I was very close to purchasing the m60ti's along with a vp150 and 2 qs8's to go along with my outlaw lfm-1. But, I really want the m80's instead so that a few years down the road I won't be thinking, "If only I purchased the m80's rather than the m60's!". However, I currently own the Onkyo txsr503 which I know can't handle a 4 ohm impedence speaker and it doesn't even have any preamp outputs. So after a little bit of research I found a line level converter that converts the signal from the speaker wire to an RCA signal.

link: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=302-307

This doesn't look audiophile grade with the spring clips and all but it is the only one that I could find that wasn't for car audio. Car audio converters are usually only rated for 30 or 60 watts.

So, will there be any significant signal degredation using this line level converter? Also, would the outlaw 2200 monoblocks be a good pairing for the m80ti's? Will they be able to drive them without going into auto protect mode if I turn up the volume? I've been reading a couple reviews of these online and one person mentioned that they noticed a little bit of a humming noise they give off, but he said that he had them in an cabinent with a door and that he couldn't hear it with the door shut. I have an open rack that I planned on putting them on only 9 ft away from my seating area, will I notice any humming noise from them? Note: I don't want to upgrade my reciever until they are equipped with hdmi 1.3 and the new dolby and dts hd software, which is why I was looking at the monoblocks.

thanks in advance for any replies,

Nick

Hey Nick,

I have the Outlaw 2200s powering my M80s, VP150 and my QS8s, and have had no problems whatsoever. I've cranked the system up to insane levels so I could hear it all over the house while vacuuming and the 2200s didn't break a sweat.

I also have an open rack and they are not making any sort of hum or any noise that I can detect. My DVR seems to be the only thing making noise and I can't hear it unless I mute the setup.

Hope that helps.

Stymie

Nick, it shouldn't be assumed that your 503 wouldn't drive M80s adequately for your needs. It would certainly drive them at a reasonable sound level; the question would be if the levels you used and the dynamic range of the material you played would be beyond its capacity. If this resulted in excessive temperature and/or current the protective circuit in the 503 would simply shut it down, but there's no way to know if this would occur unless you try. A problem that might never occur shouldn't be assumed.

The speaker/line converter is similar to the circuit a powered sub uses on its speaker level inputs: a resistance in the tens of thousands of ohms is employed so that essentially no power from the receiver is used and just enough voltage to feed the audio signal information to the separate(or sub)amplifier. There's nothing that should result in any significant degradation. It seems a bit pricey at around $60 for the simple item that it is, and again it's suggested that you don't spend money on either it or the Outlaws until you've determined that you need them.

Hi nickboros ... Outlaw 2200's and M80's here! I've owned the Outlaws about 4 months, and there are no issues with hum from the units or problems driving the M80's to 100 db's and beyond for as long as needed. I haven't been able to shut them down. I don't do that too often mind you, it was mostly for testing purposes when I bought the amps.
Plenty of reserve for peaks with 300 watts @ 4 ohms.

John,

It specifically says in the owner's manual that it will not drive 4 ohm speakers. In the European version of this reciever they had an impedence switch to drive 4 ohm speakers by lowering the current. However, the US version that I have doesn't have this. I wouldn't want to use that option anyway since I would be comprimising sound quality using the impedence switch.

I also, read a review on Crutchfield this past summer about a guy who was trying to drive some in wall 4 ohm speakers with this reciever and he couldn't even get the reciever to drive the speakers at reasonable levels before it went into auto protect mode. This is why I don't think the recievers amps will power the m80's sufficiently. But, it can't hurt to try. I might save $60 on a line level converter and about $650 on the amps.

thanks for the reply

- Nick

The M80s are probably more efficient than those in-wall speakers, so you *might* be pleasantly surprised.

Hi,

I too have 3 Outlaw monoblocks to drive my M80's and my VP150. I have since gotten rid of my high end HK AVR7300 and downgraded to a HK AVR335. The monoblocks make the sound very crisp, clear, and the power is amazing. My receiver doesnt have too much load so everyone is happy happy.

-Tarun

I've been tossing around the idea of getting some mono's to drive my m60's, and maybe one for my vp150. I currently have a Denon 2805 which does a good job, but there are times I like to crank things up a bit, and wonder if I would get better performance using the mono's to drive the mains? I find myself going beyond "0" on the volume dial am don't seem to be "blown" away or have that "wow" factor and crystal clear experience at the higher volume levels. For those driving vp150's, does this improve the center channel dialog? Even though I have my center dB's bumped up a bit from SPL calibration, it is just hard to hear it sometimes. Am I crazy?

You're not crazy. Not all surround sound is mixed to the same levels. That is all. Oh, and maybe you need some more acoustic treatments.

Hey Quack... I've got the VP150, and as to whether dialogue is improved using monos, I'd have to say no for normal listening levels, but yes as you approach 'reference' levels and above. Makes sense since the load is reduced on the 3805.
Since adding the monos, the M80's themselves are certainly cleaner at higher db's.(100 db's and beyond).
I don't do it alot, but it sho is fun after a few beers!
BTW, I have 2 2200's, not 3 like Tarun.