Any amplifier utilized for full-range work must provide substantial power for low frequencies while also providing clean and fast transients for high frequencies. Outlaw amps do this well, likely better than most AVRs.

However, if one wishes to use HDMI audio and/or meaningful electronic adjustment to aid in room correction, one would need something other than an Outlaw product to take on the processing duites.

I think almost any AVR will benefit from some reduction in 'power burden' by at least sending the lowest frequency power demands to a powered subwoofer or separate amp/sub combo; fast transients would not have to ride on top of the largest power fluctuations. If one uses a separate power amp (with or without a subwoofer taking on the lowest frequencies) the power stage of the AVR may still be following the voltage of any non-subwoofer freqencies, but the AVR is not trying to deliver strong current or fast transient changes in current, and the AVR power supplies are practically coasting.

Thanks for the information. I'm still on the fence as far as moving to separates but did have another question re:



Is the 'substantial power for low frequencies' applicable to speakers with a high sensitivity as well? My floorstanders have 10" woofers with a rated sensitivity of 95dB and a power handling rating of 250W...would they benefit from 'substantial' power (i.e. 200W vs 60W)? I use a 60Hz crossover for HT usage, but run them with a full-range signal for stereo listening.

Thanks,
-John

95 db is pretty efficient. Most music does not have content that goes lower than 40 hz so you are probably fine with the power you have for music. HT is another matter. There is usually some content in movies which goes down into the 15-20 hz range which requires a lot more power to move the amount of air. Bear in mind that in doubling the power to a speaker increases output SPL 3 db. Your speakers are capable of 95 db spl at 1 watt. At 60 watts they would be at about 112 db (log2 60 times 3db plus 95db) which is pretty loud. At 200 watts input you would have about 117 db spl. Also bear in mind that these numbers are all lab/ideal numbers and depending on your room you may not get to these levels but it is all scalable to your room. Most of us want big clean sound and in order to get it at the lower HZ we use a subwoofer powered by a separate amp. It provides plenty of LFE and relieves the main amps and speakers from having to supply the power which gives more available power to the mains. IMHO if you are running a receiver with 60 watts per channel and you are using a powered sub with your mains 95 db efficient you have plenty of power.

XenonMan,

Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize the sub-40Hz frequencies required 'gobs of power' regardless of a speaker's rated sensitivity.

The Outlaw 1070 I'm currently using has enough of power for my tastes. I did take some measurements a while ago to see how loud it could play cleanly, I believe it was somewhat in excess of 110dB --- yes I did have ear protection on and it was for a very short period of time So, yes, an honest 60wpc ought to be plenty.

It's good to know that something along the lines of the 7075 amp would be sufficient as well if I go the separates route.

Back to the waiting game...

-John

As a point of reference:
My room is approx 12' x 18'
My Aperions' efficiency is 87dB and present a 4 Ohm load at some frequencies
I'm running a 970/7075 combo and it's more than loud enough although for some sources I get within 10 dB of maxing out the volume knob on the 970.

BTW my sub has a 250Watt plate amp and it's using most of that

Gonk where are you??? Have you given up the forum altogether. We miss your sage advice.

You rang? I haven't given up the forum entirely, but have been struggling to find time to put brain power into the hobby. Some of it is family obligations, and some is work load. Case in point: I'm approaching two months behind schedule getting a review of the BDP-105 written, and my interest in hearing a Model 975 has not been sufficient to lead me to pick one up to tinker with (partly because it wouldn't be able to pair up with the BDP-105's multichannel analog output and partly because I haven't even had time to fix a random IR distribution glitch in the system, much less tackle a SSP change-out).

Gonk, your soul belongs to the gods of AV everywhere. So far the 975 is getting pretty good reviews elsewhere but there seems to be an issue with the maximum volume output in some systems. Not sure if it is a real issue or a setup problem.