Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions 4 ohm towers Hooked to 6 ohm amp

Rick, I'm one of the minority that will agree with you on more power. I ran ran my M80's off an Aragon amp for about a year and really felt there was a difference, unfortunately I started to run out of room with all the other toys I have in the setup, so I went with a more powerful receiver. If Axiom ever makes a low profile 2 channel amp, that will be my next purchase.

I thought it does in that the further you get from the speakers, the more power you need to maintain the same volume. Is this wrong?

You are right.

His playing a classical piece at high volume levels for the quieter pieces then puts the amp into clip for the loud sections.

I did that one test awhile ago where I was listening to The Planets and I had a dynamic range over 20db, IIRC, so if you are listening at the quiet sections at 85 db then they hit the dynamic high parts at 105db, the power requirements are huge especially as you move farther away.

I can relate, when I'm shooting a game of pool 25ft+ away and listening to the planets, my Odyssey monoblocks make my 80's really shine. The Denon alone did OK, and I would not say the clipping was that noticable if at all, however, it is nice to have the extra HP in my close 8,000 cu ft room.

BJ, your 94 supplies what is likely to be more than enough power(including at 4 ohms, see test )to meet your needs, but you're unnecessarily handicapping it with the 6 ohm menu setting rather than the standard 8 ohms. This setting serves to reduce the maximum voltage that the power supply section of the receiver can output and thereby also reduces the maximum current and power available. The maximum power capability is roughly cut in half, and although this helps prevent overheating it also(contrary to what one of the earlier replies stated)makes the possibility of encountering distortion or even clipping at very high levels more likely. Reset to 8 ohms.

Steve - approximately how loud (SPL) are the peaks you're referring to before the M80s start distorting with your Denon? Clearly I haven't pushed mine hard enough if I haven't heard the clipping, but I just can't imagine listening much louder than I have (and I'm in a medium-small room like you are).

Jason

And what is the dynamic range of the material you are listenng to.

Jason - I never hooked up the meter when listening, but it was comfortably loud during most of the piece, and WOW loud when the cannons shot off. I know a clip when I hear it.

DG - I don't make it a habit to check those things when I put a disc in the player. It was an SACD though.

I agree that a much more powerful amp is of benefit with the M80's, although most of the Denon's, HK's and even the 94TXH can probably handle them reasonably well, it's nice to have the extra power available.

I have the 3808 but use an ATI-1506 in bridged mode for the front 3 channels. In bridged mode the ATI is rated at 450 watts per channel X 3 into 8 ohms. Me Likey!

I did a quick test with SPL meter in hand awhile back checking for the dynamic range of the various tracks on The Planets, I found it to have about a 25 db range, so if this is representative of most classical music then the M80s at 80db for the low parts would have to hit 105 to cover the range and this could put the Denon into clip. Check the amp calculators out there and put in the 20-25 db range for the Dynamic range part, this takes the watts required to a whole other level, especially when the distance goes up.

I also wonder if the 3806 is as strong as the 3808 into 4 ohms? I know there are only 10watts difference into 8ohms in favor of the 3808. I haven't been able to find any actual lab tests of the 3806 to see if it is close the 3808's ~225Watts into 4 ohms.