recommendations for new source speakers?

[jmf1218]

Hi all-

First time posting here. I apologize if perhaps a better home for this post is the OffTopic thread. Wasn't sure. I'm relatively new to the HT world - I've been browsing avsforum & this site for a while and figured I'd try to utilize the expertise of some of the knowledgable members that post here. I'm in the process of putting together my first system & was blown away by the clarity of the Source's (for the price) when I heard them.

I ended up picking up a pair of ML Source's for a great price last week. (They're in their boxes back home while I'm out of town for Christmas - can't wait to get to them) I also picked up a Denon AVR 3310 on clearance a few weeks back. I have a few things I wanted to ask regarding the general setup I'm aiming for.

First - impedance issues. I understand my receiver will only output at 6 ohms for the front speakers, and the ML's are 4 ohms. I've read several posts that recommend adding an external amp (which is my plan), however I've just exhausted my funds in picking up the equipment listed above. I'm wondering if it is possible that I run the ML's using just the 3310 for a few months until I can afford adding an external amp.. I don't want to end up damaging the receiver.

On the external amp - I'm in the process of researching some candidate amps... My budget on this I think would probably be <$1k if possible. I really like the sound of tubes, but upon reading the post on tube amps, I realize it is perhaps not ideal for HT. Ultimately, It'd be nice to run 2-channel music with a tube, and have a 2 - 5 channel amp for HT. I've heard emotiva is decent for my price range? I'll be using the setup primarily for music... maybe 75/25. If I end up using a 5-channel amp, I'm almost wondering if I should have gone with a Pioneer for what I've heard is a better GUI (plus I'm an Apple guy). The slightly higher sound quality is what drew me to Denon, however if I can't drive 4 ohm speakers..

I also wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations on speaker cable. I've been browsing http://www.usedcable.com/ and had Cardas recommended to me by someone quite knowledgable. Just don't know if they're in budget. I obviously don't want to purchase anything that will be a limiting factor in my setup, however I don't want to spend a ton of money on the cables if the rest of my setup is really entry-level.

Thanks again, I know the post is quite scattered but I have a myriad of questions upon reading all that I have. Your responses are very appreciated.

 

[churchill]

First off, welcome to the club!

The Denon should be OK as long as you don't overdrive it.

A few folks here use the Sunfire amps with success. If you don't mind buying used (Audiogon) you can pick up those amps for 1k or less.

Good budget cables include Signal Cable, Blue Jean Cable, Anti-Cable and Kimber Kable 4TC.

 

[tsv_1]

First off, welcome to the club!

The Denon should be OK as long as you don't overdrive it.

A few folks here use the Sunfire amps with success. If you don't mind buying used (Audiogon) you can pick up those amps for 1k or less.

Good budget cables include Signal Cable, Blue Jean Cable, Anti-Cable and Kimber Kable 4TC.

Yes Welcome! You can also find good pricing on great cables from Morrow Audio. Try their used/demo section too.

 

[jmf1218]

Thank you both for your responses and the warm welcome! Look forward to spending more time on the boards in the future.

I will look into the sunfire/audiogon for the external amp as well as the cables you've specified. What levels would you consider to be 'overdriving' the amp?

Also, what is a reasonable $ amount to put into speaker cable (most likely used) If I've got about $300 into the denon, $1350 into the speakers, want to leave about $1k for the amp. As I said, just want to make sure it's on par with the other components. I'm familiar with the 2/3 speaker to 1/3 amp rule that I've read about - just wasn't sure how much would make sense for the other components...

If I'm looking to stay 2 channel for a while, do you think it would be wiser to buy a nicer 2-channel external amp and let the denon power the other channels, rather than buying a 5-channel external? As I said, I'll be using primarily for music... so I'll probably be putting money into the external amp rather than additional speakers.... although the motion C right now for $200 is rather tempting...Although I would like to do a tube down the road... in that case maybe it makes more sense to do a 5-channel external amp and a 2-channel tube?

Thanks in advance for the recommendations.

 

[tsv_1]

What levels would you consider to be 'overdriving' the amp? .

Most audiophiles tend to write off receivers wrt amplification because there are a slew of receivers out there that deserve to be written off. IMO, Denon rises above most of "that crowd" - and at 120W/ch, frankly, I don't think you have much to worry about. Just resist the temptation to "turn it up to eleven" and you'll be fine for the time being.

Also, what is a reasonable $ amount to put into speaker cable (most likely used) If I've got about $300 into the denon, $1350 into the speakers, want to leave about $1k for the amp. As I said, just want to make sure it's on par with the other components. I'm familiar with the 2/3 speaker to 1/3 amp rule that I've read about - just wasn't sure how much would make sense for the other components...

IMO, no need to be concerned about any cost ratios. There are many quality cables out there for under $100 with great performance. I use a pair of Anti-cables in one of my systems and they've been wonderful. It's easy to get wrapped up in cables in general (pun intended)... but don't let it ruin what you listen to today. Buy a decent pair for $100 or so and enjoy! Later, if you want to experiment with other cables, there are many hundreds to choose from (and at least as many opinions on which ones are best).

If I'm looking to stay 2 channel for a while, do you think it would be wiser to buy a nicer 2-channel external amp and let the denon power the other channels, rather than buying a 5-channel external? As I said, I'll be using primarily for music... so I'll probably be putting money into the external amp rather than additional speakers.... although the motion C right now for $200 is rather tempting...Although I would like to do a tube down the road... in that case maybe it makes more sense to do a 5-channel external amp and a 2-channel tube?

If it were me, I'd probably spring for a separate 2-channel and let the Denon drive the surrounds. The question then becomes "which 2-channel amp?". Well, just like speaker cables, there are a truck-load of options. If you feel really drawn to tubes, you can probably find some good used amps on Audiogon for around a kilobuck, but you never really know how many hours those tubes have seen. Then there's the argument about whether you want to burn up tube hours on home theater activity. Solid State may be a safer direction out of the shoot, and again, there are a ton of options. I prefer mono-blocks because of the fact that each channel has its own dedicated power supply. Others perfer 2-channel amps due to convenience, matching, and other reasons. Monos will tend to cost more than stereo amps, so there is the budget aspect as well. If you are looking for specific amplifier recommendations, you'll get a wide variety from folks here. For the under $1K range, I might look at Outlaw, Emotiva, Red Dragon... for starters anyway.

Good Luck,

-Todd