I'm trying to put together an approximate budget for a sound system and need a little help deciding on an appropriate amp.
At the moment I am looking at M60s mostly for music with HT down the road. The room is 20 x 12 x 8.
I've decided I don't need most of the bells and whistles as I will be delivering music and movies from a pc and don't plan on other external hd sources.
One thing I am not entirely clear on is power requirements to deliver full dynamic range in music. I hear people mentioning big power demands at times. Is the power demand for short peaks such as drum beats or is it for shifts from quiet to louder segmets in a piece?
The other thing I am not sure on is how much power the satelite speakers in a 5.1 system will draw during movies. If I decide I want to be able to deliver 100w per channel to the mains, do I really need this much power for the center and surrounds?
The final decision on exactly how much power I need will come when I audition speakers at Axiom. This will tell me how loud I like to listen to my speakers and what my power demands are.
For some reason I am locked in on 100w per channel for the M60s. I could look at a receiver that delivers this with all channels driven, or I could start off with a stereo integrated amp and pick up a lower powered 5.1 reciever with pre-outs later.
What are all you M60 owners using to drive your systems?
FWIW, for now I am in the "s long as it dosn't clip they all sound the same" amp camp and I am a value for money guy so I hate both wasted $$ and watts.
Oh yea, one last question. Are most of the amps out there still analog, or should I also be looking at analog vs digital (also hate wasted power)?
Fred
