# AV receiver maximum volume I can go



## Ka3el (May 28, 2021)

Hi folks,
another noob question from me:
I have these speakers:Q Acoustics 3010i which spec. says
Stereo Amplifier Power: 15 - 75w
AV Receiver (2 ch. driven): 50 - 125 W

Powered with this AVR: AVR-X1600H 7.2ch 4K Ultra HD AV Receiver with 3D Audio and HEOS Built-in® AV Receivers | Denon which spec says


Number of Power Amps7Power Output (8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 0.08% 2ch Drive)80 WPower Output (6 ohm, 1 kHz, 0.7% 2ch Drive)120 WPower Output (6 ohm, 1 kHz, 1% 1ch Drive)145 W



I have set up speaker impedance on AVR to be 6 ohm (altough I could probably set up even 4 ohms but I read i dont need to do it in case I dont see any issues, some even reccomended to keep 8 ohms). Not sure If this seting influence AVR power output or If is driven by real speaker impedance (which is 4-6).

Nevertheless I dont fully understand those power outputs mentioning 1Khz and number of channels driven but I would expect I should be carefull with volume above 50%, but on 50% the sound volume is quite low. I currently have 5.1. connected.

My question is: Is there possible to say what volume on AV receiver I should not go above? 60%, 70%? 80%? Iam worried Icould damage speakers.
Thanks for your answers in advacne!


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## freeagent (May 28, 2021)

I would wait for the speakers to break in first before giving it the beans.. but if they are run in already then let your ears be the judge!

80w 20-20 is not bad if it’s really 20-20. 1khz means they run only 1 frequency.. does music sound like a test tone to you? Me neither. I generally avoid amps that give ratings at 1KHz and also 6 ohm ratings.. because that’s cheating


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## animal007uk (May 28, 2021)

I would leave the amp on it's 8ohm setting as setting it to 6 or 4 won't won't give your more volume in most cases and it puts more load on the amp itself and will heat up faster.

As for the volume, When i had my denon 7.1 amp i also had to turn it up to about 75/80 on the volume to be happy and i think this is normal for most digital surround amps.


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## Ka3el (May 28, 2021)

animal007uk said:


> I would leave the amp on it's 8ohm setting as setting it to 6 or 4 won't won't give your more volume in most cases and it puts more load on the amp itself and will heat up faster.
> 
> As for the volume, When i had my denon 7.1 amp i also had to turn it up to about 75/80 on the volume to be happy and i think this is normal for most digital surround amps.


More load on the amp itself If setting 6 or 4? Isnt that opposite,please? Set up per speaker impedance to protect amp and prevent heating?


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## animal007uk (May 28, 2021)

A *4-ohm* speaker requires more power from an amplifier than an *8-ohm* speaker to produce the same loudness of sound and this is why i say it puts more strain on the amp and makes it heat up more and faster to.


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## Ka3el (May 28, 2021)

freeagent said:


> I would wait for the speakers to break in first before giving it the beans.. but if they are run in already then let your ears be the judge!
> 
> 80w 20-20 is not bad if it’s really 20-20. 1khz means they run only 1 frequency.. does music sound like a test tone to you? Me neither. I generally avoid amps that give ratings at 1KHz and also 6 ohm ratings.. because that’s cheating


Thanks for the reply, yes followoing my ears could also work but have some number would be great


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## animal007uk (May 28, 2021)

I also have 6-ohm speakers but use a stereo amp, i can set my amp to 4ohm by flicking a switch and apart from getting warmer faster and sending more power to my speakers, it is no louder and makes no difference to sound quality so i leave it on 8ohm setting then my amp will auto give out 6-ohm to my speakers anyway due to it's design.

Your speakers nominal ohm is 6 so if you can manually set your amp to 6-ohm then that is technically the optimal thing to do but do not force 4-ohm


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## bug (May 28, 2021)

animal007uk said:


> I also have 6-ohm speakers but use a stereo amp, i can set my amp to 4ohm by flicking a switch and apart from getting warmer faster and sending more power to my speakers, it is no louder and makes no difference to sound quality so i leave it on 8ohm setting then my amp will auto give out 6-ohm to my speakers anyway due to it's design.
> 
> Your speakers nominal ohm is 6 so if you can manually set your amp to 6-ohm then that is technically the optimal thing to do but do not force 4-ohm


Your amp should match the impedance of your speakers. If you switch the impedance only on one end, all you get is an imbalanced system.
Lower impedance speakers are easier to drive, they will sound louder. Try inserting a pair of 600ohm cans in your phone's or laptop's jack and see what happens.


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## Operandi (May 28, 2021)

You are definitely over thinking things.  Basically you should just be able to set it to the nominal ohm rating (6 ohms).  I'm not really sure what "setting" it is really going to do since the amp is going to run at whatever load the speaker presents it but I would give it the benefit of the doubt and assume its doing something useful.  

The 1khz is just where they do their power and distortion tests, 1khz is right in the middle of the response range.  Distortion is kinda high on this amp at 6ohms and they don't give a rating at 4 ohms so that _could _be a problem for the Denon but I doubt it.

If you want to test something maybe just run two of the speakers with music and go as loud as you want.  Play something with some decent bass in it as thats when the speakers will go into the 4ohm range and see how that sounds but you don't have to be "careful", that amp dosn't have enough power to damage those speakers.


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## animal007uk (May 28, 2021)

bug said:


> Your amp should match the impedance of your speakers. If you switch the impedance only on one end, all you get is an imbalanced system.
> Lower impedance speakers are easier to drive, they will sound louder. Try inserting a pair of 600ohm cans in your phone's or laptop's jack and see what happens.


I don't have a laptop and we are talking about amps and speakers not onboard sound or headphones.
I already said my amp matches my speakers to or did you miss that part?
My amp also has a dedicated headphone out jack so if i wished to use headphones i would plug them direct into my amp.


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## Operandi (May 28, 2021)

Ok, so not understanding what this switch could potentially even be for cause I've never seen one a Google search turned up this thread on this very forum.

Short version its not about matching the ohm rating of the speakers to the amp because that makes no sense; either the amp can handle sub 8ohm loads or it cant.  So this switch is basically a current limiter for amps that might clip going into lower ohm ranges but setting it is going to limit your available power if set to anything other than 8ohm so just set it to 8 I guess.


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## Ka3el (May 28, 2021)

Operandi said:


> but you don't have to be "careful", that amp dosn't have enough power to damage those speakers.


That is something i wanted to hear  
Thank You operandi and all for your inputs!


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## animal007uk (May 28, 2021)

Operandi said:


> Ok, so not understanding what this switch could potentially even be for cause I've never seen one a Google search turned up this thread on this very forum.
> 
> Short version its not about matching the ohm rating of the speakers to the amp because that makes no sense; either the amp can handle sub 8ohm loads or it cant.  So this switch is basically a current limiter for amps that might clip going into lower ohm ranges but setting it is going to limit your available power if set to anything other than 8ohm so just set it to 8 I guess.


When you say switch do you mean from my post? If so then here is a pic of my amp with it's ohm switch setting.


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## Operandi (May 28, 2021)

animal007uk said:


> When you say switch do you mean from my post? If so then here is a pic of my amp with it's ohm switch setting.
> View attachment 201974


Yeah, I guess so, though I think the OPs case its software setting in the Denon's menus?  

I only ever used two channel stereo integrated and power amps that have no issues with 4ohm loads so I can't recall ever seeing a switch like that.


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## Ka3el (May 28, 2021)

yep, setting in the menu....just to be clear, even discussion about impedance also important i started thread as I was worried about speaker damage if sending too much power to them


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## bug (May 29, 2021)

animal007uk said:


> I don't have a laptop and we are talking about amps and speakers not onboard sound or headphones.


I was just trying to give you an easy way to test how driving higher impedance results in lower output volume.


animal007uk said:


> I already said my amp matches my speakers to or did you miss that part?


You also said you flip the impedance on your amp, which I assume means the speakers remain at their former impedance. Big no-no.


animal007uk said:


> My amp also has a dedicated headphone out jack so if i wished to use headphones i would plug them direct into my amp.


That will also work, but the effect won't be as obvious. Amps are just better at driving high impedance cans.


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