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HELP NEEDED!! What AMP shall I buy??

I have a DVD player with digital, analogue and 5.1 audio output. And I also have a Sky Digibox which I would like to connect to the loud speakers.

I had a PHILIPS hifi which blew up on me twice as it was connected to 2 X 120watts speakers as well as 2 X 200watts Eltax floorstanding speakers.

The way I connected was join the two wires up both left floorstanding and normal speakers and put it into the left black and red connection and vice versa.

Anyway.. cut the long story short.. Hifi blew on me twice. Reason I was given was that speakers were too powerful and the amp blew.

Now i am thinking of getting just an AMP as i have heard it is better quality sound than the one outta the hifi. Is this correct?

If yes, which one do u recommend? I have 4 X 120 watts speakers to connect and i have 3 peice speaker set from my TECHNICS HOME CINEMA HIFI i can also use.

Would i need an amp which does 120watts + per channel?

What kind of price am i looking at?

ALSO.. AM I BETTER OFF CONNECTED WHAT I HAVE OR SHALL I BUY A SET OF HOME CINEMA SPEAKERS??

I have two 120 watts floorstanding. two 120watts philips hifi speakers and 3 wee speakers which came with a technics hifi (which included two big speakers also, which i no longer have).


Any sort of help will be very much appreciated.


UM3R

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    TenesmusTenesmus Posts: 463
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    Did you wind the amp up a lot and then it blew? If so you're lucky you didn't lose the speakers as well, as an underpowered amp close to it's limit can start pumping out unhealthy voltages. Accepted wisdom used to be you should have an amp that's more powerful than the speakers (but don't turn it right up). And it sounds like the way you wired them in would have presented the amp with a strange impedence (ohms) that wouldn't have helped.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 44
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    Thanks for replying Tenesmus...


    Well, the left floorstanding speaker did start to give a distorted sound. So since they were under one yrs manufactures warranty.. i returned them and got "Acoustic Solutions Av120" (120watts) ones instead.

    So is it not wiseable to join 4 speakers up and connect to the hifi?? the more speakers the better no?

    Shall I return these news ones i have and buy 5.1 surrond ones?? Would it be a better solution?

    Any help is much appreciated.
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    SonyJunkieSonyJunkie Posts: 1,510
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    As already mentioned connecting two speakers to one output creates a diffrent impedance that will probably be outside the range of the amp.

    I would suggest buying a dedicated 5.1 surround sound amp and connecting all the spakers correctly, you could use the speakers you already have but you would need to check the ohm rating of each and ensure the amp can handle it. (most amps are 4-8 ohms, also check about mixing differently rated speakers).

    Better would be to buy a speaker package. (see your other thread for my suggestion)
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 44
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    is this the one u have too? i quite like it... whats the damage like??


    Also, am i better off buying an AMP and then 5.1 surrond speakers or shall i buy just 5.1 surronds and connect to the DVD direct??

    As far as SKY goes, that can still be connected to HIFI SYSTEM (using the philips speakers of course as others will blow it up for the third time.. hehe)...

    What do u guys reckon?? Any more recommendations on speaker packages??

    Also, most importantly... Better off with AMP as well as 5.1 speakers or just speakers??

    Any help is much appreciated as always. :)

    UM3R
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    comicsansserifcomicsansserif Posts: 3,870
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    As already mentioned connecting two speakers to one output creates a diffrent impedance that will probably be outside the range of the amp.

    Sonyjunkie's correct. If you parallel wire a pair of 8ohm speakers into one connection you'll reduce the impedence by half to 4 ohms. An amp has a lot harder time driving 4ohms than 8 a you'll have drained too much power from it causing the blow ups.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 44
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    hmm.. no wonder poor thing went twice. i had this dodgy connection since dec 02 but it only blew up last week and then again this week when it came back from the repair.

    i guess its served its time and its time for a new one.


    Wot do u guys think of the TECHNICS SCEH 790?? this is a HOME CINEMA Package.. BUT the question is:

    Is this as good as connecting using DVD's 5.1 connection with speakers?

    heres the link to the two hifi's i was looking at:

    http://www.hifisuppliers.co.uk/website/home-cinema-systems/technics-sceh790.htm

    http://www.hifisuppliers.co.uk/website/home-cinema-systems/technics-scdv290.htm

    another question is:

    Is it better to connect 5.1 speakers using an AMP or would it be as good if i just plug into DVD socket and play?
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    comicsansserifcomicsansserif Posts: 3,870
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    Is it better to connect 5.1 speakers using an AMP or would it be as good if i just plug into DVD socket and play?
    Unless it's an all in one player/amp and these outputs are for speakers, then the 5.1 outputs on a dvd plyer will need to be amplified. You connect them to a surround amp in the same way you would any piece of audio equipmnt except instead of two (left and right) you have 6 connections.

    You could also use an optical or coax digital output from your DVD to an appropriately equipped amp to do all this with just one connection. It will bypass a lot of audio circuitry in your DVD player and all be done in the amp, which should give you purer sound this way.

    As for the kit I haven't heard it so can't comment. But this stuffs down to personnal prefference and budget. I suggest you go someplace that sells it and try it out and compare it to a few others.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 44
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    I have decided to buy an 80 watt AMP - SONY STRDE485 for £99.99.

    Just need to buy good speakers to go with it. (5.1 ones).

    Any recomendations? Want good quality and cheap obviously

    can i use the ACOUSTIC FLOORSTANDING (130 watts) ones as Front speakers on the above amp?? And Philips hifi 120 watts one as rear?? This way all i need is a centre speaker and a Sub.

    What about quality?? Would it be affected if its a mixture of Philips, Acoustics, etc???

    Please HELP! I'm nearly there...
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    comicsansserifcomicsansserif Posts: 3,870
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    Ideally all the speakers should be "matched" to ensure that they produce the range of frequencies in the same way otherwise you may find, for instance, that the rears sound"brighter" than the fronts.

    However if you have good speakers anyway you may not really be able to tell much difference. I would suggest you try your current gear first and see how they sound. Also try them the other way around (swap rears for front) to see if they sound better in that arrangement.

    When I upgraded a few years back I bought some B&W's intending to use them as fronts and the Tannoy's I had as the rears. However on trialling I found that I still preferred the Tannoy as fronts and so kept that setup.

    Again this is very much about personnal choice and seeing as you already have the speakers you may as well try them and if they soung good enough then save you money.
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    iainiain Posts: 63,929
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    the best advice i can give is have a listen in places before you buy. as long as it sounds good to you it will be good enough, despite what any technophobe might say.

    i'm more than happy with our sony amp (1080) and speakers (save 835s) - although the amp gets good reviews overall, it does get criticised for sounding a bit harsh. th epascal speakers usually get fairly slated by anyone who really knows what they are talking about and has a *trained* ear. fortunately i don't, so they sound the dogs proverbials to me (especially as they are mostly used for dvd rather than cd).

    Iain
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 42
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    Originally posted by UM3R
    Just need to buy good speakers to go with it. (5.1 ones).

    Any recomendations? Want good quality and cheap obviously

    Well for the money you won't beat these (Mission Cinema Six package):

    http://www.hifijunkies.co.uk/shop/results.tpl?action=full&cart=326694320260743&--eqskudatarq=237

    They probably only have one set left though (they are now discontinued) so if you want them then get to it.

    The Cinema Six pack was very well reviewed when it came out and it cost £400 back them. Five identical speakers and a sub is arguably the ideal set up too - no issues with tonal matching etc.

    There is a review here: http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/SpeakerPackages/Mission/MissionCinemaSixPack.shtml

    Hope this helps.

    Matt.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 44
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    Eltax Evoulotion Package any good?

    I want something with floorstanding front speakers so it can fill the room up..

    I cant find anything.... :(

    WHO CAN HELP??? Me AMP is 100 watts so I want speakers to be 100 watts +

    Please help
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