Pre Amp to Amps Q

[Mr Peabody]

When you consider that 80% of what you hear in a movie comes from the center speaker, it makes sense that the front three should have at least equal power, with any extra geared towards the center.

The surrounds can easily get by with less power.

If you have for example 200 watts to the front L/R and 100 watts to the center and surrounds it really don't matter to a point. You balance all channels to output evenly inside the preamp. So when watching a movie if something happens in the action that all channels are driven to 20 watts there is still reserve and only 20 watts is coming from all channels. 20 watts is pretty loud on most systems. It is also rare that all channels would be driven at the same time. With that being said, it is true that not all watts are created equal, neither are amps. If one did push their system to the limits the center just using the receiver could certainly reach distortion much quicker than the higher quality power amp with more power to the fronts. This could be a big factor if ever considering multichannel music.

[markw]

If you have for example 200 watts to the front L/R and 100 watts to the center and surrounds it really don't matter to a point. You balance all channels to output evenly inside the preamp. So when watching a movie if something happens in the action that all channels are driven to 20 watts there is still reserve and only 20 watts is coming from all channels. 20 watts is pretty loud on most systems. It is also rare that all channels would be driven at the same time. With that being said, it is true that not all watts are created equal, neither are amps. If one did push their system to the limits the center just using the receiver could certainly reach distortion much quicker than the higher quality power amp with more power to the fronts. This could be a big factor if ever considering multichannel music.

Well, if you can justify your answer this way, fine, but I still say that given a choice, the channel with the most demand should get the most powerful amplifier. That would be the center channel, and I say it should be at least as powerful as the front right and left channels.

This echos the generally accepted standards that most knowledgable people follow. It's sort of a GAAP of HT. Since he asked, it was only fair that he should be made aware of this.

[Glen B]

Well, if you can justify your answer this way, fine, but I still say that given a choice, the channel with the most demand should get the most powerful amplifier. That would be the center channel, and I say it should be at least as powerful as the front right and left channels.

This echos the generally accepted standards that most knowledgable people follow. It's sort of a GAAP of HT. Since he asked, it was only fair that he should be made aware of this.

You are correct that it is the accepted practice for the front channels to have equal power, but in my system as I stated above, I use a 200+ watt amp on the R+L front channels and three 100W receiver channels on the center and surrounds. The 100 watts on the center is more than adequate for my HT use at the loudest levels I ever listen to, and the fact that there is 200 watts on the R+L channels does not make one iota of an audible difference to my ears. I could maybe see this being a problem if I were maxing out the 100 watts on the center or close to it, but that is not the case. I just wanted to add my $.02.