OMG, my very first real amp and my first ever post! Question regarding speakers!

[admin_exported]

Hello folks, I have just bought a second hand Technics SU-X120 PXS-CAP amp. No idea if one of these is a good amp or not but I liked the look (how sad is that!). It's 80w at 8ohms but I can't compare that to anything as I have no experience.

I also have a Denon DCD-715 CD player and a Denon TU-260L Tuner.

I currently have some Sony bookshelf speakers from a midi unit I have used for years but when used with the Technics amp, they are truly awful. At low volumes it sounds ok although I have no idea what ok really means! and as soon as I turn up the volume, the 4" mid/bass speakers bounce around like a lunatic. They are probably 25w max input.

Having spent 2 hours reading many posts here, I am even more confused about speakers in that I could spend £70 on some Wharfdale 9.0's and see an immediate improvement. However, I could spend £200 on some Wharfdale 10.1's but I am confused as to the benefit spending 3 times the price will bring.

So, my question is, is it better to get something like the 10.1's, considering the wife will not let me have floor standing speakers, or go with the 9.0's? I am not a Wharfdale's fan but using them for comparison purposes only.

BTW, this system is used for personal music listening only and not any fancy home cinema stuff.

Many thanks.

Jonathan

 

[Anonymous]

If you just want something to get you into the world of High Fidelity these:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/bookshelf-speakers/wharfedale/diamond-9.0/whar-9.0-rose

would be one hell of an improvement in sound.

 

[Anonymous]

Where you say that the speakers are from a sony midi system my guess would be that they are the wrong impidence (ohm rating). I would say that the speakers are 6ohm and the amp is 8ohm, so the amp will make them distort if you turn the volume up even the slightest. I think you might be better off looking for some good bookshelf speakers, I'd have a look in Richer Sounds, super fi places like that you can usualy pick up some good deals, i'd check out their websites.

Congratulations on your first purchase of real hifi equipment!

Hope this helps,

Joe

 

[Anonymous]

Joe, they are 6ohm, I just checked. The amp has a 4ohm setting. Will that help or be equally as bad?

I like marco's idea. Wharfdale 9.0's for £49.95; what a bargain although I am happy to pay 3 times that for noticeably better speakers.

 

[John Hereford]

Congratulations!

For my money, rather than spend £200 on a pair of Wharfdale 10.1's (very nice though they are), I would go for the 9.0's and add a pair of stands and some decent speaker cable (no need to go barmy - even spending £2.50p a metre at Richer Sounds will bring a noticeable benefit over bell-wire).

 

[chebby]

JG333:.....my guess would be that they are the wrong impidence (ohm rating). I would say that the speakers are 6ohm and the amp is 8ohm, so the amp will make them distort if you turn the volume up even the slightest.

Are you sure about that?

My speakers are 6 ohm and I think my amp is 8 ohm. (Naim's web page quotes it is 50w into 8 ohms).

So this is a problem then? Sure doesn't sound like there is any problem.

 

[Anonymous]

Chebby, my amp was set to 4ohms using 6ohm speakers. I have connected some small Sony 8ohm speakers and changed the amp to 8ohms. What a massive difference it has made.

I have learnt so much already!!

 

[chebby]

akafudge:
Chebby, my amp was set to 4ohms using 6ohm speakers. I have connected some small Sony 8ohm speakers and changed the amp to 8ohms. What a massive difference it has made.
I have never come across any amp with the ability to change it's output impedance to match speakers. Is this a built in feature or a DIY change?

 

[JoelSim]

chebby:

JG333:.....my guess would be that they are the wrong impidence (ohm rating). I would say that the speakers are 6ohm and the amp is 8ohm, so the amp will make them distort if you turn the volume up even the slightest.

Are you sure about that?

My speakers are 6 ohm and I think my amp is 8 ohm. (Naim's web page quotes it is 50w into 8 ohms).

So this is a problem then? Sure doesn't sound like there is any problem.

I've never had a problem with speaker/amp ohm rsistance ratings, not even a factor. It's more likely that your speakers were just not up to the job.

Go for the £200 speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

Chebby, it's a switch on the amp.

Joel is right though, the speakers are rubbish

 

[chebby]

Thanks aka.

 

[plastic penguin]

Too much emphasis is put onto ohms in my book.

As regards the Wharfedale 9.0 or 9.1's, these are great little speakers. A few months ago I almost purchased some 9.0's for the Mother-in-Law's mini Technics system. if you want to spend more look at ex-dem Monitor Audio BR2's. With these you'll get a bigger bang for your buck. Although still a standmounter, they are a little bigger, so whether your OH could tolerate the additional size is another question.

Good luck.

 

[Bodfish]

chebby:

JG333:.....my guess would be that they are the wrong impidence (ohm rating). I would say that the speakers are 6ohm and the amp is 8ohm, so the amp will make them distort if you turn the volume up even the slightest.

Are you sure about that?

My speakers are 6 ohm and I think my amp is 8 ohm. (Naim's web page quotes it is 50w into 8 ohms).

So this is a problem then? Sure doesn't sound like there is any problem.

Amps themselves do not have an ohms rating. Manufacturers give the watts per channel rating and will normally tell you the figure into a nominal 8 ohm load presented by a speaker (or more likely, test bench software). What they very rarely do is tell you what level of distortion that measured at, what frequency range they tested it over and also whether they were running one or both channels.

If anything, an amp will increase it's watt output as the impedence lowers - the 'perfect' amp will double it's watt output for every halving of the ohm load presented to it by the speaker.

 

[chebby]

Bodfish:
Amps themselves do not have an ohms rating.

So what does the 4, 6, 8 ohm switch of the OP's amp do then? And why did it sound better when he switched it to 8 ohms to match the speakers?

 

[Anonymous]

Aren't there some serious reductions on the MA RS1 speakers due to the RX range coming out.

Not advertised though so you'll need to call a handful of dealers. Got this info from other forums and the price is around the 200 mark.

Other than that then Wharfedale 9.1's are £100 at Superfi and Richer Sounds, amongst others.

 

[Anonymous]

Guitar amps have 4/8 ohm switches too. Mostly external cabinets are 4 ohms and the internal speaker 8 ohms.

 

[Bodfish]

chebby:Bodfish:

Amps themselves do not have an ohms rating.

So what does the 4, 6, 8 ohm switch of the OP's amp do then? And why did it sound better when he switched it to 8 ohms to match the speakers?

Well, it's something you more usually come across on valve amps where they have three output terminals rather than a switch. See this and look at the rear of the amp. I believe that there is some difference in the cicuit topology which means the amp changes the way it delivers current based on the tap selected - maybe someone more technically minded will be along shortly though!

Being an obstinate soul, I will stand by the statement that an amp does not itself have an 'ohm rating'

 

[gpi]

I too have never come across a solid-state amp with ohm switching. Usually it doesn't matter if the speakers are 6 or even 4 ohm rating, the amp delivers its watts accordingly and as you say, good amps will double up into half the ohms.

It sounds to me that as good as the little Sony speakers are (and I like Sony bookshelf speakers), they were simply not designed to go onto the end of an 80 watts a side amp. Very often those midi-systems only deliver about 10 W if you're lucky.

 

[Anonymous]

akafudge:

Joe, they are 6ohm, I just checked. The amp has a 4ohm setting. Will that help or be equally as bad?

I like marco's idea. Wharfdale 9.0's for £49.95; what a bargain although I am happy to pay 3 times that for noticeably better speakers.

You say the amplifier has impidence settings i would put it on 8ohms moste speakers are 8ohms, If you are trying to power 6ohm speakers on the 4ohm settings i would imagine they distort quite alot if you turn it up

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:

JG333:.....my guess would be that they are the wrong impidence (ohm rating). I would say that the speakers are 6ohm and the amp is 8ohm, so the amp will make them distort if you turn the volume up even the slightest.

Are you sure about that?

My speakers are 6 ohm and I think my amp is 8 ohm. (Naim's web page quotes it is 50w into 8 ohms).

So this is a problem then? Sure doesn't sound like there is any problem.

I was just speaking from experience when I tryed to power 8ohm speakers from a 6ohm micro system amp = distortion!

anyway not to worry my mistake

 

[Anonymous]

Folks, I have done some more experimenting with different ohm rating speakers (4, 6 & 8) v the amps ohm switch (4 & 8) setting and I have come to the conclusion that my issues were not related to an ohm 'miss match'. They were solely related to the quality of the speakers.

Many thanks for everyone's help and advice!

Jonathan