Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Pioneer Elite Receiver capable of driving M80s?

Going out on a limb, I'm guessing the M80s.

I read it as a used pair of M80's for $635. If they are in good to excellent condition that is a great price...

The M80s

That is what I thought, but you mentioned something in your first post about the QS8's and VP150 as well... I was wondering if you got ALL of those for $635- now THAT would have been a bargain

I wish. I did get the VP150 for $200 used and the QS8s for $325 used. I feel pretty good about those prices. After all, they sound brand new

I'm pretty sure you'll be ok with the 92. No, it doesn't use the new ICE amps, but I think the 92's amp section is pretty robust. The 92 is a darn-good AVR.

The new ICE-amped Elites do drive M80's beautifully. I've run my M80's with an SC-05 (last year's model), and the sound just kept getting better the louder I cranked it. A really lovely AVR, that was.

However, there is a grain of truth that some Pioneer Elite's can't drive M80's. My circa-2002 Elite VSX-43TX is an example of this. It's ok at quiet volumes, but anything approaching normal movie levels and the SQ breaks down. Highs get screechy, the bass disappears, and the sound field collapses. It doesn't shut down, but it's pretty clear that the AVR isn't happy at that level.

One of these days, I'm actually going to buy a new AVR. I figure, a decade is a good amount of time to keep an AVR. But until then, my Emotiva LPA-1 amp does the M80-driving, and I'm quite pleased with its performance; it'll go beyond loud and still sound amazing.

Good luck, and welcome to Axiom ownership!

Peter, thanks for the response. I've been driving my 5.1 setup with M60s, VP150, and QS8s for over a year now with no problem. So if the Elite can't handle the M80s I've still got the complete setup to fall back on until I can afford some more power. The SC-05 is rated at 130W x 7 which is the same as the 92 so that gives me some more confidence. The Elite's have an 8 ohm and 6 ohm option but I've always thought (based on what people have told me) to leave it in 8 ohm mode regardless of the actual impedance of the speakers. Any thoughts on this?

Yes, leave it on the 8 ohm setting.

Well they are supposed to get here today. I'll give them a go and let yall known how it goes. I'm pretty nervous about screwing something up. Here's to hoping for the best.

Ok, well I hooked them up and played some 2 channel music (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots )through them. The max volume I turned it up to I read about 83 dB on my SPL meter. Didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. I'm going to try some 5.1. I figure that will put a bigger strain on my receiver? Is clipping something that will happen right away or does the strain on the receiver build up over time?