Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Is my hk powerful enough

Hi
I have been looking at the m80-500 system but dont realy know if my amp has enough punch to drive it.
I have a Harmon Kardon 445.
There suposed to handle 4 ohm but would it realy heat up? and would the speakers be very loud? mind you i dont need them to blow me out of the house though.
Any advice would be a great help.
Thanks.

All the speakers in the EP80/500 set are very senstitive so you need only 1w of power to obtain 95db (loud) at 3 feet.
So, depending on how far you will seated and the size of your room, your power requirements are going to change drammatically (you need twice the power to gain 3db).

For anyone to answer this question, you would need to provide the following answers:
1) Size of room
2) Seating position

You should not have any problems with the HK's driving m80's. Room size would help, as well as listening taste.

The sensitivity of the M80s are 95db @ 1 watt @ 1 meter but 1 watt @ 4 ohm is only 2V not 2.83. We have never have got a clear answer as to what the measurement is into the 4 ohm M80s.

Sorry, Rick. I don't understand what you mean.

They say one watt at one meter. If it is the standard 2.83v at 4 ohm it is not one watt. If they use one watt @ 4 ohm then it would be 2v. So how do they measure it, with 2v @ 4 ohm equaling 1 watt or the standard 2.83V which would be 2 watts?

I am taking Axiom on their printed specs and going with, it is 1 watt - 2V

Titan, welcome. It's highly probable that your 445 would drive the M80s as loudly as you want(or would be safe for your hearing), but just about any amplifier's maximum power capability can be exceeded if someone would use an extremely loud average listening level with program material that has a very wide dynamic range.

Rick, your discussion of the difference between the 1 watt and 2.83 volt measuring standards when a 4ohm load is involved is correct, of course, but as Jason mentioned I've assumed that since Axiom specifically said 1 watt that they meant that rather than 2.83 volts. You're right that the possible difference has apparently never been discussed.

I think that we need a "Sticky" with all the compatible m80/4 ohm receivers, so this question stops coming up and so that we don't have to search all the time for it.

It can be measured either way as long as the person making the measurement adjusts the sensitivity by 3db for the voltage (wattage) difference.