lupinglade Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 (edited) How noticeable would the difference between a 85wpc and 120wpc receiver be on RF82s? Same receiver brand (Harman Kardon). Thanks! Edited March 10, 2015 by lupinglade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 If the room is not that large the difference will be minimal unless playing music at extreme levels. What are you missing or wanting? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupinglade Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Its a fairly large room, 27 foot vaulted ceiling, 21x25 room plus its open to the dining room and kitchen. I'd like to maybe get a little more bass out of it and more mids. I wonder if the 85wpc amp just isn't enough for these speakers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeker Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Like derrickdj1 said it is unlikely things will change. It will obviously be louder but unnecessary. Louder may suit you though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupinglade Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 It already can go too loud, so loudness is not my goal really. Just around regular comfortable listening level. Thanks for your insight! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 can you try to eq a little .ore bass and mid in before you spend the money on more power? and welcome to the forum. rf-82's are pretty sweet. they were my first klipsch speakers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Do you have/use Dolby volume at low setting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 (edited) I would add a couple of subs for a large room and set the speakers to small to improve system performance. Speaker set to small will increase the midrange dynamic capability and the subs will give you a more even bass presentation. Welcome to the forum. Edited March 10, 2015 by derrickdj1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxr dad Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Dam you guys are good. All the above advice nails it. Get sub/subs and EQ. Dont worry about the power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupinglade Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 can you try to eq a little .ore bass and mid in before you spend the money on more power? and welcome to the forum. rf-82's are pretty sweet. they were my first klipsch speakers! The amp has no eq, so that's a bit tricky :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupinglade Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Do you have/use Dolby volume at low setting? I'm not sure what that is. The receiver is running in "stereo mode". There is no dolby setting available for regular music on this receiver. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupinglade Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 I would add a couple of subs for a large room and set the speakers to small to improve system performance. Speaker set to small will increase the midrange dynamic capability and the subs will give you a more even bass presentation. Welcome to the forum. Thanks! I might try to add one sub, there isn't really room there to hide two, it might be overwhelming visually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusaDude Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 You didn't mention what model HK receivers you were talking about. Not sure whether they are new (multi-channel capable) or older (2 channel only)... But as others have mentioned, there are other things to consider, that will make a bigger difference. In fact, the extra 35 wpc will only give you about 1 dB more output. You'd need to double the 85 wpc to 170 wpc, to gain just 3 dB in output. As the RF-82's are rated 150 wpc continuos and 600 wpc peak. An amp with a higher dynamic (short term) output would give you better headroom protection if you like to listen at louder levels, but that's really it. Since you mentioned having no Dolby settings and no EQ (no tone controls?) capabilities... do you have a sub output? Or are these just 2 channel receivers? The 85 wpc would be plenty of power for the RF-82's. So if you are just looking for more bass, it might be related to how you have the speakers positioned in your room. Are they against a wall, in a corner, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I'll be the odd man out. A big amp will add some meat on the bones for various reasons but mostly because a quality big amp is better than a cheap amp. Think about an audio amp in the 200wpc category. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Bum Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Holy cow, I'm in agreement with Russ! I do notice a notable difference between a 50 watt receiver, which I can take to it's limits, and amps capable of a couple hundred watts, which are just unflappably clean not matter how far I turn it up. But I agree with the other posts too. If it's a power thing, you'll need to kick it up an order of magnitude, not a puny 35 watts. High pass the mains so power is even less an issue and add some subwoofage seem more to the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Holy cow, I'm in agreement with Russ! I do notice a notable difference between a 50 watt receiver, which I can take to it's limits, and amps capable of a couple hundred watts, which are just unflappably clean not matter how far I turn it up. But I agree with the other posts too. If it's a power thing, you'll need to kick it up an order of magnitude, not a puny 35 watts. High pass the mains so power is even less an issue and add some subwoofage seem more to the point. I learned a new word today…."subwoofage" ….awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricktate Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 A receiver with out tone controls ? What model is it ? Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
japosey Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Doubling the power, theoretically will give you 3 db increase in volume. If those numbers are correct power than you would get a 1.5 db bump in volume. Not really noticeable. You may notice a little more oomph on an explosion and can tell that it is tighter during those times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupinglade Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 (edited) You didn't mention what model HK receivers you were talking about. Not sure whether they are new (multi-channel capable) or older (2 channel only)... But as others have mentioned, there are other things to consider, that will make a bigger difference. In fact, the extra 35 wpc will only give you about 1 dB more output. You'd need to double the 85 wpc to 170 wpc, to gain just 3 dB in output. As the RF-82's are rated 150 wpc continuos and 600 wpc peak. An amp with a higher dynamic (short term) output would give you better headroom protection if you like to listen at louder levels, but that's really it. Since you mentioned having no Dolby settings and no EQ (no tone controls?) capabilities... do you have a sub output? Or are these just 2 channel receivers? The 85 wpc would be plenty of power for the RF-82's. So if you are just looking for more bass, it might be related to how you have the speakers positioned in your room. Are they against a wall, in a corner, etc? I'm currently using an AVR1700, 5.1 but only in stereo mode. The speakers are positioned in the corner, they will move closer to the wall soon, but so far I've tested them about 3 feet off the wall. The bass is okay, its not insufficient, actually I'd say the mids being a little washed out is the bigger problem. This new line of "green" H/K receivers -- I wonder if its not as warm as the older/higher end H/K receivers? The bass is ok, but the highs seem to be much more noticeable than the mids. Especially on something like electronica/trance. Whereas more acoustic/jazz/laid back music sounds quite good. Edited March 11, 2015 by lupinglade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupinglade Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 A receiver with out tone controls ? What model is it ? Rick AVR1700, it has basic tone controls but no EQ or Dolby for stereo mode. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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