Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo The Audiobytes are here!

But are you not getting more power from the reciever than 90 watts seeing the M80s are 4 ohm. It should be in the 135 range I would say.

It may even be more than 135W actually. I should have measured between +3 and +9 below to establish the maximum amount of "clean" power. I was getting worried though that I would damage the 80s so I tried to limit the tests.

But even if it was 200 clean watts, that only gives me 6dB of headroom. And like I said, I wasn't really satisfied with a -2 level for those types of recordings.

Come to think of it now, maybe an A1400 is just barely enough for one channel .

My receiver is 130W with 250W of headroom, BTW!

I listen normally (when neighboors are not there) so that sustained fortissimo peeks are (it varies with recordings) between 96-102db, measured (-8db on receiver and with system configured so that 0db is Dolby cinema reference), with pianissimo at 55db and below, and "regular forte" (most frequent volume) at about 80-85db. I also borrowed from my neighboor a professional SPL meter (he used to work in recording studios and could borrow one for me) that is better for peaks. So, for sustained 100db, I was measuring frequent peaks of 110db. I also regularly (more for fun) put it at 0db and all my measures are moving by 8db (meaning that the amp has not hit any walls). But it gets a tiny bit LOUD (but not distortion-induced loudness, of course).

So, altough I want to go at some point (maybe soon with the pre-order rebate coming from my purchase of recently issued product line that would knock a goof 500$ off A1400-8), I am not currently in a bad shape, for from it. That was my two-year planned (before the A1400 existed)... that might be accelerated...

Hint to Axiom: Since that amp is very efficient (90%), they should call it a "green amp" and win over all ecologically conscious person out there!

I have several amps/receivers lying around the house. A pair of Bryston 4BSSTs, a pair of McIntosh MC2102s, an Outlaw 770 plus receivers by Sansui, Sherwood and Harmon Kardon.

Then my question will become:
Are the improvements you noticed with the A1400 only when compared with integrated amps or also compared with other separates?

So far I have only compared them with separate amps. All the separate pre-pros/amps in any combination sound better than the receivers. My current pres are a McIntosh c-220 and an Arcam AVP700.

The only receiver that comes close to the separates in performance is a vintage Sansui DB9090 which I bought new in 1978 and has a 125wpc amp inside. It was a huge 60lb flagship stereo receiver which has been going problem free since I bought it in 1978. Sansui was one of the top audio companies of that period and built its reputation on its quality amplifiers.

Thanks for the info.

Eric,

How do you figure that your Onkyo has 250W of headroom? Help me understand please.

My problem is that I don't like pianissimo at 55dB. I like it around 75dB. So that raises the bar for my amp compared to yours by 20dB! As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, 55 to 60dB is the ambient noise in my room. Maybe that's why I like it turned up for these quiet passages.

The wider the DBs between the quietest and loudest parts of the recording, the more you need reserve power to accurately and cleanly reproduce the recording at any given volume.

Your welcome Eric. Anytime.

Documentation and tests in reviews (in some places, they actually drove the 805 for a 4Ohm load at 270W, one channel at a time). Here is a link to one (I never bothered finding the other references back, this one is getting handy) http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_14_3/onkyo-tx-sr805-receiver-9-2006-part-5.html.

Yes, ambient noise can be a huge problem. 75db for pianissimo is actually a bit loud (you have to consider the composer's intention too! ). 75db for "piano" makes more sense (that is what I have in my place). We would need a recording we both have to make sure we are talking about the same thing!