Question for physics whizzes - 11/24/02 11:45 PM
Hey,
I have a question for people who didn't sleep through physics lectures like I did way back when. There's story to this, and I'm just curious as to how this stuff works.
I'd been having a problem with my center channel (VP150) sounding somewhat distorted when turned up loud. My receiver is the Arcam AVR100, which is rated at 70Wx5 (in "real" watts). My other speakers are the QS4s and M40s. I found myself often needing to set the center channel to +4 dB for poorly-mixed soundtracks, and I've always understood that a receiver driving 8 ohm loads wouldn't have problems with a sensitive 6 ohm load like the VP150.
Thinking I needed to buy a mono amp for the center channel, I talked a guy at the store where I bought the Arcam. He suggested switching the receiver to 4-6 ohm mode, setting all three front channels at -2 dB, then turning up the gain as need be. It was explained to me that the VP150 is "hungry for current rather than voltage", and the distortion I was hearing was due to an overworked amp.
The suggestions worked magnificently, and even playing the worst-mixed soudtracks (read: Star Wars), dialogue is now crystal clear with the volume turned up.
Could somebody explain to me why and how this worked, or recommend a good resource to help make all this clear to me?
Thanks
I have a question for people who didn't sleep through physics lectures like I did way back when. There's story to this, and I'm just curious as to how this stuff works.
I'd been having a problem with my center channel (VP150) sounding somewhat distorted when turned up loud. My receiver is the Arcam AVR100, which is rated at 70Wx5 (in "real" watts). My other speakers are the QS4s and M40s. I found myself often needing to set the center channel to +4 dB for poorly-mixed soundtracks, and I've always understood that a receiver driving 8 ohm loads wouldn't have problems with a sensitive 6 ohm load like the VP150.
Thinking I needed to buy a mono amp for the center channel, I talked a guy at the store where I bought the Arcam. He suggested switching the receiver to 4-6 ohm mode, setting all three front channels at -2 dB, then turning up the gain as need be. It was explained to me that the VP150 is "hungry for current rather than voltage", and the distortion I was hearing was due to an overworked amp.
The suggestions worked magnificently, and even playing the worst-mixed soudtracks (read: Star Wars), dialogue is now crystal clear with the volume turned up.
Could somebody explain to me why and how this worked, or recommend a good resource to help make all this clear to me?
Thanks