What is stronger?????

[HelpMeOut]

If a receiver has a 135 watt x 5 @ 8 ohm and an amplifier has 105 watt x 5 @ 8 ohm, which one is stronger? Should I just use the amplifier from the receiver for the speakers or should I wired the amplifier to the receiver and then use the amplifier itself? THANKS!

[Resident Loser]

...if both are RMS ratings, the diff is negligible, power-wise...other specs like current output or dynamic headroom and damping factor should be taken into consideration...how each might handle the load presented by the speakers may be an issue...perhaps one may present a more pleasing presentation....some aspects to consider might be quite subjective in nature.

Then of course, we have the question: does the reciever even have the facilities to be wired to an outboard amp? I don't purport to be some sort of know-it-all re: multi- channel/HT gear, but in my limited experience, my guess would be it probably doesn't.

jimHJJ(...sooo???...)

[Pat D]

If a receiver has a 135 watt x 5 @ 8 ohm and an amplifier has 105 watt x 5 @ 8 ohm, which one is stronger? Should I just use the amplifier from the receiver for the speakers or should I wired the amplifier to the receiver and then use the amplifier itself? THANKS!

That's hard to say. As a practical matter, does your receiver have adequate power for your needs? If so, why worry about a separate amp, which would have to be considerably more powerful to make much difference?

There is an ambiguity in the specifications, of course. Does 100 watts X 5 mean each channel individually can produce 100 watts into 8 ohms? That's a usual interpretation. Or does it mean that each channel can produce 100 watts into 8 ohms when all 5 channels are driven simultaneously? That's much more difficult and it seems many receivers can't do that, and some don't even come close. Sound & Vision magazine has measured that kind of thing, and a fellow named Phil has put many of their test results in a spreadsheet for our convenience:

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Holl...1/ratevsac.htm

Most receivers have a single power supply for all channels, and so of course, if only a channel or two are driven, they can produce more power than if all the channels are driven to high levels. That does not seem to occur too often in actual movies, so I imagine most receivers satisfy most users.

Some separate amplifiers have fairly hefty power supplies and some don't. So the same considerations apply.

[HelpMeOut]

The receiver I'm talking about is a Denon AVR5600 and the amp I'm talking about is a Denon POA-8300. So which way should I go with? Use the receiver by itself or run the amp with the receiver? Thanks for your input Resident Loser and Pat D.

[markw]

See how the receiver works. If you think you are having a power problem, then try the separate amp.

Remember, for a barely noticable increase of 3 db in headroom you must double the power.

So, even with allowing for the possibility that the separate amp just might (notice the "might") have a little more "real" power when all channels are driven to the max simultaneously for extended periods (which is rare for HT), you would still need need twice the power of the initial reciever for a barely noticable difference.

Even with all the weasel words in the above paragraph, I simply don't see that happenin' here. I'd give real careful thought here unless spending money or simply having a separate amp is the main goal.

[HelpMeOut]

THANKS for your input Mark. I have both the receiver (denon avr5600) and the amp (denon poa-8300) in my possession already. I just need to know which way should I set it up. Could I use the receiver (denon avr5600) as a preamp to run the denon poa-8300 amplifier? I'll be using a set of Infinity IL50 speakers and maybe a center channel. Is this system good for karaoke? That's what I use my system for most of the time. THANKS!!!

[s dog]

I was looking at the denon website and it shows the denon poa-8300 amp as a 120 watts x 3, i have the denon 4800 i got a 120 watt x 2 sonance amp running my mains and the denon 4800 running side surrounds and back surrounds and center , when running 2 channel stereo useing the sonace vs 4800 i hear no differents, the denon has 125 watt per channel, but if you already have the amp i would use it , might take some of the load off the denon