Home audio receiver

[DarkKnightSM]

Or amplifier. Sorry guys the forums looks so different then it did a few months ago. Totally thrown off so sorry if there was a better spot for this thread.

so I’m starting to get into home audio. Mostly because I don’t wanna die of carbon monoxide poisoning from using my car audio in the garage. So got a set of kilpsch bookshelf speakers dual 8” ea. Able to handle 135 Watts each. I want to push these babes as hard as they will go so I can hear my music through the house and my garage. But my current old marantz receiver only puts out about 80 Watts a channel and tends to distort at relatively low volume levels. Shuts off when I really push them. So it’s time to upgrade, and the receivers I see are, well not to impressive stat wise for what you pay. Why is it so hard to just find a receiver or amplifier that can properly get these speakers deafeningly loud and have connections to send low frequencies to self power subwoofers. I got 2 15 inch kilsch subwoofer I want to get going but need a amp to power these floor speakers. 

I dont need video video connections at all. This setup is for pure home audio. 2.1 setup. Any suggestions?

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

go with the amplifier route. Receiver power is basically trash for loud music playing.  Some can get loud but you get a lot of speaker break up.  I'd get the biggest amplifier you can afford. Some QSC stereo or multi channel amps should do the trick.

 

[youdoofus]

Or amplifier. Sorry guys the forums looks so different then it did a few months ago. Totally thrown off so sorry if there was a better spot for this thread.

so I’m starting to get into home audio. Mostly because I don’t wanna die of carbon monoxide poisoning from using my car audio in the garage. So got a set of kilpsch bookshelf speakers dual 8” ea. Able to handle 135 Watts each. I want to push these babes as hard as they will go so I can hear my music through the house and my garage. But my current old marantz receiver only puts out about 80 Watts a channel and tends to distort at relatively low volume levels. Shuts off when I really push them. So it’s time to upgrade, and the receivers I see are, well not to impressive stat wise for what you pay. Why is it so hard to just find a receiver or amplifier that can properly get these speakers deafeningly loud and have connections to send low frequencies to self power subwoofers. I got 2 15 inch kilsch subwoofer I want to get going but need a amp to power these floor speakers. 

I dont need video video connections at all. This setup is for pure home audio. 2.1 setup. Any suggestions?

go with the amplifier route. Receiver power is basically trash for loud music playing.  Some can get loud but you get a lot of speaker break up.  I'd get the biggest amplifier you can afford. Some QSC stereo or multi channel amps should do the trick.

youll need a preamp if youre going that route, which is fine, just another piece of equipment youll need to purchase and likely need to manually turn on as many of the rack mount ones are not controlled with a remote.

you actually might want to look at older Denon stuff. I have a couple of them and they put out some decent power especially if all your pushing is a pair of klipsch bookshelves. I have an AVR3200 (old but solid) and it puts out a reliable 85 watts per channel all day long and can be found on the cheap on craigslist etc etc. They weigh a ton tho, so i wouldnt look on ebay as shipping them would be simply ridiculous.

If you want to go the straight up amp route, id look at behringer too (guitar center, if you want to lay your hands on one before buying) as theyre pretty cheap and put out decent power as well. They are known for putting inflated numbers on them tho

 

[youdoofus]

this amp is $150 and puts out 200 wpc at 8 ohms. If your marantz has pre outs, you could use this

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KM750--behringer-km750-power-amplifier?mrkgcl=28&mrkgadid=3280892788&rkg_id=0&product_id=KM750&campaigntype=shopping&campaign=aaShopping - Core - Live Sound & Lighting&adgroup=Live Sound & Lighting - Power Amplifiers&placement=google&adpos=1o1&creative=226299461213&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqarL1d-w3QIVhLfACh1ZFACREAQYASABEgKCUPD_BwE

 

[DarkKnightSM]

Thanks guys on the advise. Jeff got me on researching more amps. Turns out there’s a whole world out there with powerful and cheap 2 channel amplifiers. I’ve found brands such as Gemini and crown also produce amps under 200 bucks. I guess the big box stores don’t want you to realize there’s better options new or old that’s way better then their receivers that don’t even get remotely ok until 500 bucks up. 

So so this time I decided to not just take what they give me, like my JL setup in the car, lol. I found a couple amplifiers on Craigslist and picked up a km 208 kenwood and a solid 150 wpc. I actually tested this thing and we got well over 150 Watts with little it no audible distortion. Infact we leaked it up to 210 and still no problems, except for my ears. These guys were like why do you even want them so loud. I told them for me parties. When I have the house to myself, and tons of alcohol is involved.

anyway I like this amp but with no gain control, no preouts to a sub, really no controls on it, I’m gonna be looking at a pre amp to better distribute and control the audio. I did buy a 30 dollar chomecast audio, which works over WiFi and turns dumb speakers into smart, is more handy then HEOS, or Bluetooth or any other receiver apps out there, IMO. Btw I got the amp for $125, chromecast music 30, floor klipsch r28f for $300 total, and the two 15 inch self power subs 400wrms with front ported inclosures for 600 a pop or $1200 total. Complete banging system for $1655. 

Escept, my marantz died. Left channel puts out a very weak signal. To bad. Was putting out about 75 watts being made in 91 was a good receiver while it worked. The kenwood was made in 89. So now was thinking about getting an old analog eq and a cheapo preout but idk where to start. I’ll use the chrome as a “pre” until I figure something out. System is loud though!

 

[DarkKnightSM]

I probably could have gotten better subs and built a cabinet myself, and a separate mono block but, it was so easy this way. I want to get a Mach 5 or stereo integrity hst. The extension on these guys are rediculas

 

[youdoofus]

I probably could have gotten better subs and built a cabinet myself, and a separate mono block but, it was so easy this way. I want to get a Mach 5 or stereo integrity hst. The extension on these guys are rediculas

there are tons of mfgs that make purely power amps which make some not insignificant power for reasonable prices. QSC is a serious company, but they have serious prices. Many brands out there to explore. I still suggest hitting up your nearest guitar center and even looking at some gently used gear

 

[stephgirl]

Yes i also have a Kenwood that looks very similar to that Kenwood KM-208. I looked up that KM-208 on ebay images and my power amp looks mighty close to that amp with the power meters. And your right that the Kenwood amp is very powerful and loud. I also have an older Kenwood 5.1 surround sound receiver that puts out 100w. Also a solid unit. The two Kenwoods I have were the older Japan made units that's why. When they moved to China in late 90's they were junk. Just make sure there the Japan made ones.  If you remember the old component rack systems back in 80's and 90's that many brands sold back then with the cabinet with the glass door that had the separate components, turntable and tape deck and CD player and a preamp and main power amp and the two floor standing speakers with a 3 way system that had ether a 12 or 15 inch sub in there, Kenwood, Technics, JVC so on.  That was the days. That is were this Kenwood amp came from if i remember correctly. A 150w rack system was standard.  I used my Kenwood amp to DJ some house parties back in the day with 4 big 15" floor standing speakers. Sucker was loud. I still today have all of them. My Kenwood 5.1 receiver i use today as my amp in my room connected to my desktop computer though a mixer board and i edit and remaster my music from my computer with WaveLab software. That is why i now have over 6500 songs on a 1tb portable hard drive to play in my car audio system.  And yes the Pioneer HU I have using the USB port does recognize the Western Digital 1tb portable hard drive and works great.  Make sure you reformat the drive to FAT 32 and it should work fine. All the songs are in high quality WAVE format and soon to be some FLAK files for the High Resolution Kenwood and Pioneer sound system I'm finishing installing in my truck.