Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater EP500 vs EP600

It is a very nice receiver. Yet it is not designed to give reference level SPL in a 5625 sq. ft. room at listening distances of 15 to 20 feet away. However, that doesn't mean it won't work for you. I very seldom play at reference level.

It's a good way to start with your Paradigms or M100s.

Try the Denon I'm sure most of their AVRs at that level have pre-out. {Above their 3000 series} You may find it gets really hot. To which you could easily add more power later.

Is there any benefit going with a pre-amp and an axiom amp vs going with the traditional receiver with pre-amp outs and an Axiom amp?

In general having separate boxes isolates the preamp from the power amp. This keep the noise down and the supply rails cleaner . Having the power amp in a separate box reduces heat In the preamp which can effect component values and component life. It also provides room for more circuitry ...i.e. more inputs, outputs, channels and other fancy stuff.

A separate power amp give the designer space to provIde bigger power supplies, room to dissipate heat and of course more channels. Typically separate amp provide enough power to drive all channels at once.

Most receivers are built for a price and are limited by space which usually results in limited power. Because every thing is in the same box it’s harder to make the specs you can get in a prepro.

Receivers with a full complement of preouts are usually higher end products and running an amp to handle the all the channels would sound no different then the using a prepro IMO. If you use some of the receivers channels for say the surrounds you will probable be fine as long the rated power per channel Is not exceeded.

The main thing I dislike about pre-pros is they usually cost two or three times more than high-end receivers, even without the built-in amp. I still want one, but it's not really a value proposition. My plan is to get the new Anthem, whenever that ends up coming out. I want to know it can handle all of the HDMI 2.1 features to give it the longest life possible. It's a hard path for me to recommend to anyone except for extreme enthusiasts who need targets to shoot wads of money at.

Does it make any difference if running the 180 with actives that the 180 would be on a amp with the surrounds? Most of what I’ve read suggests running the center and towers on the same amp.

Each active speaker needs its own 5-channel amp. Do not mix amps between the two sides. The ADA-1250 and 1500 are quieter than the 1000 (see specs) so use one of those.

Do not put any other speakers on the amps that feed the actives.

It's about THD+N, S/N and your environment. It does no good to pay top dollar for a pre/pro that is dead quiet only to have it drowned out by ambient noise.

It's also about the best EQ software. Audyssey XT32 is very good but it can't compete with Dirac Live. The EQ implementation is also important but you have to dig hard into the manuals to understand the configurable parameters available to you.

Finally, it's a lifestyle choice. For many, going pre/pro makes them feel better even though there may be no difference in measurable performance between their pre/pro and a receiver.

It's a different market. What's interesting is that prepros do not necessarily give you better numbers especially if you take real world measurements vs manufacture numbers into account. Even if they did, in most cases you could not hear the difference.

I bought the AV8805 for the HT not for the numbers, fancy A/Ds and hyped circuitry but to get 7.4.6 Atmos. For the upstairs I bought a receiver with pre-outs as I only needed 5.1 which is set up using QS10s for surrounds as the room did not lend it self to Atmos.

Mojo has a very good point though in theory all properly built AVR/Pre should have enough of a dark background to be sufficient with a good. AMP. The main Pro I continuously run into is heat dissipation for why most choose pre/pro over AVR with pre outs. As an AVR will still get quite hot even with it's AMPs being idle.

The Axiom ADA's are fantastic. I've had my ADA1250x3 for a few years. No problem noise aside from ground loops with anything I've hooked it up too. {Integra/Anthem}

For my buildings wiring I ended up with a large Monster power brick with all cable T.V./Internet and system going to it. Plus the addition of cheap but really well shielded !0 AWG power cables from WAudio {Amazon}. For AVR/ADA lowered my noise floor dramatically.