Re: Yamaha vs Pioneer vs Harman Kardon



ScottW said:

What "High Current" is high current? or How high is high enough to have
good quality sound? Is the Yamaha I mention a "High Current" receiver?
Where in the spec can I find this "High Current" information?

Typically the way to determine if an amp really has high current
capability is its power output will double as the load impedance halves
down to something below 4 ohms.

That's an oversimplification. I doubt any receiver on the market
achieves a doubling of power when the impedance drops to half the
nominal.

As far as Georges comments that the bigger receivers have more robust
power supplies, I think that can be deceiving as the gadgetry they add
can significantly complicate power supply design for things like self
calibration without having any real impact to the amplifier sections
performance.

If that were true, wouldn't such miscalibrations be easily audible in
Normal listening?

The value of a "high current" amp is quite dependent on your speakers.
Some say they can read a spec sheet and determine if an amp will be
overmatched by a given set of speakers. That claim presupposes that the
spec sheet is accurate for real-world performance, which some are not.
(Especially cheesy brands like Pioneer and, some say, H-K.) The specs
published by speaker manufacturers are more likely to be realistic. The
factors that would cause speakers to overtax an amplifier are efficiency
and sensitivity. If the nominal sensitivity is listed at 90 dB or above,
and the efficiency is 8 ohms (nominal) with a minimum of 4 ohms, any
receiver can handle them. And even if the sensitivity is a little lower,
you'll probably be OK unless you want to really crank them. That doesn't
mean the speakers would sound the same with every box, though.

I would never make a serious investment without a trial. It sounds like
you know even less about electronics than most of us, including me, so
if you're really worried about performance, try getting some info from
the manufacturer of your speakers.

I can say that when they pack all those channels and
features into only a slightly larger box, they can get quite warm which
will impact reliability.

That might or might not be a reasonable assumption. I once owned a hefty
receiver with lots of features and great big power supplies, but it
never got hot. Not too hot to touch, anyway. So your assumption about
reliability leaves a big gray area when it comes to "quite warm".



--
A day without Krooger is like a day without arsenic.
.

Relevant Pages

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