am i getting the most out of my speakers?

[Erman_94]

is emotiva a top-quality amp brand?

are there others worth noting?

[JasonR]

You could also run a 5 channel to biamp your fronts, amp your center, and just use the receiver to power your surrounds. That would be a nice option.

[Erman_94]

also, a little confused on why crazyblue would have 2 amps

couldnt i just get a 5 or 7 channel amp and thats it?

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by Erman_94

is emotiva a top-quality amp brand?

are there others worth noting?

Sure there are others worth noting, I own Emotiva and I love it though.

NAD, Rotel, Parasound, Krell, Outlaw, McIntosh, Carver, Sunfire, Classe, Bryston, Halcro....

There are many, some cost a little....some cost a lot!!!

[Erman_94]

Originally Posted by JasonR

You could also run a 5 channel to biamp your fronts, amp your center, and just use the receiver to power your surrounds. That would be a nice option.

i dont understand what biamp means but is it like giving 2 channels to each front and one to the center?

would this provide even more power to the fronts?

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by Erman_94

also, a little confused on why crazyblue would have 2 amps

couldnt i just get a 5 or 7 channel amp and thats it?

You certainly could get just a 5 or 7 channel amp and be done. Crazy, well....he has amplification issues. He likes it a little bit.

I think he is using the one on his fronts and biamping his surrounds with the other.

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by Erman_94

i dont understand what biamp means but is it like giving 2 channels to each front and one to the center?

would this provide even more power to the fronts?

A good read.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=56058

[crazyBLUE]

Why I have two amps !!!

The more watts the amps put out the better it will sound .
I have my 5 channel amp powering my three front speakers ! The amp is rated at 200 watts per channel ~5 channels , I am using 3 channels so it is 250 - 300 watts for 3 channels .
My 7 channel amp is Bi-amping my surrounds . The amp is rated at 125 watts per channel ~ I am using 4 channels for 140 watts per channel !
The more watts you feed the speakers the better they will sound !

[Erman_94]

i think im starting to get it guys, i am reading that sticky now. thanks again for all the help. but i think im just scratching the surface

more questions :

1. would i need a separate amp for a subwoofer?
2. so if i got (for example) a 5 channel amp, i could:

a) amplify each of my 5 speakers
b) bi-amp my fronts and amp my center

are there any other combinations? because i personally think i would get the best sound with option b seeing as my surrounds arent pushed too much in the movie/games anyway..is my reasoning wrong?

3. where can i purchase the emotiva besides their site? do they ever go on sale? ...i kind of fell in love with the look of it

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Erman_94

i think im starting to get it guys, i am reading that sticky now. thanks again for all the help. but i think im just scratching the surface

more questions :

1. would i need a separate amp for a subwoofer?
2. so if i got (for example) a 5 channel amp, i could:

a) amplify each of my 5 speakers
b) bi-amp my fronts and amp my center

are there any other combinations? because i personally think i would get the best sound with option b seeing as my surrounds arent pushed too much in the movie/games anyway..is my reasoning wrong?

3. where can i purchase the emotiva besides their site? do they ever go on sale? ...i kind of fell in love with the look of it

B ~ is A good start !

Emotiva is only sold threw there site Hence exellent price for quallity amp !!

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

B ~ is A good start !

Emotiva is only sold threw there site Hence exellent price for quallity amp !!

Yep!

And no amp needed for your sub, it should have sufficient self amplification.

You could always add a UPA-2, like I have, for your surrounds later too! It is no joke, way better than receiver amplification could ever hope for.

[Erman_94]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

B ~ is A good start !

Emotiva is only sold threw there site Hence exellent price for quallity amp !!

maybe ill get hooked on it like you guys

alright, its 2am here in toronto so im off...i will most likely be back with more q's tomorrow so be prepared


thanks so much for the help jasonR and crazyBLUE!!

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Erman_94

the audio equipment i own is listed below...now i am VERY new with this audio stuff, so bear with me...

the specs for my receiver state it can output about 130watts per channel, and the power capability of my speakers are about 300watts each (for the towers)

does this mean i am not listening to my speakers at their peak performance/potential? or am i just way out of my element here?

any help or explanations would be greatly appreciated guys.

thanks

Your system is fine. You have a very good system. If you are new to Audio/video, you don't need separate processors and amplifiers at this time. Enjoy your system and wait a few years. Eventually, you can upgrade in the future.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

The more watts the amps put out the better it will sound .

That's a common misperception, but completely untrue. There is no correlation whatsoever between an amp's power rating and its sound quality. There are great sounding 20W amps and there are lousy sounding 200W amps.

[Rob J in WNY]

Originally Posted by Erman_94

1. would i need a separate amp for a subwoofer?

No. A typical home theater subwoofer will have its own, built-in amplifier. Sometimes you will hear people refer to these amplified subwoofers as "active" subwoofers. Your receiver will output a "line-level" (low level) signal to the sub via a RCA audio cable. This type of subwoofer is what you will see in the vast majority of home theater setups.

Or, in a "passive" subwoofer setup, your receiver's RCA subwoofer output will connect to the input of a separate, dedicated amplifer unit. The amplifer's speaker outputs are then connected to a separate subwoofer. This setup is more rarely seen, and usually reserved for custom or specialty theater/audio applications.

[McLoki]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Your system is fine. You have a very good system. If you are new to Audio/video, you don't need separate processors and amplifiers at this time. Enjoy your system and wait a few years. Eventually, you can upgrade in the future.

I would agree. For now, just use what you have and enjoy. You can rest assured that if you come across a large sum of money at some point in the future and want to spend it on your system - you have the option of adding an amplifier.

To get the most out of your speakers, an amp would help, but it is certainly not required and the sound quality increase may not be very large for the money invested. (thats the problem with an audio system as it moves up the audio chain - gains get both smaller and more expensive as you go)

Enjoy what you have for awhile and when you want something more - come back and ask again.

Michael

[McLoki]

The biggest bang for your buck in any upgrade always comes from updating the weakest link in your audio system. In yours, an amp may be a big help, but it takes time with your system to determine what is lacking.

Off the cuff, I would guess (without knowing at all) that an investment in room treatments (one of the most overlooked upgrades) will do more for the sound of your system than an amplifier would.

Anyway, as has been said, enjoy what you have and once you decide to upgrade some more, come back with what you feel is lacking in your system and we will come up with something to help with it I am sure...

Michael

[Erman_94]

thanks for the help and opinions guys

i know what is currently lacking in my sound system, and that is a subwoofer. i currently am running a 5.0 setup and am forced to run my towers as "large" speakers to handle both the high and low-end frequencies

my first purchase will be a subwoofer, so that my towers can handle what they are meant to handle and so my auto-calibration will set my towers to "small" rather than large

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by richteer

That's a common misperception, but completely untrue. There is no correlation whatsoever between an amp's power rating and its sound quality. There are great sounding 20W amps and there are lousy sounding 200W amps.

Thanks for the insight richteer , I still have some things to learn !!

[richteer]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

Thanks for the insight richteer , I still have some things to learn !!

No probs! You're way ahead of me on the acoustic treatments front, though I'm investigating getting some products from Real Traps. Their stuff isn't cheap, but seems to be pretty damn good.