Hi all, first time post to this forum although I've been reading various threads for the past year or so.
I would appreciate some advise and guidance on matching an amp with a pair of Sig-8NT in-walls. These speakers are rated at 200W and I know a good choice would be a Rotel RB-1080 for about $1k. However, I expect to be upgrading to fully digital amps in 12-18 months and I am considering using a cheap power amp such as a Crown XLS402A in the interim. There are several glowing recommendations over on the AVS Forum for these amps which can output 260W at 8ohms and 400W at 4ohms. The general consensus from several members over there is that they get the best sound out of their speakers by throwing lots of power at them.
Theses amps can be had for as little at $250 so the price is definately right for a throw away solution but I have some concerns..
I will be using an older Denon AVR receiver as my pre-amp (this component will get upgraded when the dust settles on HD-DVD sound support) and I can plug the Crown amp into the switch AC output on the back so I should be able to power on all components at the same time via a remote control. However, if the Crown volume is set at a mid-level will I get a surge into the speakers and will this damage them over time ? There seem to be differing opinions on this. These amps do generate heat and have noisy fans but it's claimed that the fans can be removed if the power draw is not to high and as I'm more interested in listening to a full rich sound at low levels rather than ear-bleed rock perhaps this is not a problem. My other main concern is background noise (either hiss or humm) that may be audible through the speakers. I have no idea if this is an issue or not but I'd appreciate if anyone here has experience with using this type of power amp and if I'm making a sensible choice.
Thanks to all..
I would appreciate some advise and guidance on matching an amp with a pair of Sig-8NT in-walls. These speakers are rated at 200W and I know a good choice would be a Rotel RB-1080 for about $1k. However, I expect to be upgrading to fully digital amps in 12-18 months and I am considering using a cheap power amp such as a Crown XLS402A in the interim. There are several glowing recommendations over on the AVS Forum for these amps which can output 260W at 8ohms and 400W at 4ohms. The general consensus from several members over there is that they get the best sound out of their speakers by throwing lots of power at them.
Theses amps can be had for as little at $250 so the price is definately right for a throw away solution but I have some concerns..
I will be using an older Denon AVR receiver as my pre-amp (this component will get upgraded when the dust settles on HD-DVD sound support) and I can plug the Crown amp into the switch AC output on the back so I should be able to power on all components at the same time via a remote control. However, if the Crown volume is set at a mid-level will I get a surge into the speakers and will this damage them over time ? There seem to be differing opinions on this. These amps do generate heat and have noisy fans but it's claimed that the fans can be removed if the power draw is not to high and as I'm more interested in listening to a full rich sound at low levels rather than ear-bleed rock perhaps this is not a problem. My other main concern is background noise (either hiss or humm) that may be audible through the speakers. I have no idea if this is an issue or not but I'd appreciate if anyone here has experience with using this type of power amp and if I'm making a sensible choice.
Thanks to all..
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