no deficiency of current, I assure you. Some of the other Aleph's are the same wattage regardless of impedance...........that's because of the single ended design, not because of lack of current.

This is more the exception, but worth mentioning.

A push/pull topology should double or come close to doubling it's output when you decrease impedance.....it is a sign of a more robust design.

H9

As a former Denon owner of both low end and higher end models, I would definitely say that the claims of 90 watts per channel does not happen. You are probably looking more along the lines of 40-60 watts per channel all channels driven (best case.) The 1911 is a lower end Denon and is usually marketed to people who just want to see "Denon" on their receiver and who just want basic surround sound with small, hideable speakers. If you like the way the Denon recievers sound, return the 1911 and get the 2711 or higher model. The step up in power as advertised will only be up to something like 115 watts per channel but it will get closer to advertised specs, probably in the 75-95 watts per channel range, which should be pretty noticable upon hook up. If you arent locked into a Denon, the Pioneer SC models are pretty nice and pretty much hit their advertised specs accross all channels driven and can be had used for a pretty good deal. Sony ES models seem to be similar to the Denons mid range to high range offerings and can be had for good deals as well. Might even look at snagging an Onkyo 705/805/6/7/8 used as they should have enough power to move your speakers well, and can be had as cheaply as a new Denon 1911 if you look around. Good luck with the search and hopefully you find something that doesnt need to be cranked way up to move your speakers.

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treitz3 wrote: »

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I agree. It seems for someone who proves himself wrong all the time, he sure like to talk like he knows everything. :rolleyes:

No, but we are not talking DC but AC signal. Here is the correct equation that is a tad more complicated and at least requires trig.:rolleyes:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/acohml.html

I think high current is as important as wattage. I'm looking for a high current unit for my rti4's. So far Harman Kardon is the only one to state it's HCC numbers. Onkyo and Yamaha do not tell you the HCC of their units and it's almost impossible to find out. I know this because I have contacted them and asked them but they could not or would not give me the specs for the units. I do believe the Onkyo's are high current and not so sure about the Yammies. I am not going to buy a "cheap" average grade unit for my Polks. Most receivers DO NOT deliver the stated output across 5 or 7 channels. That is a fact. I have owned H-K and the sound of the H-K compared to other average consumer grade units is night and day.

The power of a receiver that is built well and has high current will put lesser receivers to shame, IMHO. I do not want to push my nice speakers to burn out because I picked a receiver with INFLATED Specs to boost my ego.

If you have to buy a receiver with 50 or 75 watts or more, just be sure it can handle the peak loads that will require more current on high level passages or your receiver might run out of gas.

I'm getting ready to buy a receiver and right now Onkyo is in my price range. The reason I'm looking at Onkyo is because of the build quality of the Amplifier section. If I had the money, I would buy H-K just because of the way it sounds.