How many watts/ch do I really need for the SurroundBar 50?
Zir0
Posts: 2
So I'm a total audio/home theater noob here, but I wanted to get Polk's SurroundBar 50 since I live in a small apartment that's not going to be conducive to running wires for a full surround sound setup. Anyway, so I'm looking for a receiver to pair with the SurroundBar 50 and on the bar's specs page they say the recommended amplification is 150 watts/ch. I've never set up a home sound system before, but looking at receivers, that seems like a lot of power.
Is that reasonable or is that more power than it really needs? Another question, since the SurroundBar is a 5.1 setup, if I get a 7.1 receiver and say it's good for 100 watts/ch, if I'm only running a 5.1 setup with it does that mean it's good for 140 watts for 5 channels? Thanks for any help!
Is that reasonable or is that more power than it really needs? Another question, since the SurroundBar is a 5.1 setup, if I get a 7.1 receiver and say it's good for 100 watts/ch, if I'm only running a 5.1 setup with it does that mean it's good for 140 watts for 5 channels? Thanks for any help!
Post edited by Zir0 on
Comments
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What is your budget? What kind of equipment (CD player, DVD player, etc) do you have?
Personally, I would get this with that setup - http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=89438Living Room:....................[HTML] [/HTML] Zone 2 (Workout Room):
AVR - Yamaha RX-V757......JBL 4312 Pro Monitors
Pre - Nak CA-5
AMP - Adcom 555 (Main)
Main - Polk RTI8**/RTiA5
AMP - Adcom 545II (Center)
Center - Polk CSiA4**
Sub - Snell Basis 300:p......Zone 3 (Outside)
CD - Yamaha CDC-555.......Def Tech AW5500
TV - Pani TH-42PZ80U
BR - LG BD390
Monster HTS1600 Power Center
Dedicated Circuit - (2) 20amp, (1) 15amp
Ben's IC, Canare 4S11
**Dayton and Sonicap Caps with Mills Resistors** -
So I'm a total audio/home theater noob here, but I wanted to get Polk's SurroundBar 50 since I live in a small apartment that's not going to be conducive to running wires for a full surround sound setup. Anyway, so I'm looking for a receiver to pair with the SurroundBar 50 and on the bar's specs page they say the recommended amplification is 150 watts/ch. I've never set up a home sound system before, but looking at receivers, that seems like a lot of power.
Is that reasonable or is that more power than it really needs? Another question, since the SurroundBar is a 5.1 setup, if I get a 7.1 receiver and say it's good for 100 watts/ch, if I'm only running a 5.1 setup with it does that mean it's good for 140 watts for 5 channels? Thanks for any help!
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that the 120 - 150 watts for the Soundbar 42 & 50 are absolute maximum requirements. I've read a couple of reviews that stated the minimum - maximum range was 20 - 150. In Polk's website users reviews, a couple of receivers are mentioned by satisfied customers that produce far less than 100 watts per channel. If you have a Circuit City or Best Buy close you could probably have them demo either one with a mid-line receiver (80 - 100 watts) and see for yourself. In my opinion, your assumption is correct - 150 watts per channel is far more than you need for a Soundbar.
No on your other assumption. A 7 channel receiver at 100 per channel will NOT generate 140 watts into 5 channels. In fact, most 100 watt receivers generate less than that when all channels are driven and the power is not directly transferable from unused channels to used channels. There are some benefits (reduced heat, a little more headroom) but watts-per-channel is not one of them. The one exception is when only 2-channels are used in a stereo mode. Then you power is increased and it's usually stated in the specs.Sony 60'' SXRD 1080p
Amp = Carver AV-705THX 5-Channel
Processor = NAD T747
Panasonic BD35 Blu-Ray
Main = SDA-1C Studio with RD0s, spikes, XO rebuild, rings, I/C upgrade
Center=Polk CS10, Surround = Athena Dipoles, Sub= Boston 12HO
Music/Video Streaming = Netgear NEO550
TT = Audio Technica -
So I'm a total audio/home theater noob here, but I wanted to get Polk's SurroundBar 50 since I live in a small apartment that's not going to be conducive to running wires for a full surround sound setup. Anyway, so I'm looking for a receiver to pair with the SurroundBar 50 and on the bar's specs page they say the recommended amplification is 150 watts/ch. I've never set up a home sound system before, but looking at receivers, that seems like a lot of power.
Is that reasonable or is that more power than it really needs? Another question, since the SurroundBar is a 5.1 setup, if I get a 7.1 receiver and say it's good for 100 watts/ch, if I'm only running a 5.1 setup with it does that mean it's good for 140 watts for 5 channels? Thanks for any help!
You will pretty consitantly need about 20%-50% more than you have....
Actually - most recievers out that are over about 80wpc (almost all of them) you will be fine with. The math does not exactly work like you are thinking to increase from 100 to 140wpc. The wpc specifications are pretty much just marketing speak anyway when you are talking about recievers.
For most recievers, purchase based on features and functionality. If you find you want more power, use a separate power amp. In any 5 random mass-market recievers with WPC ratings of 80-140wpc will be very close in actual power to your speakers. (due to the marketing department coming up with the WPC ratings more than the engineers)
Long story short, in your case, don't worry about WPC. Get the AVR with the features you want and the look/interface that you like.
Michael
BTW - Welcome to Club Polk.Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms) -
Thanks guys for the warm welcome and thanks so much for the quick responses, recommendations and advice. It is most appreciated.
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Great answer McLoki.
Zir0 - If you only use 5ch, in lieu of 7ch, you get the same amount of power....nothing changes. There are some AVR's that have dual power supplies but not alot. Onkyo makes some AVR's that you can assign the rear channels for biamping and that's pretty neat.
The Surround Bar is an easy speaker to drive and may be driven with just about any AVR.CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
