Complete NooB here,

In hopes of slowly building a nice system, I picked up a Yamaha RX-V633 at Tweeters after doing research (it seemed like the best bang for the buck for an AVR).

After doing research on Speakers, I decided on the M80's, and put an order in for them yesterday (CANT WAIT!).

The dilemma is, I am now reading about the concerns of using Yamaha AVR's with these speakers due to the 4 ohm resistance issue.

My room is hard to describe because it is kind of an open living room into a dining area (in an APT), but my guess is I would not need to be cranking it up because the couch is about 12ft from the Plasma.

So should I return the AVR, and purchase a Denon 3808CI which may put some damage on my credit, not to mention marital issues

Other background info:
I won't have a 5.1 setup (due to wiring difficulties) i.e less power consumption for the AVR?

I also have a spare old NAD integrated AMP lying around:
NAD C340 http://207.228.230.231/info/NAD_C340.pdf
Would it be a good option to hook up the M80's through this if I run in to probs?

sorry bout the marathon post, im hurting inside

Welcome!

I'm thinking the Yamaha may do OK, as it's 95 WPC and many owners here have Yamahas. IIRC, Yamaha is on the good list with Denon, Outlaw, H/K as far as receivers that can power the M80s.

It is nice to have that amp as a back-up, and it couldn't hurt to run them through it, but it may not be necessary.

I expect others with more personal experience to chime in shortly.

Let us know how you like the speakers! We love reviews.

do you mean the 663?

Yes sorry, 663.

I know that mdrew ran M80s with a 661 to excess of 100dbs in a 14x16 room (I think those are the dimensions). How big is your room? Mdrew thought that the 661 was a very good reciever, and worked well with the M80s.

The problem with Yamaha is no one is sure that the same P/S and amp that were in the 661 are now in the 663, which is why Axiom has them on the not so good list.

Before panicking I would try it out and let us know how it works so we can put an end to the debate as a few others have looked at the 663 with M80s. If it turns out to not work the NAD will do fine or as you have suggested return the 663 for the 3808 which we know works great.

With all due respect, Yamaha has been on Axiom's not so good list long before the 661 showed up. As you all know, I love Yamaha and will continue to use their products until they no longer are suitable for my speakers. The 661 and the 663 share the exact same wattage rating. I believe they use the same amp.

Robb, I was just re-iterating what Axiom has stated as being the reason Yamaha is on the not for use list with M80s, because in the past during their testing, from year to year Yamaha would make P/S changes in certain models which would cause problems even though the previous version worked with out any problems.

And Robb if you haven't noticed you don't own M80s so you can continue using Yamaha .

As I said the O/P should try the 663 before panicing, most people are not having problems, but I do recall somone with the 1800 had some sort of problem or was that just the YPAO and the center channel?

Its only a matter of time my friend

For the new house?

Thats exactly what Tom at Axiom told me and he seems to know some if the engineers a Yamaha.

Also, if you look closely at the specs for the 559, 661 and 663 you will see that they have different max power outputs at 8 6 and 4 ohms.

The 559 was shown by audioholics to be a very beefy receiver, the 661 not quite so powerful. On paper, the 663 looks closer to the 559, but until someone does some testing we won't know for sure.

Whatever you think of the power side, they sure hit a home run on the features.

Thanks guys,
Man, I would really love to get the Denon, but just dont have the Benjamins right now, in fact I already went way over budget getting the M80's.

I think I will tough it out, and if necessary break out the NAD.
It would be great if I can try it out and still have the option of returning the AVR, but not sure what the typical delivery time for the M80's would be, and need to check the return policy a Tweeters for the AVR.

Silly question, if I do decide to use the NAD as a pre-AMP to the Yamaha AVR, will the volume control still be based on the AVR or the NAD?

Well, for the first thing, the NAD would be used as an amp (assuming it has inputs that go directly to the amp section, bypassing the pre-amp section). The volume control would be on the Yamaha.

Right, sorry that makes sense.

Now another question, and pardon my ignorance:
Would bi-ampliication have any role in this case?

I'm beginning to worry that the NAD wont handle the M80's either...it's rated as only 60W per channel at 8ohm, and 190W IHF dynamic power at 4 ohm...whatever that means
(http://207.228.230.231/info/NAD_C350.pdf)

No, biamping wouldn't be involved here. The NAD would be fine.

NoR, another welcome. Enjoy your M80s and 663. It's highly likely that the 663 will provide all the volume that won't cause permanent hearing damage.

NoR - I purchased the 663 several weeks ago. I am now saving up for a set of Axioms. The original (and current) plan is to go with an M60 - 500 system. HOWEVER, reading all the posts in here about the journey to the M80 mecca, I am, of course, second guessing myself. I had posted in a separate thread earlier asking about the 663 and the M80's. Response there was about what you are hearing here. Probably fine - but no one will say with the certainty that they do on the Denon. So, long story short, I think several here, with me on the list will be interested in your review of the M80 performance related to the 663. Definately looking forward to it..........Argon

I see Amazon has a Yamaha RXV1700 on sale for $500 bucks.
Would that be good enough to power the M80s?

Yeah, my gut's telling me the Yammy will do fine.

I'll report once I get the spkrs.

I lamented over the same thing Argon...M60 vs M80.
My room isnt even that big, so initially I thought the M50's or 60's will be fine. But I finally decided on the M80s because I really dont want to miss out on the differences in sonic and sound quality, and it's only an extra $340 (only $170 more per spkr).

The M80 has one more tweeter and one more mid range woofer than the M60, you have to figure it's going yo make a difference.

The best thing to do is really audition each of them for yourself. I just didnt have the patience, I want these bad boys already!