Sony STRDA5400ES Underpowered?

[admin_exported]

An American magazine measured the wattage of the beloved Sony STRDA5400ES at 45 watts per channel into 7 channels! Both Denon's 3808 and Pioneer's LX81 measured above 100 watts per channel into 7 channels. From what I've heard, most of us usually use only 10-20 watts when watching a program anyway but does this lack of extra wattage/current/drive make a big difference considering that a lot of people buy a receiver with a great pre/pro like the one found in Denon's AVR4310 and end up buying a 5 channel amp from say Cambridge Audio for extra dynamics? Just a thought!

 

[Anonymous]

Do cambridge audio do 5 channel amps? Anyway, dynamic power is alot more important than continuous power. Remember these figures should be qouted into eight ohms, 20-20KHz, less than 1% distortion. All amps recievers with a common power supply will 'sag' when running more channels as a greater demand is put on the supply than in stereo for example. Only the best (also expensive) amps will 'sag' little or none at all (either due to one enormous supply or individual mono supplies).

The dynamic power requirements needed to reproduce film soundtracks and the like can run into hundreds of watts (sometimes over one thousand in particular cases, per channel), especially into lower impedances. Almost all amps will clip slightly here (inaudiably) causing distortion. Remember this isn't at massive volume levels.

You shouldn't worry about your amp being under-powered, almost all of them are!

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Bananaman2. I was thinking about NAD's 5 and 7 channel power amps... Cambridge Audio doesn't make 5 channel amps from what I know. If all amps are underpowered, then I should consider Denon's 5 star 1909 instead of spending gobs of money towards buying a 4310 ...kidding! From what you're saying, a power amp with a transformer that can store large amounts of dynamic power is the way to go. So, do you know if the Sony is that type of amp? I haven't read any posts regarding Sony's power capabilities. I read a post on an American forum where someone with Denon's new AVR4310 drove his 4 ohm speakers for an hour at 90 db and claimed that the amp didn't even heat up much...which puts to rest any concerns about the fact that Denon's new AV Receivers are lighter...but not less powerful.