Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Well on my way to the M80s club.. (#2000)

This may help, I'm not technically proficient enough to understand what it all means. 3808ci measurments

Nice find homedad, 238W at 0.1% distortion into 4 ohms,, I think I can wait till I can afford the A1400 before any more receiver upgrades.

Not only does the Denon do 238W at .1%, but 277.3 watts at 1% distortion. (and with the receiver crushing out 270+ watts, I'm sure my ears would be bleeding, so they wouldn't mind the 1% distortion).

So much for my need for 2 x 230 watt Behringer A500 Amp we were discussing separately (at least for 2-channel listening).

The numbers above were with two channels driven, and the charts there do note significant differences between 2 and 5 or 7 channels driven at the same time. (note that at 7 channels driven, it is producing less than 113 wpc into 8 ohms versus 2 channel output at 186 wpc into 8 ohms)



Given the disparities of output compared to number of channels drive, it makes me wonder how the Denon handles power allocation between the channels when the front L/R are demanding lots of juice and the surrounds are not... Is it going to be closer to the 113 wpc or 238...

Jason

Welcome to the Rosewood Natural HG Club Hutzal, I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do enjoy mine
Mel N.

Thanks onn, congratulate me when I actually get them!

Jason, a couple of comments on some apparently misunderstood points. The FTC power regulations that all amplifiers sold in the U.S. have to comply with are interpreted to require that the rated power be measured with at least two channels driven simultaneously at that full rated power for at least five minutes continuously. Typically the rating is at 8 ohms, and five continuous minutes of full-power operation(unrealistic for home use of course)at 4 ohms couldn't be accomplished for an "official" 4 ohm rating. A single channel rating could be stated in addition, but wouldn't be acceptable for the basic power rating. Some manufacturers choose to instead use an all-channels driven rating instead, but this doesn't appear to be of much relevance to real-world use for home audio, as has been pointed out frequently. For example, Audioholics in their lab tests use one and two channel measurements as being more realistic. Tests, such as those on the 3808 that Michael linked, show that the advertised power ratings are met in reality, as would be expected, since manufacturers would be foolish to violate what is essentially the only set of legal restrictions that exist in the entire realm of audio equipment.

Also, there's no meaningful factor of faster response or quicker attack which differentiates amplifiers. If an amplifier, regardless of whether it happens to be in a receiver or not, can amplify to at least 20KHz with flat response and low distortion(as is common these days in even modest-cost units), then by definition it has to have an adequate slew-rate and the related rise time for human ears. There's no magic in separate components which may or may not have slightly better measurements which have no audible effect.

Thanks as always for the informative response JohnK.

And yet there are many here that have said the A1400 has improved their sound quality over their avr's alone.

Come on Jason, order one up and let us know what you think.

Ha... maybe someday. For now, my ~2k cubic foot room just isn't arguing convincingly enough for the A-1400. Over time I'm sure it'll wear me down.

You and me both! But still, I want them. Just to hav'em! Isn't that a valid reason?