Originally Posted By: Micah
What's up nut...

Ok so you're interested in an external amp eh? Well forsure you should just get (or do you already have?) the Denon 3808 and see what that bad boy has to offer. You will most likely be very satisfied. I ran my M80's for a little over a month using my Denon 4802 and was extremely happy with it, 98% of the time. I too enjoy VERY loud music/movies at times. Not all the time, but I have my moments. And I have a lot of space to fill (10,000+ cubic feet), so my Denon did run out of steam when the volume was being fully explored. But up until then, it did a fantastic job!

As for low volume level listening... I have to admit that when I first hooked the Emotiva up, I thought it sounded better at ALL volumes, and I got on here and declared my opinion. What I did not take into account is that when you're listening to speakers being run with a 300 watt amp at say -25, it's louder than the 125 watt internal amp of my Denon at -25. I didn't really realize this for a while, so my comments on how much better it sounded even at lower levels may have been a little bit misleading. To be fair I would have to go about it in a double blind test, with the levels calibrated the same and everything, before I could truthfully say whether or not it sounded any better at lower volumes. But when you think about it logically, 50 watts should sound like 50 watts, right?

Ok so what about the top end? Well in a room my size, when you're really wringing the two amps (Denon vs Emotiva) out for all their worth, the Emotiva definately runs the M80's better! The M80's are designed to handle 300 watts after all, and 300 watts fills my room at 80% better than 125 watts could at 98% (I never did go 100% with the Denon... it just seemed like something was about to break?). BUT, your room is... what, 3500 cubic feet? So it's of my opinion that the 3808 should take you wherever you need to go without any problems what-so-ever.

And if it doesn't, well you can always add an outboard amp later using the pre-out section of the 3808. So rest easy my man.


Thanks Micah, I had no idea different powered amps would produce different sound levels at the same -25 setting. That would explain what I've been reading about then.

Man, that is a HUGE room you have! No way I'm going to need that much power. My pocketbook (and wife LOL) will be thrilled.