amp wattage

Jim
Community Member

Looking for an amp for Arendal THX Monitors. Found a brand I like that offers a model with 250 watts per channel at 4 ohms and a 500 watt per channel at 4 ohms. The monitors are rated at 400 watts per channel. Should I get the 500 watt for more head room or is that over kill, I also do not want to take a chance damaging the speaker. Should I play it safe and go with the 250 watts ( cheaper also), and is that enough for the monitor to reach its full potential ?

Thanks for your time, Jim

All replies (18)

Corey
Community Member

My amps put out 300w@ 4ohms and that is plenty. Use an online calculator to determine how much power you actually need to meet your listening levels.

Jim,

There is never a limit on too much power. There is a problem when you don’t have enough power. The question is are you going to reach reference level or play your speakers very low? I have two Crown XLi amps that output 500Watts @8Ohms and 750Watts @4Ohms now this might seem like a lot of power but I want to achieve maximum dynamics. If you want to best headroom and no distortion then yes go with a high powered amp. If you are listening at low volume then go with the 250Watts @8Ohms. Its really on what your listening needs are to be honest. I used to have the Emotiva XPa3 gen 2’s and they had 225Watts @8Ohms and 350Watts @4Ohms and they were fine but they couldn’t play as loud as the crowns. However they didn’t have as much dynamics to drive my 1723’s THX’s. Happy Listening!

Jim
Community Member

Thanks for the replies, you guys are a wealth of information. The article was great too. I was thinking more power might be better but I was worried about damaging the speakers.

Too little power will damage your speakers, going with higher wattage will give you the headroom plus the dynamics for your speakers.

Gjøran
Community Member

Like its said above here, there is not too much power. Your ears will more likely die before the speakers. Unless you have a weak amp, because that can actually kill them.

For me, I use Emotiva XPA-DR3 for my front setup :)

Hani Alzahrani
Community Member

Any decent amp from a well known brand will do. Emotiva, Monolith and Outlaw have affordable options.

Frank Kvalvik
Community Member

Gonna try to keep this one alive since I have a similar question.

Got a reciever that I am happy with and it specifies as follows (for surround)

Rated Output (6Ω) : 165 (1% THD) W
Speaker Impedance : 4-16Ω
Frequency response : 20-20000Hz

So, 165w pr. channel…

Would this be enough to aquire “the complete set” with 1723 Tower THX for L/R and the 1723 Center THX and of course the 1723 Surround THX for the rear.
Most likely the 1723 Subwoofer 1v (perhaps the 2v).

Or do I “have” to get an additional amp for the L/R and do pre-out for those?

Quite new so any help would be appreciated.
THX

Brandon
Customer Support

Hey Frank,

This 165 wpc is probably 2 channel driven. When you go the full system you will probably be down around 75 wpc. I would look at getting an external amp to drive at minimum the front L/C/R like ATI, Monolith, Emotiva etc.

This would help take the load of the receiver and allow for my dynamic range headroom for a better overall listening experience.

While everyone is on a budget. Sounds like your AVR may be able to push the 1723s although I wouldn’t expect it to be able to play very loudly.

Thanks!

Frank Kvalvik
Community Member

Hey Brandon.
Thanks for the quick reply. I interpret this as I am somewhat coverd watt-wise :)

The atteaced image is from the AVR specsheet and they do claim in the tl:dr that it should be 175 Watt per channel and a whole lot more on features like atmost, hdr and more.

As you say. I should be able to drive and if I am not happy with the loudness I’ll add an external amp for the LCR on the pre-outputs.

Thanks again.

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