Hello All,
I have a home theater set up using Magnepan 1.6s (Front L&R), CC3 center, MC1's as side surrounds, and MMGWs as rear surrounds. These are all 4 ohm speakers.
They are all currently powered by my new Onkyo 805.
I currently listen to music (mostly jazz, some pop) at moderate to low levels, but I do enjoy my movie sound tracks and gaming to be moderate to higher volumes for effect.
I am actively looking for an amplifier to better support these speakers. Problem is I keep getting out bid at the last second!
However, to my surprise, the Onkyo is doing a very respectable job of running/powering these speakers.
'To my ears', they appear to be well powered and sound good during movies, music, and fairly intense video games.
In fact, they sound so good that I'm seriously beginning to wonder if I need an amplifier after all.
I have never owned a stand alone high power amplifier before, so I am totally ignorant as to how the sound/performance of these speakers will improve once hooked up to a higher powered amp.
So,...
What kind of improvement would I get from this speaker package if they were hooked up to an amp, say rated at 300 to 400 watts per channel into 4 ohms? How will the music and movie/game sound effects sound differently than what I am already experiencing?
I've got my eye on a Sunfire amp rated at 400 wpc into 4 ohms, but I really need to know that this extra $1000 investment is really going to make my listening experience that much better.
I'm willing to make the purchase, but if my 'ears' don't need that extra power, I sure would like to put that $1000 towards my new front projector.
I appreciate all of your help and education in this.
Sean
I have a home theater set up using Magnepan 1.6s (Front L&R), CC3 center, MC1's as side surrounds, and MMGWs as rear surrounds. These are all 4 ohm speakers.
They are all currently powered by my new Onkyo 805.
I currently listen to music (mostly jazz, some pop) at moderate to low levels, but I do enjoy my movie sound tracks and gaming to be moderate to higher volumes for effect.
I am actively looking for an amplifier to better support these speakers. Problem is I keep getting out bid at the last second!
However, to my surprise, the Onkyo is doing a very respectable job of running/powering these speakers.
'To my ears', they appear to be well powered and sound good during movies, music, and fairly intense video games.
In fact, they sound so good that I'm seriously beginning to wonder if I need an amplifier after all.
I have never owned a stand alone high power amplifier before, so I am totally ignorant as to how the sound/performance of these speakers will improve once hooked up to a higher powered amp.
So,...
What kind of improvement would I get from this speaker package if they were hooked up to an amp, say rated at 300 to 400 watts per channel into 4 ohms? How will the music and movie/game sound effects sound differently than what I am already experiencing?
I've got my eye on a Sunfire amp rated at 400 wpc into 4 ohms, but I really need to know that this extra $1000 investment is really going to make my listening experience that much better.
I'm willing to make the purchase, but if my 'ears' don't need that extra power, I sure would like to put that $1000 towards my new front projector.
I appreciate all of your help and education in this.
Sean
