Hey guys I just bought a AVR635 for my EPIC 80 im about to order. Here is what confuses me

When adding Wattage would that just make it louder/allow me to go to a higher decibal level?

If the volume level in my room is sufficient and I wouldnt want it any louder would I gain anything by making the 635 a pre/pro and buying a seperate 200 Watt amp?

Ive always been confused about that. If your current amp makes everything plenty loud would I gain better sound from a more powerful amp or just more volume?

A good start is reading this thread.

Amplifiers

Zach, if the present use didn't need more power than the 635 was capable of(highly unlikely), then adding 50(or 500)more watts of headroom couldn't improve the sound. The extra power available would simply be unused.

Thanks for the thread link...

John..highly unlikely that I would need more power than the 635 or that more power would even be used?

both.

Unless you have a really large room it's not likely that you would need more power than the 635 can put out. Having said that, there are a few people running their M80s with even bigger amps (generally more than 200wpc) because they do have large rooms and play really loudly.

Strictly speaking I guess there are three "regions" your system could fall into :

- playing at the loudest volume I want the amp is not even working hard

- playing at the loudest volume I want there are occasional peaks where the amp hits the limit -- not clipping badly but just a tiny "edge" on the sound

- playing at the loudest volume I want the amp clearly doesn't cut it, I had to turn it down because it was obviously clipping and could hurt the speakers

If you are in the first zone then no problem. If you are in the third zone you know what to do. The rest of us anguish over whether we just might be in that second zone and some people buy bigger amps to find out for sure.

Unless your previous electronics involved a big honkin' power amp I don't think you need to worry. I know my 630 and M60s together don't even seem to be close to the limit when playing as loud as I would ever want.

What exactly does clipping sound like? I really dont know what to listen for.

Blatant clipping is pretty easy to detect... you turn up the volume some more but the sound doesn't really seem to get a lot louder, just more distorted. If you hear that, back off the volume immediately...

I'm not quite sure how to describe the sound of subtle, occasional clipping of the peaks. That's part of the problem

ok, I guess I have to chime in here since I have basically the same system. I have the HK630 and the Epic 80 with the EP350. I have this in a 3900 cubic foot room which also opens into the kitchen and the entrance way to the front door.

I have not had any clipping issues and the HK630 plays the M80s louder than I need. I can say you will love the system you have (or about to have). I have been considering an EP500 or probably the EP600. Outside of wanting a sub upgrade, my system sounds awesome.

Let us know how you like it when you have everything set up.

Shag,

First time I've looked at your photos. I think the EP500, or better the EP600, would be a terrific upgrade. You would be listening to all those DVD's again just for the sub.

drool.... EP600!!! maybe before the year is up I'll have the EP600. I'll probably upset the neighbors too. For those who have heard the EP350 and the EP600, how much is the difference???

Shag, in reference to your cooling fan on top of the 630, did you find the 630 running hot? Seems like it should have plenty of 'breathable' clean air on top of the entertainment unit. I haven't noticed my 635 running what I would consider to be hot at all, of course I'm not running the 80s from it either though.

I can feel waves of heat from my 525 inside the EC, and it's got 4 inches of clearance above it. I'm afraid of what will happen when I put the doors on...

Rick, yes I would say the M80s are the difference. On days when the room was warm I've had the receiver go into shutdown mode several times. I did have a factory defect that I had to bring it in to repair. Apparently some of the soldering joints were defective.

It did run hot and I bought the fan before I realized the defect. Since I've had it repaired I just kept using the fan. Not sure if it was running hot just because of the M80s or because of the defects. I'll have to shut off the fan and watch/listen to something to see how hot it runs now.

Ken there's a pretty good thread regarding cooling fans over on the Club Rotel site that I've been keeping an eye on. May be worth a peek for you. I think maybe Thyname has already mentioned this particular thread in another thread here on the Axiom site somewhere.

I'm not too terribly worried about fans as of yet but here in a couple or so months whenever the addition get completed and the equipment is going inside an enclosed area I'll probably look fairly hard into getting a cooling fan or two.

In reply to:

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Rick, yes I would say the M80s are the difference.

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I thought maybe so, well anyway good luck with the 630 and hopefully now with the fix and fan you'll not have any more problems with the unit. I certainly hope not!

Maybe one of these days I'll connect the 80s up to the 635 just to see if they do make that much of difference, would be interesting to find out.