I am currently using a Harmond Kardon AVR 7200 receiver with my HT set-up. I would like to start building toward seperates over the next year or so. The HK receiver is rated at 7 x 100 watts per channel and has a pretty good array of surround sound modes and speakers settings. I currently have about $1,000 in my budget that I can spend to move forward with my plan. I would like to use(3) 2200 model amps to power my front and center channel speakers with the AVR receiver powering the side and back surrounds. I have a few questions concerning using the AVR 7200 as my pre-amp processor.

1. First of all does anyone see anything negative with this approach working toward adding seperates?
2. The receiver has pre outs but I do not see that it has a 12V trigger for the amps. Is this a problem?
3. Any problems using the receiver's amps to power the surrounds with the 2200's for the fronts?

Any recommendations would be helpful

1. The closest thing to a "negative" here is the fact that you'll need to add some more amp channels to take care of the surround channels when/if you go to a surround processor later. Otherwise you're fine.

2. The M2200's actually have a "signal sensing" option that will bring them on as soon as they sense a signal on the pre-amp outputs, so the lack of a trigger on the receiver won't be a problem.

3. Nope, no problems - it's actually a fairly common approach used by folks who are moving into separates.

Thanks for the reply Gonk. There is one more issue I need your help on. My HT room's power is supplied with one 20A circuit. All of my electrical equipment is on the line including (2) 350 amp subs. I have all manuals for by components. Is there a real world formula that can be used to convert total power consumption in watts to determine if one 20A circuit is OK? To give you an idea on the components:

(1) HK AVR 7 x 100W
(3) Outlaw M2200's
(2) 350W 12" Dayton subs
(1) Dish HD receiver
(1) 200CD Kenwood changer
(1) Sony DVD player
(1) 56" HD TV

Many equipment nameplates list maximum consumption in watts, which can be divided by 120V to get an amp draw. Or, to look at it another way, a 20A circuit can provide up to 2400W. The key here, however, is to recognize what the actual electrical consumption is going to be for your equipment. For example, my entire system is fed from a 15A circuit. That's a 32" CRT HDTV, two Model 200's, a Model 7500, a Model 990, an LFM-1 sub, two DVD players, a DVD recorder, an HD cable box, an old VCR, and a Roku Labs SoundBridge. If I added up all the nameplates, I'd end up around 4000W or 5000W on a circuit that can do at most 1800W. The actual consumption of devices, particularly amplifiers, is dependent on the material being played, and many people who actual have amp meters on systems comparable to mine report the real-world draw to hover anywhere from 3A to perhaps 8A. You should be fine putting everything on that one circuit.

My system, 50SXRD, DVD, Receiver, Monster 3250, 3 M200s, EP500 sub, only draws 6 amps when screaming!

I have now been approved for 12 months no interest no payments which changes my thinking a little.

Orginally I was thinking about adding 3 x 2200's to my existing set up within my $1,000 budget range. Now that I have more time to pay for things, I would like to look at purchasing the 970/7125 combo. Before I jump into placing this order I have some concerns about the 970/7125 vs. my exisitng HK AVR 7200 receiver.The HK is rated at 7 x100W (High current at 8 ohms). Having very little knowledge about seperates vs. HT receivers can some educate me on the features and benefits of seperates, and amp power. At first I was orginally thinking about going with the 200W amp but with (2) 12" 350W subs also working do I really need that much power in a 15 ft. x 25 ft. room with a 8ft ceiling? I am also not looking for just loud sound but high quality sound that I hope the seperates will bring. I guess you can see that I am trying to justify spending $1,600.

One of the biggest benefits of separate amps is the greater space available for a large power supply and better heat dissipation. A significant side-effect of this is the ability for separate amps to drive lower-impedance loads much more effectively than typical receivers are capable of. The 7125 will handle 4 ohm loads that the HK would really start to choke on. Whether there would be a benefit of the extra power depends on the speakers you're using to a degree - what speakers do you have?

Jamesgang4 wrote:

but with (2) 12" 350W subs

Actually those subs appear to be powered subs, thus the amp you get is irrelevant with respect to the subs.

In a discussion with Scott @ Outlaw we discussed separate Mono's vs. multichannel. I was considering a stack of mono's. He pointed out to me that the power supply for a multi channel allows for more power (hence headroom ?) when other channels are not drawing much....something that can't happen with monos.

Comments?
HTH

Gonk,

I am not't sure I still have the complete spec sheet on all my speakers but I can tell you they are all rated at 8 ohms. The side surrounds may be 6 ohms.

Mains: DCM three way - dome T, 6-1/2" mid and 12" woofer rated in 8 ohms - 200 watts

Center: DCM MTM's - Dome T, (2) 6-1/2" mid / woofers rated in 8 ohms - 150 watts

Side surrounds: Polk Bi/Di poles rated at 6 to 8 ohms - 100 watts (I think these could have 6 ohm rating)

Back surrounds: Polk in Ceiling rated at 8 ohms -100 watts.

The reason I asked the question about having (2) 350W 12' powered sub it that the processor's crossover point would be set at 60 to 80 hz. With the bulk of the low frequency being handled by the subs would I need a 200 watt amp.

I doubt that you'd hear an appreciable benefit from the extra power, and the opportunities for any possible benefit will most likely be associated with listening at very high volume levels. At more typical levels, the 7125 would probably not be pushed to the point where the extra power of a 7700 would come into play. If it helps any, remember that Outlaw gives you 30 days to try their stuff out - if you find that you can push the 7125 to its limits and feel that more power is in order, you can ship it back and upgrade to the 7700. I suspect, though, that you'd probably be quite content with the 7125.