Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners advise for M80s and amp

Hey, not sure what you mean by "maybe he's running mains in full range" but my settings in Speaker config are as follows
Front-Large
Center-Large
Sub-yes
Surround A-Large
Surround B-No
Sub-woofer Mode-LFE+Main
Crossover set to 80Hz

There is no dynamic volume option on the 3808 and the volume limit is set to off. Room EQ is set to off. Night Mode Off. Not sure if any other selection may altar output. Don't get me wrong, things sound good. I'm just thinking more detailed musical reproduction at higher volume levels can be achieved with an external amp. I've read on this forum how adding more power to speakers can really bring out detail. If you guys think I'm off track then I'll hold off and purchase Oppo Bluray player.
For now I'll check out some Tapco and GSQ amp specs. Would you guys recommend models producing 350w RMS or 450w RMS at .01%THD? In car audio I always provide clean signal with up to 20% more than the RMS rating. Never have I underpowered a speaker in car audio. I've never had a problem with amps or speakers in the 15 yrs I've been building car audio systems. But this is not car audio and I need your help.Thanks for your comments guys. Does anyone have experience with Beringher, Tapco or GSQ pro amps and can vow for the quality. Thanks again.

"Adding more power" doesn't bring out detail; it's meaningless unless it's actually used to make the sound louder, which again, shouldn't be needed in your setup. The 3808/M60 combo should provide the possibility of a horrendously loud sound level already, without more being needed.

This doesn't change the volume, but I'd suggest that you run all your speakers "Small" with the 80Hz crossover and the sub mode LFE only, not "+ Main". Running all your speakers full range, as you're now doing, doesn't let the sub take part of the low bass burden off of the speakers and 3808.

Demetrios, forum member "Zimm" has a QSC(GX series) pro amp pushing his PSB anchored HT. He drops by occasionally so you might want to ask him about this amp...from what I recall, he was very happy with it, both quality/soundwise and pricewise. You might search some of his posts as well for more info too.

I wouldn't be running your VP-150 and your QS8s as "large", you're wasting lots of power sending bass signals to them that they can't produce. And personally, I can't imagine you needing to run your M60s as Large or in LFE+Main modes either, when you have an EP500 sub.

You're not only wasting power, you're losing bass from the center and surround channels because the bass signals that can't be reproduced by those speakers are disappearing rather than being reproduced by your very, very capable sub.

In other words, I think you'll be fine if you set your receiver as recommended.

I meant (and probably should have said) "Large," so try changing it so "Small" as others have suggested.

I did notice a difference in SQ when runing the A1400 with the 3808 over the 3808 alone, was it worth the $ to get an A1400 only when I no longer have other things to spend $3000-$4000 on.

I am interested in trying the pro amps as well to see if they give the same dynamics I heard with the A1400, for some reason I doubt that I will.

FYI, the 3808 has an upgrade available that has the features previously mentioned. You have to call Denon and ask about the feature pack upgrade, pay $100 and then run the update from the options menu.

I notice more seperation in the sounds when running the 3808 with Audyssey than with out depending on the source/music, but I also sometimes notice the bass lacking on some material. Audyssey is not perfect but try rerunning Audyssey and follow the set up routine found on AVS forums for Audyssey, it might help with the SQ you are looking for.

Ok, set all speakers to small and sub mode is set to LFE only. Right off the bat I noticed slightly deeper bass. Nothing too significant but definitely a slight difference depending on the source material. It totally makes sense to allow each speaker to accept the signal within it's optimum range and conserve power from the receiver. Wow! Jakewash if you didn't experience a significant increase in SQ when running the A1400 over the 3808 then I doubt I will achieve my goals using a pro amp with output in the 400 watt RMS range. I now feel like I got schooled by my ex-wife in why I shouldn't spend my money on upgrading electronics. This could be a blessing. I think I may just grab the Oppo BDP-83 and a few blu rays. Thanks for setting me strait guys. I appreciate your feedback!

I didn't say I didn't have a significant increase in SQ, just I feel the differences were not worth the costs involved.

The A1400 did play alot louder and cleaner at these levels No big surprise there. I found the bass was more defined/stronger at nearly all listening volumes and the highs were much more like the 3808 is when I have Audyssey on but better, more blended with the entire sound than what Audyssey affords, it is very hard to describe. Yet when I listened at onn's house I noticed no differences, so it could have been my room dynamics making a difference some how.

I noticed you mentioned a bit about car audio. Just remember with car audio you have a small amount of space to fill with sound so a few hundred watts would be equivalent to a few thousand watts for home audio. I highly suspect very few of us, if any, are willing to spend that kind of money on amps to achieve the same watt/volume efficiency level.

Maybe if you sit 3-4' from the speakers with a major toe in setting you might be able to achieve a similar sound

Chris should use one of the cars he mentioned in that Water Cooler thread as his theater room.

The windshield would almost emulate an IMAX effect when viewd that close.