AV Receiver/ Speaker combinations

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I'm currently looking at setting up a home theatre system, and one area I'm slightly confused on is matching speaker and amplifiers. The 5 speakers I'm looking to get are the B&W M1 (twinned with a B&W 608 subwoofer, in preference to the MT-10 package on the advice of a local shop). The amplifier I like is the Pioneer VSX-LX60.

The speakers are rated with a nominal impedance of 8 Ohm with a power handling of 20 - 100 W @ 8 ohm.

The amplifier has a power output per channel of 170W, with a rated output of 130W + 130W @ 6 ohm

I'm concerned about ensuring I can't damage the speakers with this hookup. Is the extra power on the amplifier compared to the speakers a problem? Alternatively, my understanding is that 130W @ 6 ohm is approx 100W @ 8 ohm, so is this actually not a problem - although I'm not sure about whether this is accurate on how the power interacts in the two devices?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Calvin

 

[Anonymous]

I've done a bit more checking and turns out the amp I was thinking of actually has a 130W output @ 8 ohm, not 6 as I previously thought. So would I be better off with the slightly less powerful VSX-LX50 which only has a 110W output @ 8 ohm.

Incldentally - the reason I'm not going with the KEF KHT3005 is predominantly a price factor - and the use of a different sub to the package reviewed in What Hi Fi should solve the major issue identified. And I'm not going with an Onkyo amp because the component video input/output (at only 50MHz) can't pass through the 1080p of my X-Box 360 (or any future potential devices).

Anyone got any thoughts on whether the combination (VSX-LX50 or VSX-LX60 with B&W M1s) will work?

Thanks,

Calvin