Question Best way to power 7.1.4 Denon AVR-X4500H

htliam

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I have an old Marantz PM66 KI Signature sitting idle that I was going to use to drive the front speakers, will this be a good combo?

I was then wondering would it be better to buy a three channel power amp to drive the fronts and centre as they are matched. If so, which one to buy?

Any advice on any aspect of this is very appreciated! 😄

--Liam.
 
I don't think the Marantz has a HT by-pass facility. You can certainly connect the receiver from it's pre-outs to a line-in on the Marantz but you would have to balance the volume of both units. Easy enough to mark a rough position on the Marantz's volume knob. This would make a fairly good solution especially if you wish to have a better stereo music option for your music sources.

If music is unimportant then a three channel power amp would be far easier to use.
 
Thanks Gibbsy, music is important so that makes my decision easier and also free! Good info on matching them, hadn't thought about that.

I guess I could run Audyssey with just the Denon then hook up the Marantz and run it tweaking until I get the volume corrections the same?
 
It would be best to run Audyssey with the stereo amp connected. Before running Audyssey, get the speaker levels matched as close as you can by using an SPL meter or app, so the speakers connected to the stereo amp and the speakers connected to the AVR are as close as possible in volume level. Then mark that spot on the volume dial of the stereo amp, and always have it set there when using the AVR.

If you use the stereo amp to listen to music via a different input, you might need to turn t that volume down first, if it's too loud you could risk damaging your speakers.
 
As above. It's balancing the sound so that you don't damage your speakers from different sources, music is always going to be lounder than film or TV so you have to turn the Marantz down for music. The Marantz is a lovely amp
 
Just to close off the thread, turns out this is not an option for me. My fronts are 6 ohm and the back of the Marantz says to only connect 8-16 ohm speakers. Currently using it to power my rear height speakers until I can get a suitable amp for the fronts.
 
THe impedance rating is cumulative, meaning the sum total impedance impose by both speakers. You can happlilly use the amp to power 4 to 8 ohm speakers without issue. Marantz even give power ratings for both 4 ohm and 8 ohm speakers.

Even if not the case, speakers are rated with nominal impedance that varies dependant upon the frequencies being dealt with. It is doubtdul that you'd experience much difference in load on the amp relative to speakers rated with a 6 or a 8 ohm nominal impedance rating?
 
Thank you Dante! I was afraid to hook it up to my speakers in case I damaged something. I had forgotten how detailed that amp is, really delighted that it works with my system.

So that's two things you've done to imporove my HT experience - the crossover settings and now the Marantz. Thank you so much for both, can't belive the difference those two things made.

--Liam.
 

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