Underpowering speakers

[someguy03]

I recently bought one of those new Pioneer VSX-816-S surround sound systems (it was released about a month ago) and found some speakers online that I wanted to get. They are 200watts, and the reciever is 110watts. Will underpowering the speakers cause damage?

[audio_dude]

thats just the rated speaker handling power, you could run 1w through them if you wanted to (but you probably wouldn't get much sound, lol) the only problem would be if you turn ur receiver up too high and it starts cliping, that is what will damage speakers...

i generally hate pioneer stuff in general, it just doesn't last!

[someguy03]

I saw these at a garage sale for $50:



They are technics, also 200watts. Are technics any good? I think they are 10 or so years old.

[gjpham]

Having Technics is like having Hyundai or Kia car ....Even Bose is far better than Technics. I have never owned 1 so it's just my thought. Everyone has diff taste, diff expectation... According to your pix. you can't go wrong for $50.

[Wireworm5]

I remember year ago Technics came out with a 3 way speaker that I wanted. Didn't have the resources then, but it was one of the first speaker I saw that used that concept.
Technics use to be the mid-fi brand in the late 70's early 80's. They made decent stuff, I think if I remember correct they were made by Panasonic and a grade above Panasonic. I have two Technics TT in my closet that still work. One needs a belt and the other I never used since I lost the cartridge. But I have since located the cartridge and will hook it up again someday.
Anyways if it were me I'd grab those speakers for $50 bucks.

[stymie]

I had Technic speakers like those in the early 80's and back then they weren't like owning a Kia. I'll guarantee you those speakers would sound just as good as bose today if not better. Panasonic made Fisher and Technics--not much difference in the speakers back then tha either of the companies made.

[audio_dude]

for 50 bucks, there is no way you can go wrong!

maybe ask if you can demo them first, because many of those old 4 way speakers have dead drivers...case in point, my 10 year old pioneer towers, left side, midrange and tweeter dead, right side, tweeter dead, so I have 4 woofers and a midrange...lol

[emack27]

i generally hate pioneer stuff in general, it just doesn't last!

I strongly disagree. Well, only when it's about Pioneer TV's. Pioneer TV's are some of the best if not the best TV's on the market.

[audio_dude]

i don't really know pioneer video stuff, so no comment, but the home audio stuff, unless you go for the high end stuff, just doesn't last

but any vintage pioneer stuff is pretty decent (i had to say that, lol)

[Woochifer]

I saw these at a garage sale for $50:



They are technics, also 200watts. Are technics any good? I think they are 10 or so years old.

Keep in mind that 200 watts represents the maximum that those speakers can supposedly handle. Under normal listening, I doubt you'll need anywhere near that kind of output (10 watts going through those speakers in a typical room will already push the volume to intolerably high levels).

Technics is very mixed bag. It was originally marketed as the higher end audio component label for Panasonic (back then, the Panasonic label was considered strictly entry level and relegated to all-in-one systems, boom boxes, and entry level rack systems). Technics made some solidly built turntables, and eventually came to dominate the DJ market.

Their speakers and receivers were never competitive with the rest of the market, but they did come out with some well regarded CD players and tape decks along with a few interesting separates. Aside from turntables, where the Technics SL-1200 remains the gold standard DJ turntable, I think that the Technics label has pretty much been retired, since the Panasonic name has steadily grown in stature over the past decade.

Technics came out with a lot of those big bulky floorstanding speakers when those types of speakers were still in vogue, and actually kept them in production even after the market shifted over to narrower tower speakers and sub/sat systems. My recollection is that they sounded awful. Just a big boomy unrefined sound -- not all that different from the many many derivative imitations of the vintage JBLs that dominated during the 70s.

If you plan to go with surround sound, I would not go with vintage speakers simply because their large size makes it difficult to accommodate and align five of them -- that is IF you can round up five of them in the first place. Plus, there are no timbre matched center and surround speakers that go with those big floorstanders.