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Powering aw-650


dks

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Hi,

 

    About a year ago I purchased a set of aw-650s powered by an old Onkyo receiver Tx-sr606.  Unfortunately it clipped and the tweeters blew last weekend.  I talked to a rep from Klipsch and he recommended to get a different amp / receiver. (I am only using the receiver / amp for these two speakers and nothing else.) He told me to look for one with at least 100 watts per channel / 8 ohms, 20hrz - 20Khrz, and .08 or less distortion.  I found a new Onkyo receiver that fits the bill, but I am wondering if I should get something that would be around 150 watts per channel.  I have an old powered amp from audiosource, but I don't know if I could hook that up to my current receiver to boost the watts.  I also found the following two powered amps that would provide enough power but they don't necessarily meet the other qualifications that the rep told me.  If I was to get one of the powered amps below, would I need anything else or could I just run the speakers off of it.  I'm controlling everything wirelessly through my iphone if that makes any difference.  Or, should I just keep the receiver I have, which meets all of the specs I'm looking for except it is 90 watts peer channel?  Thanks in advance!

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/648331-REG/Pyle_Pro_PTA1000_PTA1000_Professional_Stereo_Power.html

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1285921-REG/behringer_km750_pro_750w_stereo.html

 

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Greetings @dks and welcome to the forum. I'm at work so a short reply for now. From the model I am assuming you are using these outdoors. Unless your current receiver has pre-amp outs the power amps you have listed will have connectivity issues, plus I would have issues running the Pyle and maybe with the Behringer as they are not known for their sound quality. Maybe look at Crown, possibly the XLS series. (I love B&H) I am not recommending this solution but commenting on the amps.

 

If your receiver is really putting out 90 watts it is rated slightly above the speaker rating of 85 and would seem to be okay. I will admit to burning up tweeters in the 1980's playing CD's with too little power - I use 2 to 6 times the rated speaker power now - yes I am into overkill but have not cooked any speaker in years and never a Klipsch.

 

Advice:

  • Purchase a more powerful receiver instead of just a power amp - you may like the new features.
  • Since you are playing the AW's loud enough to cook them you should consider a better/bigger speaker capable of the sustained sound levels you want to get.

I'm thinking the second option is where you will end up in the long run if high volume levels are needed, Again welcome to the forum and I am sure others will chime in tonight.

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Thank you, Ole Dollar.  I appreciate all the info.  I was able to find a used Onkyo Tx-NR1007 for $150.  It pumps 135 watts per channel so it looks like it will meet all of my needs since I am only using it for those outdoor speakers.  Let me ask you another question though.  Do you think it is worth adding an outdoor subwoofer to this set up?  Thanks again for all your help.  It is greatly appreciated!

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Okay, that AVR is very much overkill for 2 channel sound, I like it.

 

I was wondering if you were going to ask about subwoofers. First a disclaimer - my experience with outdoor sound is with PA systems that I built and used for local bands - I can play anything but a stereo, In the early days I did not use sub's and when added later they made a huge difference with a lot of music. You really have two questions to answer.

  • When listening outdoors what is the purpose? (Having friends over and talking or a musical performance)(Ambience or concert :))
  • What will your neighbors tolerate?

My first thought was of course Yes, it fills in the bottom octave that is usually missing with any small speaker and will make a significant difference. You may have some challenges depending on the area you want covered. For my PA's I set up 4 18" subs with more than enough power - don't under power your speakers as you already know. This approach is not really practical for you and the 18" subs for PA's are not aesthetically pleasing according to my wife - low WAF.

 

If you do decide on a sub-woofer I can tell you it will make the whole system louder and fuller as some work will be taken from the AW's and redirected by your AVR to the sub. When you set your AVR to "small speakers" for the AW's it will set the low cutoff somewhere around 80 to 100Hz meaning more of the 135 watts is available for work above that.

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Thank you again.   I have a relatively private backyard and I work outside or just grill out on the patio a lot so I mainly listen to music or podcasts.  About once a week or so I set up a large screen and projector for my kids to watch a movie out there.  When I have done that I haven't yet connected it to the aw-650s, but I think I have figured out a way to try it so that should make it all the more enjoyable for them.   Since I spend so much time out back, I decided to splurge and get a sub.  I looked at a number of different brands and stayed with Klipsch and bought a  ca-800-tsw.  Believe it or not, it was the most reasonably priced of all of the different ones.  I've read a couple of different comments on how to hook it up.  Some say to do it to one line of the 650s, but others have said to use a separate amp for it.  I happen to have a spare amp that I could use so my question is which way do you think it would work best?

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  • 1 year later...

I bought a pair of Klipsch AW-650.  I have a Yamaha TSR-7850 7.2-Channel Network receiver.  Running speakers wires to the outdoor speakers will a tall order and about 50ft of speaker wire each. Wondering whether the Yamaha MusicCast Wireless Streaming Amplifier - WXA-50 might be a good option here. Power output of 80W at 8 Ohms. Will that be enough power or will it sound underwhelming? Thanks in advance for your help. 

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It is all context and perception.  I have been running a pair of AW-650 for ten years.  The entire time has been with little T amps.  First was a HLLY (20 watts).  About five / six years back got a Dayton audio (can't be sure, but the 60 or 80 watt model)  This is plenty for me, but I don't treat the neighborhood.  I actually run both the 650 on the patio and a set of CDT-5650 in the kitchen ceiling off the same amp.  Run the leads to two impedance matching volume controls then on to the two sets of speakers.  But, this is a row house in DC.  The patio is a postage stamp.

 

Over the years have gone from mini computer, to ITX, and now a raspberry pi.  Just remote desktop in from laptop or phone with RDP app and go to it.  Browser for Pandora, Clementine to my NAS for stored tunes.  The computer and amp are in the basement, up a little chase to the attic, back down to kitchen ceiling and wall to volume controls, then to ceiling for kitchen and straight out for patio.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I don’t know if I can ask a question on this thread or If I should’ve started a new one. I’m new to this. :) I just bought the Sonarray landscape series on eBay with an additional sub. We are also looking at getting 4 additional satellite speakers if I can find a good deal. The package came with the Sonance sr 2 - 125 amp. So, we’ll have two subs and (potentially) 12 satellite speakers powered by the amp. These speakers will be placed around the pool area and patio area. 

 

We might want to mount a couple of speakers on the house too. The AW 650s seem to have great reviews.  My question is do I need a separate amp to run 2 mounted a Klipsch AW650s or do you think I could use the same Amp? I get really confused when it comes to what power is needed. Any help is very much appreciated!! 

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