Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater HT Amp Recommendation (M80v4 & VP180v3

Yes, that is Oakville Ontario. So it's only a short haul over to the USA if I need.

I looked up the specs for your Onkyo, and it lists it as being like my Poineer VSX-1126K in supporting 8 and 6ohm. How long have you been using this setup, and do you find your receiver running hot?

The reason for my questions is that I've had a Harman Kardon fail with the unit overheating. Now that might have been that the fan inside the unit failed, rather than the fan failed due to the internals overheated... I don't really know.

My current VSX-1126K is in for repail (luckily under warranty) for the HDMI board going poof, but I have read that this part goes and service can be brutal to get it replaced. I know that Paradigm uses the words 8ohm compatible with their speakers. So I am not sure if that means the same thing as Axiom's 4ohm rating even though it's only that for a range of frequencies where it will pull more power. Personally looking at Axioms graph it looks like more than 50% of the time it's below the 6ohm bottom end of my unit. Of course Paradigm provides no impedance graph to work with.

I am thinking for piece of mind that I might look to upgrade to a better Receiver or look into finding an external amp. Sadly, around me seems to be rather devoid of amps that I am interested in. There are some really old stuff that might work fine, but I don't know if I want to go there. Many that cost too much for me to consider, and the good deals seem to get snatched up in hours.

I have done some more looking and have found an Anthem MCA5 power amp for sale. Now looking at these units, they are from the early part of 2000 so the unit is at least 10 years old but could be 15. The cost is about $200 less than an Emotiva XPA5 but it is also local and Anthem is a local company too, so getting it fixed if it does break would be far easier. I have heard good things about them.

The unit is rated down to 2ohm so I know it's more than enough. 250W@ 4ohm should be enough.

That amp will be more than sufficient I would think. Your nose is you best friend when buying used electronics, we all know what they smell like when they have gotten too hot. A used amp is not like a used car where it is driven everyday. You can always make a low ball offer it never hurts.

BTW did you check canuck audio mart.

I'd do that Anthem in a heartbeat. They make wonderful equipment and high quality vintage amps tend to be quite reliable.

Welcome Matt. I'll echo others here that dakkon is a good guy. Things get 'lost in translation' on the internets.


You are so close to Axiom, why not drive up to Dwight and listen to Axiom's offerings at the factory? The plant tour is pretty cool too!


Bzzzzzzzzzz. You called?

I'm in the no separates camp myself. Most of the time, I'm not drawing more than one or two amps in my small room to get up to reference. Find an online calculator and play with it a bit to get a sense of how power requirements work. For the Crown calculator you need to add 5 db to the speaker sensitivity to account for being in an enclosed space (room gain). You will be surprised how little power you need most of the time.

In the end, you need to go for what makes you comfortable.

Let us know what you end up with.

I'm in the no separates camp myself. Most of the time, I'm not drawing more than one or two amps in my small room to get up to reference. Find an online calculator and play with it a bit to get a sense of how power requirements work. For the Crown calculator you need to add 5 db to the speaker sensitivity to account for being in an enclosed space (room gain). You will be surprised how little power you need most of the time.

In the end, you need to go for what makes you comfortable.

Let us know what you end up with. [/quote]



Fred, I have always had better than average stereo's growing up , my house was often the place to party. I have always had amp envy , so even though I don't play loud any more I now have the means to afford an amp , even though I really don't need it. I enjoy my system a lot more than I would ever enjoy a new car.

Rather a moot point for me now as I went out and purchased an external power amp.

Did I need one.. I cannot say.

My thought is that using those online calculators either proves that Axiom is totally falsifying the requirements on their specifications web page, or the calculations are all wrong. An average conversation with someone is around the 60db level. Over 80db caused perminant damage to your hearing. using the link provided, if I wanted 70db of sound 4m away from my M80 speakers, i would need 1db of amplification. But Axiom publishes the speaker minumum is 10db. So to meet Axioms requirement, I will be forced to endure 83db of sound that is like listening to a bulldozer.

I had been meaning to answer your question earlier - my Onkyo never seems to get hot. I like concert films and movies a bit louder than my wife and son, but I've never measured the dB produced.

My Harman Kardon in the living room, powering (ahem) a set of 5 BOSE Lifestyle cubes and "subwoofer" actually gets much warmer from less spirited use.

If any thing Axioms spec's are under rated.

You may have misunderstood the spec's, you do not need to turn them up any louder than you prefer.

You will want to set up your entire system around your preferred volume.

75-85 seems to be average for theaters, myself I've experienced amazing sound from "just barley audible" all the way up to "I should know better but it sounds so good".

The amp will come in handy when your friends and or kids get the remote. Think of it as an insurance policy. I've found friends who like to hear music "too loud" have no sense when it comes to how loud it might actually be in the room. The only distortion you'll hear will be from the content, until you run out of amp.

Any one else consider we're basically listening to someone else' distortion most of the time? I've had some crazy stuff played in my system, old and new, and on multiple occasions thought I'd damaged something only to change the song and have crystal clear sound again.

I love these things.

Or you don't understand the specs which seems most obvious.
Just because a speaker generally uses only a few watts on average doesn't mean there are no peaks beyond a couple of watts. Turning up the volume to get even a moderate SPL of 70 db sitting 10 feet from the speakers will have power requirements beyond just a couple of watts. That is the primary reason for having a larger amp, with higher capacitance.
Axiom likely advertises a min. of 10 watts for example because if Joe Blow uses a an underpowered receiver/amp (non-tube), it will go into clipping and that is what can damage your speakers. Then guess who gets the call with a complaint that no one told them what minimum power they needed to be using?
As for any audio company, there is an expectation they are trying to provide some type of minimum as a guideline for any customer who has little knowledge to know what might work sufficiently. Everyone knows you can power a speaker driver with a 9V battery, but that doesn't mean this is suitable for most common applications as it generally isn't practical (even though there are some battery powered amps out there which do work; but you have to be cautious about its use).
http://www.parts-express.com/sonic-impact-5065-gen-2-t-amp-with-power-supply--300-958


I highly suggest you read more about electronics specs to better understand why things are posted on any audio site and know the positives and negatives of them before tossing out implied statements that companies and sites with power calculations must all be wrong or malevolent. You can find a ton of old threads discussing everything from the -3db/-6db to impedance and wattage numbers right here on the Axiom forums.