Polk Audio RTI6 or LSI 7 or 9; Receiver match

 

New member
Username: Sjm6

Post Number: 1
Registered: Dec-04
I am setting up an HT. My priority is music sound from the system rather than HT. I heard the polk rti6's, lsi7's and lsi9's and like them all. i am leaning to the 6's or 7's because of budget. Questions: Any better ways to go, for the money viz speakers? viz HT Receiver, Tweeter dealer recommends Denon 2105. Any advice/better alternatives on the receiver issue? Thanks very much!
 

Bronze Member
Username: Riches1

Atlanta, GA US

Post Number: 60
Registered: Apr-04
Denon and Polk would be good match, I have owned both. I would go with the LSi's over the RT's.
 

Silver Member
Username: Kano

Post Number: 227
Registered: Oct-04
The Denon would be fine for the RTis, but these specs showing the Denon 2803/3805 pushing 4 ohm loads like the Lsi series in mulitchannel use is alarming:


Denon AVR2803:
-Continuous power to 5ch - 8/4ohm: 30/15W

Denon AVR3805:
-Continuous power to 5ch - 8/4ohm: 39W/20W

H/K AVR630:
-Continuous power to 5ch - 8/4ohm: 84/115W (fronts and rears)
-Continuous power to 5ch - 8/4ohm: 105/155W (center)

Marantz SR6300:
-Continuous power to 5ch - 8/4ohm: 73/115W

Marantz SR7400:
-Continuous power to 5ch - 8/4ohm: 93/97W

Pioneer VSX-AX3 (=53TX):
-Continuous power to 5ch - 8/4ohm: 105/145W

Yamaha RX-V1400RDS:
-Continuous power to 5ch - 8/4ohm: 100/110W


I know your focus is mainly music, but if you're going to buy a multichannel receiver, it should be able to perform in 5ch or 2ch.

Even last years Yamaha outperforms the Denons with multichannel power into 4 ohms.

I'd recommend the Pioneer Elite 53Tx or Marantz 6400/7400. The Marantz has garnished many reviews favouring its musical presentation, but less for HT. The Pioneer Elite balances HT/Music very well. Harman Kardon AVR630 is also a good choice.

 

Bronze Member
Username: Riches1

Atlanta, GA US

Post Number: 62
Registered: Apr-04
Alarming? I would say more like "curious", or even "amusing".

Many of us have debated this "continuous power" stuff before. I don't think "continuous power-all channels driven" is real world. Neither does Audioholics.com, among many others. That condition occurs only under the most extreme conditions in home audio. Here are two good links. One discusses the all channels driven controversy, the other is the favorable review of the Denon AVR 3805 driving RHB 4 ohm speakers in a "real world" situation. Also, read Russ White's comments (Russ builds and designs speakers for a hobby and personally tested the 3805 under 8,6, and 4 Ohm loads) in the Denon 2805/3805 Auto Setup forum (Home Audio>Receivers).

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/amplifiers/allchannelsdriven .php

http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/Denon-AVR3805_review01.php

I would also take note of the Denon 3805's ability to Bi-Amp the Left and Right fronts at 240 watts per channel.

Audioholics felt confident enough about the amp section and sound qualities of the 3805 to name it Reciever of the Year for 2004!

IMHO:

I am a previous H/K 625 owner and I did not find the H/K to have as much detail as the Denon 2803.
Further, the bass was better on the Denon and I found the H/K to have a tad of midrange bloat. I don't know how that would compare to to todays H/K 630/635 vs Denon 3805.

Also, I recently had a Yamaha RX-V3000 (loaned to me by my son-in-law), which is rated at 130 wpc and did not notice any appreciable difference in power between the two recievers. Again, the Denon had greater detail, and tighter bass than the Yamaha. The highs on the Yamaha were smooth, but rolled off compared to Denon.

Bottom line, if it's receiver sound quality that you're after, I would recommend the Denon highly. If you are going to lay awake at night worrying about the "on paper" power specs from a Finnish Hi-Fi magazine, maybe you would want to look at another receiver.

 

Silver Member
Username: Kano

Post Number: 229
Registered: Oct-04
15/20WPC IS alarming. So what if you don't push all channels driven, if you push 3 channels do you get a whole 30 WPC? That spec was for 5 channel mode. Maybe I'm off base but the receiver is only putting out a total of 100W at peak times? 40WPC would be "curious" or "amusing," but IMO real world use (at least in my home) will push all channels past 20W at the same time.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Riches1

Atlanta, GA US

Post Number: 63
Registered: Apr-04
Kano:

I don't understand your math. See if you can understand mine.

Hitting 50 watts per channel with just a 1kHz test tone for over 4 seconds would be unlikely to EVER occur in a real world situation with either music or movie signals. So it seems even more unlikely, maybe even impossible, to ever hit 20Hz to 20kHz continuously at any power level -- in the real world. Even when this is done in the lab, it's not done driving speakers with music -- it's done driving a non-inductive 8, 6, or 4 ohm resistor.

Even supposing that it were possible to hit a sustained 20Hz to 20kHz, (and even supposing that power ratings from Finland were accurate) the difference in 25 watts per channel vs. 50 watts per channel would only result in a difference in sound level of 3dB. That is the smallest level that at which the human ear is capable of detecting a change in sound level. That suggests to me that you might, or might not, be able to tell whether there the sound was louder at 20 watts or 50 watts.

That is why that I think "all channels continuously driven" is not realistic. Even to obtain THX certification, the test is a one tone burst, which again represents a real world "musical peak".

I'm not saying that all channels continuously driven does not serve a purpose. It is certainly somewhat indicative of amplifier quality, but only one of many indicators. I would also consider S/N ratio, distortion levels and a number of other indicators to be important.

Test Lab results available from soundandvisionmag.com show that H/K receivers exceed their claimed power ratings by 20% for 330 to 30% for the 7300; The Denon 3805 tested 10% lower than its claimed rating; the Denon 2805 was about 25% lower than its claimed WPC; and Yamaha and Onkyo models fell well short of their claimed power ratings in this price range. (The 7300 is not in this price range, but I have seen h/k 7200's for around $1200.)

Well, it's time for me to go listen to Ray Charles' "Genius Loves Company", then maybe some David Byrne, followed by a little Joe Bonomassa on DVD-A.

Good listening to you all.
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