Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Need quick input about amps, interconnects and SQ

I noticed that is was talking about heat sinks with cooling fans when I looked at the description and specs and was wondering if the fan noise would be noticable. I need to measur my cabinet, I don't think 19 inches would go inside without removing the door first and the entire width might not hold 19 in.

I think the ears are removeable which would leave you with the usual ~17"

Could you guys/gals help me out with selecting a good HDMI cable. Depending on the price, I might pick up a couple for my buddies holiday gift, but I have no idea what to look for. If it helps, it would be used to hook his PS3 directly to his TV. I was at Monoprice but they have many different types.

Thanks a lot guys and gals

They look like a solid piece in the pictures. I haven't found an actual Crown website yet to get detailed information.

One of the reasons I'm looking to upgrade is that at times after continuous high volume music it starts to sound a little "tired" or "fatigued" and I was thinking that maybe the Denon 3808 while driving 7 channels might be losing it's "umph". Someone on another forum told me that the Axioms are only capable of so much and more power probably won't help at all. On the other hand on this forum I've seen posts where people say that when they increase their power significantly the M60s and M80s really open up and sound great. I guess I can't accept the fact that the M60s being driven with 400W or above from a 2 channel stereo amp wouldn't sound better than being driven by my Denon (which if the specs are correct from one of the above links in a post) driving 7 channels with approximately 115W.

Am I completely wrong in my thinking or as the other guy tells me, that's just all the Axioms can do!

I highly doubt any of the actual components in the system are fatiguing, as the Axioms are capable of handling way more power than you are putting into them and I can't see any reason as to why the Denon would be having trouble pumping out the power, do you find it is getting hot?

What sort of loud volumes are you talking about? As the Denon is capable of ~100db with out any trouble in a small to medium room, 1500-2000sq.ft, my own room. There are many factors in considering the need for more power, listening distance, room volume. etc. I am sure, that adding more power will make them sound better at high volumes, as you may just be running the Denon at its max and a higher powered amp would help, but as was mentioned, to get enough power to make a noticeable difference you will need that 400W/ch amp.

If it starts out sounding good then as the night wears on , starts to sound less loud or detailed, I am inclined to still say it is you, who are fatiguing and have become accustomed to the loudness and then the volume is turned up on the Denon beyond its capabilities.

I can tell you the other night I was listening to multichannel music, 5.1 and then turned on my zone 2 outside, so now Denon is driving 7 channels, and the volume would go down noticably. I turned zone 2 off, volume increased, turn zone 2 back on volume decreases noticably, my wife even noticed it.

Denon isn't getting hot, I have a big slot in the back of the cabinet and a good fan circulating air through the cabinet. I setup the ventilation that way because when the Denon was in the cabinet without the ventilation it would get fairly warm but I've had forced air ventilation almost from the day I purchased it and it is just a few months old.

My room is probably 3500 to 4000 cf. I'm sure that I am probably adjusting to the volume after a while but when I drive 7 channels as mentioned above and I can hear the volume decrease it just seems I need more power. I run it that way alot because when people are over some tend to go outside, especially the smokers as smoking is only allowed outside

Never mind, Crownaudio.com. Duh

Edmond - in that sized room I'd venture to say you might actually benefit from more power as you've got a big space to fill. On top of that, if you like to run it loud like you describe, then maybe a separate amp would improve your experience.

Like others have previously advised, I don't think you'd need anything more than a 2-channel amp to manage the front L+R speakers. The power requirements of the rest of the speakers are quite meager compared to those. (Perhaps with the exception of whatever you are running in Zone 2. I don't believe you've indicated what you're running there...)

To your question re: adapting XLR to RCA, check these out as a $5 solution.

Mark makes a good point on fan noise. I've read quite a bit on these amps in the past (part of my addiction) and the general consensus is that as long as you get one of their newer lines with variable speed fans, fan noise is not reported as problematic. (just to reiterate, this is second hand knowledge based on what I've read). With the older amp models there is also apparently an easy way to modify the fans to make them run more quietly, but that sounds like too much work to me.

Jason

One more negative to consider... the power consumption on these babies is incredible.

The specs indicate that it "draws no more than 90 watts while idle." I realize that's only the equivalent of leaving of leaving ~1 light bulb on 24x7, but still, 90 watts is around 300x more than the 3808 consumes while in standby mode.

You'd definitely want to have the Crown on a triggered power outlet if you could.

Jason