How do I determine max volume on my rotels?

[stone24]

I have the RSP1570 pre-amp and three RB-1582 amps powering my home theater (Paradigm Monitor 11 speakers). I had an RMB-1575 prior to the 1582s. I was not very happy with the 1575 since I had popped two amps and blown the center channel once. I was convinced that the 1575 did not have sufficient current to drive the theater to the levels that I would enjoy to watch a movie or listen to music so I replaced with the 1582s. Now I am a little paranoid of blowing another amp or speaker and trying to find out how do I determine the max safe output that this pre-amp / amps combination is capable of?

I have done the common speaker calibration so I get a 70db signal coming from the speakers. The 1570 shows 83 on the display for volume level, is there an easy way to determine what this watt output is at that volume? I am not hearing distortion at this level but would rather figure out and know what the max dial setting would be so I do not blow up equipment. Thanks for any info you may be able to provide me.

[stuofsci02]

Here you go..

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html

[stone24]

Thanks for the link. That is interesting information but I am still interested if there is a way to determine that at my preamp showing 83 is how many watts coming out of my amp? Anyone placed a meter inline? or some other way? Thanks

[stuofsci02]

I doubt there is any correlation and I don't see why it would be important. If you wish you can get an SPL meter to find the true output. These can be had for ~$50. IMO anyone who is serious about Hi-Fi should have one anyways for balancing channels etc.

[stone24]

I have an spl meter and it works fine but it won't tell me the true watt output of the amp so I can avoid clipping the amps and destroying equipment. I ran the calculations and depending upon speaker location and "room reflections" it states the out put in db to be around 114. So i guess with this method I just crank the volume with a few different source material to find out what the preamp reads at 114 and say that is max. Just does not feel very accurate due to room efficiencies/inefficiencies, thanks for your help

[stuofsci02]

Oh.. I see what you are trying to do....

The problem you will find is that it is not going to be the average volume that is going to clip your amp, it is the dynamic peaks that are going to do so. So while you might be able to listen to a jazz piece at volume level 100 without problem, you might have an issue with a classical or rock piece at volume 100.

Also... 114 dB is very very loud. In fact it is loud enough that limited exposure will cause hearing damage. I think your setup will go as loud as you can listen to it.

[madmac]

100 on the dial is the max output normally on Rotel gear. You, my friend are clipping your amps at 83 on the display. That's way too high in my opinion and you are quite likely doing damage to your speakers and your ears for that matter!!. If you need that kind of volume to be happy, you should look into more robust amps and DJ tough style speakers!!.

[stone24]

Thanks for the help. I found one issue last night that made a major difference in the sound quality. I have been wondering why the sound has been so harsh at my playback volumes (80-83) and have wondered if I was over powering the speakers, overdriving the amps, etc.... My room had some really bad reflections going on. I had six sonex panels in my weight room that I moved into the home theater and WOW. This has cleared up the sound stage to the point that I am not questioning whether my equipment is shoddy or not. I understand that 114 is loud and I am not one to listen at these levels for an extended period of time at all, just wanted to know and try to understand the limits. I have a hard time believing though that at 83 it is clipping my amps as this is the setting that would be standard for setting up home theater speakers. The pink noise that is generated for setting speakers (70db) is supposed to create a sound stage that is approximately 105db on play back in movies for the peaks. It is a fairly comfortable volume as the action scenes are not constant in most movies. This sound in my theater is pretty close to the local IMAX, I just trying to understand the limits of the equipment, thanks guys