What do I need to power my speakers? Can't find anything!

[Chimaira]

Hi everyone, I got these speakers about 4 years ago while I was in Germany, everyone had them and they sounded great! The company is called Ravemaster, as you can see each speaker has 1 tweeter, 2 midrange, and 1 woofer. I made the boxes myself, and are going to prime and paint or carpet them very soon. There are shelves with wool in there to help with the bass. These are all connected to a crossover in the back of each box and would then by speaker wire connect to an amp/receiver. Each speaker is rated @ 250 watts RMS @ 4 ohm, 750 watts max. I used to have them powered by an old Sony home theater receiver that i believe was only 80-100 watts per channel, and these shook the whole house, so now I'm looking for an amp/receiver so I can use these and power these the correct way. What are my options and what kind of companies make something powerful enough? I've spent many hours looking at various integrated amps, stereo receivers ect, but im extremely confused on what would be best for my situation. Thanks for the help!

[GMichael]

What kind of budget are you working with. Do you just want 2 channel or are you looking for 5.1 or 7.1 also?

[Florian]

Sorry to break your heart but Ravemaster is the cheapest junk you can find. I almost find it offensive that we all supposely have them. They are a crap, just sell them and we can help you find decent speakers in your budget.

-Flo

[Chimaira]

Sorry I didn't mean to offend anyone, but the people I stayed with had them, and so didn't all of their friends thats why I said everyone, didn't actually mean "everyone" but everyone I had met there. I didn't know they were bad, they were pretty loud and powerful with only 80-100 watts going to them, so I figured with the correct watts (250 RMS) they would be great... All I would be powering are these 2, so a 2 channel amp or receiver would be perfect. Right now I have 200 saved, but for the correct amp I would save more and wait to get it because I want to hear these with the right power going to them. Are they really that bad? I don't understand, they seem like they were built good, and like I said even with the 80-100 watts going through them they shook my entire house which was more than any car system around I had heard. The crossover works wonders on these compared to any system I've heard with any type of woofer, because they dont have a crossover so all the frequencies are blasting through it... Any more suggestions or input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[canuckle]

Chimaira, Florian was the one being rude and offensive there, don't worry about it. If you like the speakers, then they're perfect for you and that's all that matters. What you will find on any audio forum is that people aren't very concerned with a speakers ability to shake their house; a foghorn will shake the house, but nobody wants to sit and listen to one for 3 hours. Most members here are more concerned with the sound quality, flat frequency response, imaging, etc.

You could hook them up to a more powerful amp, but I'd have my doubts that you'd hear any major differences. It's very doubtful to me that you ever ran more than 80 watts into them with your old receiver and you'd never manage to pump 250 RMS watts into them without permanent hearing loss. If I were you, I'd figure out what budget you have and go buy the best amp possible with that money. Don't base your buying on the amp's maximum rated output as you'll never use it in any event. You will want to search for 4 Ohm amps though which will limit your buying market. If you can afford seperates, you may want to listen to some as there's more selection for 4 Ohm amps with them.

[Florian]

I wasnt Rude!

I am from Germany, that company is a scam on ebay. Sorry, but thats the way it is. Same as McAudio and others. Thats like the White Van stuff here in germany.

.Flo

[daviethek]

For 200.00 you can get an used Denon DRA series reciever. The 685 verson I think is 100 watts. They are 2 channel stereo only receivers and handle 4 ohm speakers well.

[trollgirl]

...the Yamaha M series (good sound), the Proton power amps (AA-1150, D-1200) which are good looking besides powerful. There is just a whole universe of good amps and receivers out there. For instance, I bought a Pioneer QX-949A at an auction a few weeks back for $15 (with speaks!), and it sounds amazing in sterto mode. Heck, I though it was crap when I saw it.

As for your speakers, consider a cheaper (good) used amp, and midrange and tweeter upgrades. The results can be astonishing - I've done it myself...

Laz

[Chimaira]

Thank you all for the replies, the information you guys gave helped me alot. I was thinking more of the lines of more watts (more, deeper bass) and wasn't thinking really about the quality of the sound... This changed my mind, I will start looking for a nice amp thats 4 ohms and can produce a nice quality sound. As for the midranges and tweeters, that will have to be something I do after I get the amp, which isn't a problem because I'll gladly switch them out if you guys know there are better out there. I'm personally a video/graphics type person, I do alot of gaming and graphic design so the whole audio thing is new to me. These speakers will eventually be used along with an LCD tv and computer for gaming. One more question. For a while now I've been looking into the NAD C370 integrated amplifier. Theres been tons of reviews, after alot of use the sounds amazing (so the reviews say) and honestly it looks like it has the power I'm looking for. I understand now watts and all that arn't everything when it comes to audio, so thanks for clearing that up for me!

[Mr Peabody]

You may want to reconsider using your speakers near video. It doesn't sound like they are video shielded. They will need to be if placed close to a video monitor and certain other video equipment. The magnetic field of the speakers magnets will interfere with video.

You might also want to take a look at some used Adcom. They will drive 4 ohm loads and in my opinion give a more hardy sound than NAD. I didn't say better, just beefier. The 545, 555, 5400 & 5500's are all popular models in power amps. I'm not sure what one of their spotlight preamps would be, except for the gfp750 which may be too expensive even used.

[JoeE SP9]

Thank you all for the replies, the information you guys gave helped me alot. I was thinking more of the lines of more watts (more, deeper bass) and wasn't thinking really about the quality of the sound... This changed my mind, I will start looking for a nice amp thats 4 ohms and can produce a nice quality sound. As for the midranges and tweeters, that will have to be something I do after I get the amp, which isn't a problem because I'll gladly switch them out if you guys know there are better out there. I'm personally a video/graphics type person, I do alot of gaming and graphic design so the whole audio thing is new to me. These speakers will eventually be used along with an LCD tv and computer for gaming. One more question. For a while now I've been looking into the NAD C370 integrated amplifier. Theres been tons of reviews, after alot of use the sounds amazing (so the reviews say) and honestly it looks like it has the power I'm looking for. I understand now watts and all that arn't everything when it comes to audio, so thanks for clearing that up for me!

More watts in a more powerful amplifier will not give better bass. It is much more complicated than that.