Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo So NOW I'm a real Axiom owner...

You're a wiser man than I, TAM!

And I heard my audio bud's V3 M-80s recently with a second-generation Emotiva XPA-1 power-amp pair. OH MY! That was a match made in heaven. It sounded like his M-80s had been paired with a (really good) pair of subwoofers. For his living room, it was the best I'd EVER heard his M-80s sound. His system doesn't even use a preamp - just DAC directly to the power amps.

Just thought that I'd mention it for anyone contemplating power amps for their Axioms. Synergy is a combination that's greater than its parts, and those M-80s with those Emotiva amps had it!

A decent power amp is a huge difference.
I have M80s myself, lucked out and found a pro amp{crest Audio}cheap. My audessey had set the M80s at full range. Which only just found out, couple days ago remodelling after Christmas.
Had no Idea just lots of clean powerful bass.

Hope your new 100s play as good with your amps as the M80s did.
Just give those beauties as much clean power as you can.

The wait will soon be over.

Cheers
Brendan

Hi Brendon -

The popular misconception is that "more power is better." I politely disagree. Sometimes, lots of power is called for (listening at auditorium levels or in an auditorium-sized room), but for smaller rooms & softer listening, not so.

In fact, I plan to test my theory when my speakers arrive. I have some 250-watt mono blocks and a 50-watt integrated from the same company. I'm eager to see if I can tell any difference.

Boom. You are absolutely correct in that you need enough power to fill your space at sound at the level you want and no more. Power calculators are a great tool and a real eye opener.

In my apartment, I'm using less than 5 watts most of the time and may have peak demand of 60is watts depending on the dynamics of the music. That is for an average sized apartment living room.

Now, if you are trying to crank it up in a 20 x 40 foot space, at distances of more than 10 feet from the speakers, you'll need quite a bit more power.

The great thing is that the M80s will handle whatever you can throw at them, well beyond reason.

Guys - The ADA-1000 is also quite the capable amp. Running it into the LFR-1100's (and M100's), it delivered a lot more horsepower in the bass department than did the Marantz 7008 receiver, which was measured at over 150 WPC into a 4 ohm load.

Current delivery and dynamic headroom are two overlooked aspects of an amp's performance. While the ADA-1000/LFR-1100 does not go EP800 deep, it delivers some serious deep bass with lots of power and control.

Anyone interested in this amp should call Debbie directly and ask her to work with you on price.

AVR power ratings are a joke. The majority of makers rate their power with one channel driven and only at 1,000 Hz. The power supplies of AVRs are the minimum possible to achieve the power ratings & have no additional current supply for 4 ohm loads. A properly designed amp has TWICE the wattage at 4 ohms than it does at 8. No AVR in the world can do that, and most of the carriage-trade he-man power amps can't either.

I just finished reviewing a 9-channel AVR (TOP of the manufacturer's line) and it only rated the power with two channels driven).

I've not looked at the Axiom amplifiers, but I will.

Link to the review?

The AVR Craig mentioned was tested in S&V.

Those words keep coming up again and again, and are total CR*P.

You can go through the list of exceptional high end amps that audiophiles would give their right arm for that don't double down on power when going from 8 to 4. Not to mention from 4 to 2ohms that is a mark just to be stable at it.

I gather from your words that Axiom's own amps are not properly designed as they don't double down once you start adding in more channels like an AVR does. Yes they can up the power at 2 channels but put and output for 5 or 7 channels in the same box and they simply run out of current. It would need a far bigger power supply and then you are getting into a 20amp circuit or possibly 2x15amp plugs. And for what? Power that you will never in your wildest dreams need on a constant or prolonged basis.

I am not disagreeing that MOST AV receivers are fictionally spec'd and have no means to drive the number of channels listed at a reference volume with 4ohm or even some 8ohm speakers attached. But don't use the word amp as that is rather too broad a term.

Thank you agree completely that AVR ratings are misleading. Don't think any do full power rating with more than 2 channels. Even my own pro AVR has many different Ohm ratings from 8 to 4 all 2 channel and 1.0% THD. { Teac Pro Tascam 7.2}

The addition of my power amp has added a lot of bass to my towers that wasn't there. To me it's fuller even at low volume.
My small PB1000s light doesn't even activate till over 50Dbs.