Noob from Colorado

[14er]

Hello All,

I just recently decided that my new passion is going to be building a solid sound system/home theater. I have started with buying a pair Sierra towers w/ RAAL (on their way), and these will be the foundation. Next comes the Horizon and then some surround Sierra 1's, and it seems from this message board that the Rhythmik sub is the way to go.

I am looking for any recommendations on A/V Receivers and the best way to power these bad boys. The ohm conundrum has me worried that I will not get the correct power plant to push 4 ohms properly. Should I do a A/V processor to power amp config or is there a receiver that will give me enough juice? DTS:X seems to be a must have, Atmos maybe down the line (if Ascend makes an atmos speaker that fits on top of their tower )

I definitely like to listen to music as loud as possible and mostly in a 2.1 or a 3.1 configuration.

I would appreciate any advice given and look forward to maybe adding something to this community. Thanks for the awesome product, Dave.

[Mag_Neato]

Welcome to the Ascend club!

If "as loud as possible" is your motto, pick up a dedicated amp with enough power to give you that without fear of running out of power reserves. The Ascends are very easy loads to drive with just about any decent amp/AVR, but loud=watts.

Pair that up with either a Pre-pro or AVR with suitable preouts.

[curtis]

Also remember, to gain 3db of extra output, it takes a doubling of wattage.

[14er]

Thanks for responding.

I was thinking of using an Emotiva XPA-3 for the fronts and center, since that is what I usually crank up, and the posts from the AVR to power the surrounds.

Should I find products that state the 4 ohm load or is this a bunch of mularkey? What is a good rule of thumb for powering the towers as far as watts needed at the source?

[14er]

oops

[14er]

Also remember, to gain 3db of extra output, it takes a doubling of wattage.

I was too slow.

So it takes a 400 watt per channel amp at 4 ohms to be sure I have enough power?

[Mag_Neato]

I was too slow.

So it takes a 400 watt per channel amp at 4 ohms to be sure I have enough power?

Relative to what? 400 watts will gain you 3db more output vs. 200 watts, but what is your baseline? How loudly do you listen.......have you used an SPL meter to check?

There are formulas to calculate the required power to achieve specific sound pressure levels based on speaker efficiency, ohms, room size, distance to listening position, etc. I do not have these but you can probably google it.

[14er]

Relative to what? 400 watts will gain you 3db more output vs. 200 watts, but what is your baseline? How loudly do you listen.......have you used an SPL meter to check?

There are formulas to calculate the required power to achieve specific sound pressure levels based on speaker efficiency, ohms, room size, distance to listening position, etc. I do not have these but you can probably google it.

I just want to make sure I am not under powering or over powering and getting the most out of them I can. I have a clean slate and want to make all the correct decisions with my money. If I am off to a bad start feel free to point me where I need to go.

I am ignorant on a lot of topics here and I don't want to bother the audiophile elite but I have tried searching the internet and opinions vary drastically. Is there some literature that would help, I know this is sort of a fast changing technology but sound is sound. Otherwise I will search threads here and ask questions until they go unanswered.

If there is a thread(s) here that cover most of these topics maybe someone can put up some links to help.

Thanks in advance. I love this place.

[Mag_Neato]

Ask away. The only dumb question is the ones you don't ask.

Bottom line: Buy as much power as you can afford. Better to have some left on tap then to max it out and still want more output.

Along with Emotiva, check out Outlaw Audio. They make stout amplifiers.

[davef]

I was too slow.

So it takes a 400 watt per channel amp at 4 ohms to be sure I have enough power?

Hi 14er -- Sierra Towers are not 4 ohm speakers. Minimum impedance is just that, the minimum impedance. You should be looking at average or nominal impedance. 8 ohm nominal speakers typically dip as low as 4 ohms. 4 ohm speakers typically dip as low as 3 ohms, sometimes even lower.

We are here to help so please feel free to give us a call or send me a PM.

Thanks!