Yamaha and B&W 602s3 - Axiom Message Boards

Many of you who have frequented this forum over the past year know that I have Axiom speakers largely due to my disappointment with a pair of B&W 602s3. Just for kicks I emailed Yamaha to see what kind of reply I would receive regarding this issue. I received a reply today. In this message I was informed that the B&W's "have a higher power rating" than my htr-5280. Sounds to me like Yamaha admitted to me that my receiver is underpowered.

That sounds like uneducated rubbish to me. I mean, it makes no sense whatsoever, and runs counter to the experience of other forum members who have also been unimpressed with that speaker line.

Also, your receiver is rated for 100WPC - and the speakers in question are rated for 25-120W, so someone somewhere is feeding you a line.

Bren R.

Also, power rating on speakers is an almost worthless statistic. They should just stick warning labels on saying, "Don't use this with a 4000 WPC amp, 'cause the cones will fly across the room!" That would mean more.

I wonder... not that I know a ton about headphone amplifiers, nor if this applies directly back to HT amps, but there are headphones (My Sennheiser HD580s, for one) which sound crappy and underpowered from any portable, at any volume.

Now, it's not a manner of the volume on the portable cd-players I've tried- at any volume the same problem, 'weak' sound (anemic bass, it doesn't sound very dynamic, etc) occurs. The problem doesn't increase when I increase the volume.

It's a pretty common thing for folks to get headphone amplifiers to drive headphones, and though I've not used one of those, my Sennheisers do sound much better at any volume when I hook them up to my RX-V1400 receiver with its (conceivably) beefier headphone amp.

I suspect that some headphones are harder to drive than others, and it isn't just a mV output thing. Could some speakers be harder to drive than others, and it's not just an all-or-nothing thing? (I.e. the B&Ws sounding bad at all volumes on an underpowered solid state amp).

Just some musings- anyone know if this analogy holds, and why?

RD

In reply to:
I suspect that some headphones are harder to drive than others, and it isn't just a mV output thing. Could some speakers be harder to drive than others, and it's not just an all-or-nothing thing? (I.e. the B&Ws sounding bad at all volumes on an underpowered solid state amp).

Sensitivity varies widely between models of headphones - ask any ENG shooter - the HP jack on an ENG one-piece is so underpowered that once a shooter finds a brand of earbuds that he can hear over traffic noise, he'll stick with them until they quit making them... also good people to know when they're trying new models - if they're not sensitive enough, they usually throw them at the closest person - I try to be him.

Bren R.

In reply to:
ask any ENG shooter - the HP jack on an ENG one-piece is so underpowered that once a shooter finds a brand of earbuds that he can hear over traffic noise

Sorry...but, what?

In reply to:

In reply to:
ask any ENG shooter - the HP jack on an ENG one-piece is so underpowered that once a shooter finds a brand of earbuds that he can hear over traffic noise

ENG: Electronic News Gathering
HP: Headphones

Interpretation:
"The headphone jacks on cameras / recorders for News Gathering are so underpowered that it is almost impossible to hear over traffic unless you have found an impressive set of earbuds or headphones..."

Bren, correct me if I am wrong.

I know exactly what you are talking about. Although most of the time when I was in the business, I was shooting footage for commercials and feature pieces. The "LIVE" productions were a different beast altogether especially our Mardi Gras Parade telecast...SHEESH, What noise!...A Production Manager wears a lot of hats, especially in a small market. I also wrote most local copy as well as did voice over...

Different lifetime ago...

WhatFurrer

WhatFurrer got it right - thanks!

Bren R.

ahhh...

Jargon...gotta love it.

to go further off topic - fortunately for me, anytime we're recording critical audio it's either an interview set or a live show...in either case, my Sennheiser or AKG cans come along. I can see though where noise at a live event would be a problem cause even our newest camera (only 2yrs old - still a babe) seems a bit underpowered in the HP volume. I monitor at about 3/4 of the power.

But, to get back on track - I've only noticed low volumes due to the underpowering as opposed to bad audio...then again, my experiences are with a limited audio source (human voice) and usually monitored through a $60K camera.

All of that to say, "I have no clue."

^billy