Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Receivers used with M80

Guys I was planning to go with
2 x m80
1 x vp150
4 x qs8
2 x Hsu VTF-3 MK 3

problem is I have a Onkyo 805, which I have come to find out has a problem driving the m80's. My room size is 35'x 16'x 9'. What are some receivers being used with the M80's that work and are on the inexpensive side.

Thanks in advance.

If you haven't tried the 805 with m80's, I would not assume you will have a problem. As long as your not pushing the 805 to limits that it protects itself, it should work fine.

Hi,

That's a huge room you have (over 5,000 cu. ft.) so you may find that any AV receiver may have overheating/shut-down problems when driven to very loud playback levels in such a large room. But it's very dependent on your own preferences in playback volume, and listening distance.

That said, the brands of AV receivers that Axiom has historically found have no trouble with 4-ohm M80s are Denon, Sherwood Newcastle, NAD, Outlaw Audio and B&K.

You could always consider adding a couple of outboard mono power amps for the left and right front channels (M80s) and use your Onkyo for the other channels.

Regards,
Alan

Welcome to the Axiom forum jahusker.

You do have quite a large room. You might want to consider keeping your Onkyo 805 reciever and use it as a pre-processor and look into investing into a 2 channel amplifier for the M80's. The M80's have extremely high power handling capabilities and when feed with enough power will sufficiently fill that room with ease.

Cheers!

any ideas on a 2 channel amplifier on a budget?

Outlaw audio has some good amps and a number of us are looking at DJ/Pro amps from Qsc, Crown, Behringer etc. the pro amps are usually cheaper than home audio but they come with cooling fans that add unwanted noise. You could also look to the used market, I have seen some Anthem AVM20 for $300-600.

I agree Jakewash, I've always wanted to try their smaller monoblocks, lots of power in an affordable package.

I have the Outlaw M2200 in my shopping cart and just can't pull the trigger yet with the new house and all the added expenses that go with it, then I keep finding a few Anthem AVM20's, as I said, for a good price as well.........what to do....what to do?

Would something like the Emotiva UPA-2 work? or would I have to step it up to the XPA-2 or XPA-3?

Thanks in advance...

Experiences with Emotivas around here have been mixed. I don't think anyone's ever tried the UPA-2. It's a pretty amp, but I think I would go with a pro amp before I tried that.

There are many people out there with the XPA2/XPA3 with M80s and love them, there are also a few that have had problems and moved on to other products, so YMMV.

The Emo seems to be a bit of a gamble, some have been fine and others have not when driving 4 Ohms so that is up to you to decide if you want to try that out.

On the other hand, if you choose to go the pro amp route, consider a couple of points....they are the best bang per $$ out there, as far as power goes. They're usually not all that "pretty", but some are not too bad. The fan noise may or may not be an issue for you...it depends on how loud you are playing, at lower levels the fan(s) may not even kick in. Remember that pro amps are built for the road and are usually not pushed anywhere near as hard in a home enviro. Nevertheless, there are some threads on the web reg. swapping out the fans on some units like the Behringers, to a much quieter fan(quite simple from what I've seen). Zimm(Charles) has disconnected his fan on his QSC altogether, with no issues other than a little extra heat.

Behringer makes a fanless amp, the A500, which many HT owners seem to like, although a few quality issues have shown up on some forums.

Another point to consider is the inputs/output connections...QSC GX's and Behringer EPX's and A500 have RCA inputs and Banana/spade outputs that some other pro amps don't have.

Jason, welcome. Again, how have you "come to find" that? The 805 is a very powerful amplifier, including 4 ohm operation at those frequencies where the M80s measure that impedance(over the majority of their range the M80s are 8 ohm speakers). If you get the M80s you shouldn't assume that a problem would occur. If it did you could then correct it.

John,

When contacting the audio experts at Axiom I was told there was a potential problem with the Onkyo 805 shutting down due to the protection at 4 ohms. Maybe someone else can shed more light on this.. But it would be ideal for me if I didn't have to spend anymore.

Jason

Jason, Axiom has done testing in the past with various brands of AVR's in combination with the M80's. Denon, HK, SN, to name a few, have had no issues at any levels. This is why they encourage people to look at those brands.

On the flip side, any receiver will drive the m80's. However, some may go into protect mode sooner than others, depending on how hard your driving the speakers.

Personally, I don't think all receivers are made the same, they are not apples to apples. Design and engineering quality does vary, just like anything else in life.

I do believe the last few year offerings from Yamaha and Onkyo have improved and people have less issues.

I may just try it and see what happens, with a room my size I would guess the 8ohm M60's may be out of the question.

why? My room is 30 x 31 x 9, I owned the m60's for many years before getting the m80's.

I have that feeling if I get the m60's, I will always wonder how much better the m80's could sound

Ahhh, the condition known as "upgradeitis". All I can say is that if I still had my m60's I would be very happy, they were totally sufficient. For the small difference in price, the 80's are awesome. There is not a huge difference in sound, but the 80's can handle GOBS of power. Whether you will ever make use of their ability, is another question.

It is pretty bad when I have the sickness even before purchasing anything.

Thank you guys for all your help!

Jason

you could always do an audition in someone's home, have you checked the Audition threads to see if anyone is in your area? I assume you live around Nebraska, based on your name?

Unfortunately no one around my area has floor standing speakers, so I am buying these off reviews and feedback.

Have you contacted Axiom to see if there is someone not on the list that they might be able to contact on your behalf?

I called and asked and said the only people within a couple hundred miles had the m22's. Oh well I guess there just isn't a lot of Nebraskans with Axiom stuff.

Hi husker, you could look at it this way....even if someone a couple of hours away DID have M80s...it would cost you as much in gas as it would to order them on your 30 trial, then send them back if you were not happy with them. I'm quite sure you'll be keeping them, but in the off chance you didn't it would be cheaper to do your audition this way and better too, because you'll hear them on your own equipment and in your own listening environment. Just my two centipedes.

you must live in the western part of the state. I know there is someone around Omaha, and Council Bluffs I believe...they may not be on the list.

I live right in the middle of the state right between Grand Island and Hastings

Jason, both speaker and receiver manufacturers often take an unnecessarily cautious stance in suggesting what other equipment will work well with their products(when a problem develops, even on rare occasions, they don't care to get trashed on the internet). A "potential problem" exists with any unit, but the probability is that your 805 will do fine. Again, there's no reason to assume something which may never occur and to spend money now on a mere "potential" would be premature.

As soon as I am ready (just starting to hang drywall) I will order up the M80's and try it with the 805, hopefully all goes well.

And as we have mentioned, even if the 805 struggles a little you have the option of purchasing an outboard amp to run the M80s