AVR differences.

[billybob]

They make higher wpc models of course and depends on your speakers. Maybe getting off topic so...

[Mongo171]

30WPC... is it enough for anything?
not sure how much my 110WPC rated pioneer pushing out , but I never turn the volume knob over 45 (100 is the maximum) and at just over 70 it's getting uncomfortably loud to stay in the room.
if I would go all the to a 100 do I have a chance to "clip" my speakers? front and center 150W rated (600 peak), but surrounds only 100W (400 peak).

If you listen to your AVR at 100, you will blow your speakers. The amp will clip under that situation. Clipping is distortion. Distortion in a speaker creates heat. Heat destroys speakers. You will need to get a more powerful AVR or, best choice, go separates.

[dimanata2007]

30WPC... is it enough for anything?

not sure how much my 110WPC rated pioneer pushing out , but I never turn the volume knob over 45 (100 is the maximum) and at just over 70 it's getting uncomfortably loud to stay in the room.

if I would go all the to a 100 do I have a chance to "clip" my speakers? front and center 150W rated (600 peak), but surrounds only 100W (400 peak).

If you listen to your AVR at 100, you will blow your speakers. The amp will clip under that situation. Clipping is distortion. Distortion in a speaker creates heat. Heat destroys speakers. You will need to get a more powerful AVR or, best choice, go separates.

I see. Thanks.

I better not to go over 75-80 than... I was thinking about yamaha, but looks like inexpensive Yamaha AVR's put out even less wattage than Pioneer.

[garyrc]

dimanata2007,

You have 5 basic channels (I assume your subwoofer has its own built in amp), so you should only take specs seriously that list a certain wattage per channel "with all channels operating," full bandwidth (maybe 20 to 20K Hz), and even then with a grain of salt. A measurement with two channels operating overestimates the power available to each channel if more than two channels are operating, due to stress on the amp's power supply with more channels. As you have seen, some models are way overated as to power.

If all channels are operating, a figure marked "RSM (Root Mean Square) wattage" per channel, all channels operating, will probably be a good one to go by, although RMS more rarely listed now than in the past, because manufacturers can't fudge as easily using it as they can by simply saying "Rated Power." It is not a terrible sin for an amp's rated power to be a little exagerated over what RMS would be. I have NADs, which have a good rep relative to power, but even their Rated Power of 150 w.p.c., all channels operating, are a bit overated. Their maximum continuous sine wave power is 171 wats per channel, and RMS should be .707 times that figure, which gives us a bit more than 120 w.p.c. That's O.K., providing I consider them 120 w.p.c. amps.

Whether any given wattage is enough depends on the efficiency of your speakers, the size of your room, and how difficult your speakers are to drive in other ways. If my info is correct, your least efficient speaker is the SS1 surround, which I see listed at 94 dB @ 1w @1m. That is about 4 dB more efficient than a typical speaker of about 90 dB/1w/1M. Let's say the SS1 is really 93 dB/1w/1M, just to make the math easy. That would mean that a 100 w.p.c.amp, all channels operating, driving a SS1 would be about equivalent to a 200 w.p.c., aco, amp driving a typical speaker. Maybe. Users report that some speakers are easier to drive than their efficiency would predict, and others are harder.

In answer to your question, "Is 300 watts enough for anything?" the answer is probably no, in the case of very well regarded speakers far less efficient than Klipsch, such as some by B & W, and several others. McIntosh makes a 2,000 w.p.c. amp, all channels operating, with up to 8,000 watts in very brief peaks, just for those babies. Part of the glory of Klipsch is high efficiency. My Klipschorns receiving 100 watts probably put out the sound pressure level of the B & W 801 F getting somewhere between 1,600 watts to 7,000 w.p.c., depending on how you measure efficiency (that varies, as well).

As the OP noted, AVRs (and amps) sound different. If you like the sound of yours, just be careful not to turn it up far enough to hear a jump in distortion. Many film buffs set the volume control to make dialog sound natural and unstrained, and leave it at that. Don't use dialog in the previews, because it is often louder, despite the memo Dolby sent the studios telling them they were shooting themselves in the foot by this practice. If you adjust your bass management for a crossover to the subwoofer at 80 Hz, you may have more headroom in your regular amps and speakers than if you set the crossover to the sub at, say, 40 Hz.

[dimanata2007]

I do like how my Pioneer sounds. I just was kind surprised that pioneer avr's real life output does not match "paper" specked wattage, even tough looks like Pioneer one of the most honest companies.

thanks for detailed explanation.