What type of speakers should I buy?
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New member Username: KhwajaPost Number: 1 Registered: Feb-06 | I recently found a Kenwood cassette deck and amp (KA-80) in my nearly 20 years old stuff in immaculate condition. I have had the amp serviced. I would like to establish what type of speakers can be bought to match this amp. In terms of specs, the manual says, 48 watts per channel mim RMS both channels driven at 6 ohms from 20 hz to 20000 hz with no more than 0.02% total harmonic distortion. This is all greek to me. All I need to know what type of speakers will be suitable. Can the latest set of 5 speakers be used with this amp? Will appreciate any help. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 6254 Registered: Dec-03 | Budget? |
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Silver Member Username: GmanMt. Pleasant, SC Post Number: 836 Registered: Dec-03 | It is a stereo amplifier. You can buy a pair of speakers for stereo listening. If you want a surround set-up with 5 speakers and a subwoofer you need to buy an AV surround receiver or a 3-channel amp to go with your stereo amp and then an AV surround preamp. |
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New member Username: KhwajaPost Number: 3 Registered: Feb-06 | Thank you for the respose. I am happy to spend up t$ 200. As these days you can easily get 5 speakers, I need to know what wattage I should be looking for considering the specs of the amp I provided and how do you connect these speakers to amp which seems to have only two speakers oulets. It does have an AUX jack and one for phono but that's about it. I am newbie and need help in plain langauage. Don't understand why do I need to buy another AV sound receiver. I thought the amp will do the trick. What is av suround preamp? Pl explain for me. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckParkhill, Ontario Canada Post Number: 1418 Registered: Dec-04 | Ash, firstly, welcome to the forum. Your receiver is a stereo unit, meaning it powers two speakers only. It was built before the advent of surround sound and home theatre. If you want 5 speaker theatre, a different receiver is required. Notice also, there is no input for cd. This is a 'vintage' unit indeed. However, not all is lost. Your cd player will happily plug into the 'aux', and a nice pair of speakers will provide a happy starter stereo. I understand your desire for 5 speaker, but a low-buck surround system will be embarrased by your receiver and a nice pair of speakers. Do you want a lot of bass or mostly balanced sound? Give us, say, 3 favorite songs. |
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Silver Member Username: GmanMt. Pleasant, SC Post Number: 838 Registered: Dec-03 | You will probably have to purchase a pair of bookshelf speakers to get good quality sound at around the $200 budget. Onix (at their website) is offering the X-LS bookshelf speaker at $199, which should be an excellent bargain for a quality small speaker. Axiom M3's (also online) are great at $320. Aperion Intimus 532's at $180 are quite good, but less deep bass. Another good choice would be to go to audiogon.com and shop for used speakers. You will find some bookshelf speakers and a few towers that will be at or near your budget. I saw some Infinity Primus towers at $300 (MSRP $600) and some good bookshelf Monitor Audio Bronze 2's at around $225-$250. EBay is also an option for used and new speakers. But it is quite important to have some knowledge of the brands and quality of the speakers before you purchase. If you find something you like you might want to ask people at this forum before making the monetary commitment. |
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New member Username: KhwajaPost Number: 4 Registered: Feb-06 | Thank you all of you for taking the time to respond. I will take your advice and will go for book shelf speakers. What wattage should I be looking for considering the specs of amp I have written above? |
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Silver Member Username: GmanMt. Pleasant, SC Post Number: 840 Registered: Dec-03 | Look for 6-8 ohm speakers with a power capability up to 150 watts or so. More important than the power (watt) capability is the sensitivity of the speakers. Try to get a speaker with at least 89 dbs or higher. This in combination with a 6-8 ohm speaker should present an easy load for your amp to drive at pretty much whatever volume the speakers are capable of delivering. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckParkhill, Ontario Canada Post Number: 1445 Registered: Dec-04 | Again, Ash, you might want to give us an idea of what you listen to. A couple of favorite songs? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7114 Registered: Dec-03 | Any news on your search, Ash? |
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New member Username: Mario_jarioColumbus, MS United States Post Number: 2 Registered: Mar-06 | lol |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7126 Registered: Dec-03 | ?? |
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Bronze Member Username: IrisfailsafeBogotaColombia Post Number: 23 Registered: Jan-06 | check out www.aperionaudio.com, good speakers not that expensive. I think buy a 100watts speaker, more your amp can't take the extra power... |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7309 Registered: Dec-03 | I think Ash is gone... |
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New member Username: Pioneer_600Post Number: 1 Registered: May-06 | I know you guys are faaaar beyond my experience and finance in terms of stereo equipment... However, I thought I would ask around to see if you could help me. I have a similar receiver/amp that I actually found while dumpster diving last night. It works fine, apparently... I live in Helsinki, Finland, and apparently this Pioneer sx-600L is quite rare outside of Scandinavia... So rare that the following page is about all the information I could gather on it: http://www.hifigoteborg.se/Pioneer%20sx-600L%20spec.htm I hooked the sx-600L up to some crappy speakers to see if there was a signal (after I made sure any moisture inside the machine evaporated... I didn't know how long it had been outdoors), to see if the pots needed cleaning and if the lights were working, but everything seems to be in great working order. Now I need to get some speakers and eventually a turntable. Speaker selection is a mystery to me. If you click the above link, you will see the specs (in Swedish, but pretty self explanatory to you experts)... What kind of speakers should I get (should also be in the "around $200 range")?? I listen to everything from rock to jazz to classical, and like bass but don't want to have it too bassy. Thanks... I guess I will just pretend that I am Ash now. :-) |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 2603 Registered: Dec-04 | Mark, that is a classic low powered pioneer with very good sound. By the way, the driving transistors can be uprated very cheaply for more power, if you like. Speakers are a tough one. If you care for much volume, the higher sensitivity the better for the stock receiver. I have no idea what is available over there, Klipch would be my suggestion here. You might check for used speakers at a dealer and try the Klipch line. Skol! |
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New member Username: Pioneer_600Post Number: 2 Registered: May-06 | Thanks for the quick reply and the "Skol," but in Finland the word for "cheers" is actually "Kippis." "Skol" is Swedish. Now back to my dumpster dive find... I was really asking about speaker power ratio compared to the 20-25 watts (depending on ohm rating of the speaker) that the sx-600L puts out. What would a good range be for this type of amp? Some small bookshelf speakers or (hopefully ;-)) bigger floor jobbies? Kippis! |
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New member Username: Pioneer_600Post Number: 3 Registered: May-06 | ps I changed my name to my username, cause I was kind of confused why my "real name" is used where one would think the username would be. :-) |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 2605 Registered: Dec-04 | Pioneer, the difference in 4 and 8 ohm will be negligible. With only 25% difference, the receiver is only 4ohm capable, not efficient. That is not to say that the revival is bad, but 8 ohm speakers would be the best choice, I figgur. Again, I might suggest a look at Klipch. Kippis!(thanks, I need to learn the word in ALL languages)! |
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Bronze Member Username: Daniel_canadaCanada Post Number: 30 Registered: May-06 | I'll second the Klipsch, maybe something in a bookshelf or a small floor if you like. Maybe if you get lucky you'll find some while dumpster diving, that and some vinyl too.  |
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New member Username: Pioneer_600Post Number: 4 Registered: May-06 | Well, I didn't have the dough to afford Klipsch, so I bought into some vintage stuff... I found a pair of KLH Model Seventeens, which could be as old as 40 years! KLH made these babys to last, and the production run was from 1965 til 1973, I have learned. My dad had a pair of smaller KLH's when I was growing up. I inheirited them when I was about 13 and eventually blew them out with Led Zep. I don't think I'll repeat that huge error. :-/ They sound pretty good, especially with classical music. I tried listening to mp3s - piped in via a minidisc player - and it sounded pretty bad. These speakers were made to listen to analog, uncompressed MUSIC! The next step, I suppose, is to find a decent turntable and start re-building that LP collection I stopped in 1983 (when I got my first CD player). Thanks for the help. |
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