What Amp should I buy to go with my Speakers?

[Gojefarangi9]

Dear All

I am in the process of buying either a pair of Magnat Monitor Supreme 2000s or 2 pairs of Magnat Monitor Supreme 1000s. I prefer to go with the option of 1000s as I would like to put a speaker in each corner of the living room.

Now here is where it gets difficult. I want to have WI-FI connectivity with the Amp and Airplay. I've been considering the following:

Pioneer VSX-922-K

Denon 1713 and 2113

Onkyo NR 515 and 616

My preference is to go with the Pioneer because of pricing but I love the simplicity of the Denon. I've been told by the man at the shop that the Pioneer will not handle the speakers for prolonged loud playing... eg. a 4-5 hour party. He said on the 2000s the pioneer may blow/ruin the tweeter and it is better for me to go for 4 1000s. As I like the idea of having a speaker in each corner of the sitting room, I just want to know what Amp to go with.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

Goje

 

[Paul.]

If your goal is driving 4 speaker for a 5 hour party, Home cinema kit probably isn't the way to go. For one thing, the manufacturers arn't exactly honest about the power output (real world use is much lower than quoted)

You want to be looking at pro audio stuff, it's designed to be pushed hard for long periods. This maybe?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B004W4TYMA/ref=aw_d_pd_musical-instruments?qid=1375259828&sr=1-187

Its a four channel power amp for around £180, you could buy an airport express for £50 on eBay. Then all you would need is a cheap preamp or mixer to handle your sources.

 

[Gojefarangi9]

Thanks for your kind response... unfortunately that looks too pro for me. I wanted something for the living room that is also pleasing to the eye... are none of the units I mentioned ok for a party? May be not 4 or 5 hours, but say about 2 to 3 hours!

I was looking at a closer look at the Denon 1713 which has 80W per channel, but the Pioneer is showing 150W per channel. Are they all talking RMS these days or DIN or PMPO? The last time I bought a HiFi was 20 years ago!

Between the Denon 1713, the Pioneer 922 and the Onkyo 616, which do think will last longer. And which do you think is the better system?

Thanks again

 

[davedotco]

Written specs are largely meaningless in this context, the reality is that neither hi-fi nor home cinema product at this level is close to being capable of the sustained level required for a decent party. Without knowing you budget and other preferences it is hard to make suggestions.

Personally I would by a separate system for parties, as I have done myself many times in the past, these days it is not expensive if you have a portable player of some kind.

Something like this for example.....

http://www.thomann.de/gb/samson_rubicon_r8a_21_bundle.htm

or

http://www.musicstore.com/en_EN/EUR/Pro-Audio/Surround-systems/_SET_-Fame-5060-/-508-/-2.1-System-Monitore-Sub-Stative-Kabel/art-REC079

Add a dock or an AEX and an iThing and you are ready to rock.

 

[Tarxman]

Out of those I would probably go the Onkyo 616 myself, should be able to pick it up fairly cheap now as it's end of life.

 

[Arsukfjorden]

That a home cinema setup cant fire up some party music for an extended period is just rubbish talk. It obviously does not take damage if used for more than an hour. With a pair of decent speakers with a decent sensivity, you can get loud and clear music for hour after hour. My Q Acoustic 2050i/Denon 1911 setup have no problems pounding out music for many hours and its the same with one of my buddies' Dali Zensor 7/Denon 1912 setup. He is often playing with the volume at -0,0dB for hours.

But these setups are of course not made for very big rooms or to play outside with the party spread over a large area. For that you need pro audio, but for a livingroom, even a decent sized one? A home cinema setup is more than enough for that.

But my oppinion on the 4-speaker setup is that it is a bad idea. Music is meant to be in stereo, not quad-stereo. I would much rather go for some larger/better speakers and a nice, powerfull stereo amp than 4 smaller/worse speakers with an surround reciever with less power and lower audio quality

/Arsukfjorden

 

[davedotco]

That a home cinema setup cant fire up some party music for an extended period is just rubbish talk. It obviously does not take damage if used for more than an hour. With a pair of decent speakers with a decent sensivity, you can get loud and clear music for hour after hour. My Q Acoustic 2050i/Denon 1911 setup have no problems pounding out music for many hours and its the same with one of my buddies' Dali Zensor 7/Denon 1912 setup. He is often playing with the volume at -0,0dB for hours.

But these setups are of course not made for very big rooms or to play outside with the party spread over a large area. For that you need pro audio, but for a livingroom, even a decent sized one? A home cinema setup is more than enough for that.

But my oppinion on the 4-speaker setup is that it is a bad idea. Music is meant to be in stereo, not quad-stereo. I would much rather go for some larger/better speakers and a nice, powerfull stereo amp than 4 smaller/worse speakers with an surround reciever with less power and lower audio quality

/Arsukfjorden

It is my experience that this is not the case, but then we probably have different experiences.

I find that the moment you get a room full of people, domestic hi-fi systems simply fail to cope, what appears very loud indeed to a couple of people playing some music, largely disappears when played into a room full of people having a good time.

I have seen, over the years, far too many systems destroyed in this way to ever try it with my own equipment but as always you make your choice and take the consequencies.

 

[the record spot]

It depends on what you call loud, the room you're playing in and if it's going to be a huge affair or something in someone's room. If it's in a bigger room, I'd go for a pro-power amp. if it's in a domestic setting, then your home cinema amp will be fine and probably a lot better than any hifi amp. Just be careful about how you push it. Onkyo amps are conservatively rated, at least so the tests that hifi World have done indicate, so their claims won't be a bluff. It just depends on how loud you decide to play them and over what period of time.

 

[davedotco]

It depends on what you call loud, the room you're playing in and if it's going to be a huge affair or something in someone's room. If it's in a bigger room, I'd go for a pro-power amp. if it's in a domestic setting, then your home cinema amp will be fine and probably a lot better than any hifi amp. Just be careful about how you push it. Onkyo amps are conservatively rated, at least so the tests that hifi World have done indicate, so their claims won't be a bluff. It just depends on how loud you decide to play them and over what period of time.

Lots of people in even a reasonably sized room will soak up an inordinate amount of 'volume' and in these circumstances I like to play pretty loud so I would never use my hi-fi in such a situation, loud as it is in normal circumstances.

As I have said elsewhere, I used to run a pair of JBL 4333 studio monitors with Crown amplifiers in such circumstances, made a huge difference in virtually all circumstances.

 

[the record spot]

Again, it depends on what you consider loud, if you wish to converse, or if you just want it loud (man). Either way, without knowing any of that, the Onkyo would be my pick with its rating and likely capabilities of those mentioned.

 

[steve_1979]

If you want LOUD then consider a pair of these:

http://www.dv247.com/pa-systems-and-live-sound/db-technologies-cromo-10-active-pa-speaker--96354

They have 200 watts of amplification built into each speaker and they will go MUCH louder than the Magnate Monitor speakers that you were looking at! They will probably sound better too. A word of caution though, in a small to medium sized living room these will be loud enough to damage your hearing very quickly at full volume.

You have lots of options for the Airplay source to connect these to. Could I ask, do you need a remote control volume or would you be happy to use a physical volume knob?

 

[altruistic.lemon]

Those are PA speakers and will probably sound crap once the party's over and you have to listen to them!

 

[steve_1979]

If you want something a bit prettier with better sound quality then these would be ideal:

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/mackie-mr8mk2-active-studio-monitors-pair--96875

They're not as loud as the other speakers that I posted but they will be plenty loud enough for a small to medium sized living room and will have much better sound quality.

 

[steve_1979]

Those are PA speakers and will probably sound crap once the party's over and you have to listen to them!

Those Magnate Monitor floorstanding speakers will sound rubbish too. They're very cheap floorstanders so most of the price for them will be to pay for the cabinets with hardly anything left over for all those very cheap and very low quality drivers.

I haven't heard those Magnate Monitor speakers but I suspect the the 10" DB Technologies PA speakers would probably have better sound quality. They're quite good looking for PA speakers too. 8)

 

[namefail]

Re your fear that the 2000s will your amp, I don't see that as thruthful. There is only 1 dB differance in their sensitivity 92 vrs 93.

Oh and see as we're talking about PA, get a horn loaded long throw bass bin for each corner as well. j/k

 

[davedotco]

Re your fear that the 2000s will your amp, I don't see that as thruthful. There is only 1 dB differance in their sensitivity 92 vrs 93.

Oh and see as we're talking about PA, get a horn loaded long throw bass bin for each corner as well. j/k

Four long throw bass bins, in a domestic room, novel.

The inexpensive 'studio monitor' types I and others have mentioned will go louder with far better control than any hi-fi/AV products at remotely comparable prices.

The main point is that these 'studio monitors' are now so inexpensive that there is no point risking your hi-fi equipment in situations that they were not designed for.

 

[steve_1979]

...The inexpensive 'studio monitor' types I and others have mentioned will go louder with far better control than any hi-fi/AV products at remotely comparable prices...

+1

I agree. Within the budget available most good quality active studio monitors with an 8" bass driver will go louder than AV/hifi equipment for the same price and will easily be loud enough enough for a house party in your living room. They will also have better sound quality and be less likely to get damaged from pushing them too hard when compared to similarly priced AV/hifi equipment.

 

[splasher]

Sorry, I answered your previous post - I wouldn't recommend the Denon AVR-1713. It's great for movies but trips very quickly when playing milti-channel music at around 3/4 volume (as chance would have it I've just posted a question on this for my own curiosity). Can't comment on the other receivers you mention but personally I'd recommend a stereo amp with A+B speaker posts to drive 4 speakers for music.