950/7100 speaker assessments

I'm considering the purchase of a 950/7100 combo. Upgrading from my Harmon/Karden AVR500
I have a set of Klipche Cornwall II's at 101 db sensitivity, Klipche center & Biploar surrounds. My listening/viewing room is 30 x 45 with 20 ft vaulted ceilings. Wondering if a subwoofer would be a good idea? Would it make my large Klipche sound better? would I bass manage the lower frequencies away from the large front speakers? & can I individually adjust the volume of the center & surrounds to accomodate for the sensititity coming from the front speakers. The center & surrounds are not nearly as sensitive as the cornwall's. Any idea's would be great. Thanks, Brett

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Welcome to the saloon, Brett.

That's a seriously big listening room -- 1350 square feet and a total volume of probably 20,000+ cubic feet. A subwoofer or two would certainly be much better able to fill such a large space with bass, relieving the Cornwalls of a lot of work at the low end. In a space like that, I'd add a sub and run all five full-range speakers as "small," redirecting the bass from them to the sub. Also, the 950 does include individual trim control for each speaker, so it would be very straightforward to adjust volume of each speaker separately.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

thanks for the response. Large log home I just finished building. wonder if I'd need to get the sub off the heavily carpeted floor or will that be ok? also, do I need to run special cable or can I just use 12 gage copper for the run...probably 35 ft from the component closet?
thanks

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Brett:
Take a look at this thread especially page 2 and 3. Lots of good info on cables. Also, it turned out to be one of the most memorable shootouts in the saloon.
http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/000069.html

thanks for the info...I guess there are plenty of opinions out there eh? Using rg-59 is the same as rg-6 quad or am I missing something? or maybe I don't need the quad shielded cable from the posts I read?
I used 12 gage copper for all the speakers already so maybe I'll just stick with that for my new subwoofer...just ordered a 950/7100 combo with the lft-1 subwoofer! Can't wait to hear the difference from my Harmon/Karden...that avr is outdated...no switching for RGB etc. Thanks for the help...I'll be sure to post after I get the product!

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btw...how do I get to be a "gunslinger" Just buy something? If you guys & gals have ever read the Stephan King Dark Tower books there are some pretty cool characters called Gunslingers in them. thanks


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Gunslingers have posted more than 15 times.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

When do Gonk and Soundhound get Sheriff titles?

Brett, you mean you are going to use RG59 or RG6 IC cable for your subwoofer, right? You know, from 950’s “LEF out” to “in” of your new subwoofer’s amp plate…

Spiker is quite correct -- while it is possible to use speaker wire to connect a powered sub, it is typically preferable to use the sub's line level input and connect it to the pre/pro's subwoofer/LFE output. Doing so will make best use of the 950's bass management options.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

It depends somewhat on the sub and the carpet, but in general the carpet shouldn't be a problem. Even subs with down-firing drivers or ports typically are designed to account for carpets. For example, Outlaw's LFM-1 subwoofer comes with spikes that are used to provide the floor clearance needed by the ports and driver, and SVS's subs (with a few exceptions) all are built on top of base plates with the necessary clearance built in above the plate.



-- An addendum to my earlier post: Gunslingers have posted more than 15 times -- some of us a lot more. Still, we're all equals around here. (Except for Scott & Admin, of course -- gotta give some deference to the hosts. )

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Ok, I get it...The 950 will have a lfe output for that purpose. Don't have any experience with a powered sub yet. But I did buy a Outlaw LFM-1 presently being shipped. Thanks for the info...


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On a slightly different thread, I'm considering the 950/7100 combo but my speakers are rated 4 ohm, 80 watts max program. Will my speakers be compatible with the 7100? Or is the 100 watts too powerful?

Welcome Clawton,

In my judgment, the 7100 is not overkill for speakers rated for 80 watts. As odd as it may seem to some people, an amplifier output of too few watts is a greater risk to one’s loudspeakers. Reasons:

If, in your case, you drove your speakers with a 50 watts-per-channel amplifier and one day decided to ‘take things to the limit,’ before you would hear distortion based on loudspeaker limits, you would reach the amplifier’s power supply limits and be firmly into “clipping.” Voltage clipping can send large and erratic signal spikes to your loudspeakers. This type of signal can cause damage to components of passive loudspeaker crossover networks and cause the more sensitive of your drivers, especially tweeters, to receive amounts of current and physical excursions well beyond design parameters. Within a few seconds, and sometimes within a fraction of a second, damage can occur.

Let’s consider a situation where the ratio of power is the opposite. At one time I had a pair of speakers rated at 140 watts peak, 40 watts continuous. These were driven with amplification rated at 100 watts per channel, continuous. If I pushed things to the limit, I could hear performance distortion from the loudspeaker beginning well before any signal clipping. This would allow me to lower the volume before the coil windings of the larger drivers, which are usually more robust than the windings found in tweeters, could rise in temperature sufficiently to cause damage. If I had ignored the distorted sound, perhaps after many seconds or even minutes, I could have burned out a coil, but, in this type of situation, I have the time to react to avoid damage.

The other advantage to having a bit more power in the amplifier than the loudspeaker requires is “headroom.” If there are sharp but acceptable transients in the high frequencies of the signal being amplified, the amplifier handles the transients comfortably and accurately. The loudspeakers may receive a level above their continuous rated power for a few fractions of a second here and there, but the signal does not exceed the peak capacity of any of the loudspeaker components or drivers. Your equipment is relatively safe and at less risk when the amplifier won’t be pushed to it’s absolute limits in order to drive your speakers.

Assuming that they are within your budget, I wouldn’t hesitate to give the 950/7100 combo a try. After all, we wouldn’t want your bank account or credit card to be driven into “clipping,” now would we? It’s just about the same principle. If a watt was a dollar, you could spend $80 out of an available $100 to $165 without problems. Trying to spend $80 out of an available $50 to $75 would be a problem.

I hope this helps.


[This message has been edited by bestbang4thebuck (edited February 14, 2004).]

bestbang4thebuck, thanks for the response. Makes total sense. Ok, I'm sold. Will be upgrading my 1050.