Will Pioneer VSX-920 give enough oomph to power Dali Suite 2.8 speakers?

They are a difficult load to drive at 4 ohms...might be worth looking at something with a little more 'ooommph'

I had thought the same, although I would be using 4 of the 7.1 channels for the front left and right speakers which would help, and I can't imagine the load on the rear speakers would be too much for the Pioneer to handle, at least I would hope not...

The price is the big thing that is drawing me in and I think I will find that more oomph comes at a far greater price tag... 

Here's the point where I realise that the price of £299.95 "includes £100 voucher from Pioneer", ahh ******! Still a good price but not the £200 amp I had thought it was... Oh well, never mind...

dougolada:

Here's the point where I realise that the price of £299.95 "includes £100 voucher from Pioneer", ahh ******! Still a good price but not the £200 amp I had thought it was... Oh well, never mind...

Your speakers will definitely benefit more from better quality amplification.

There are excellent deals to be had in the used-market for higher-end amps.

Agree totally with Ronald.

What would you suggest would be a suitable amp to get the best from my speakers?

dougolada:

What would you suggest would be a suitable amp to get the best from my speakers?

It all depends on the sound that you prefer. But something along the likes of at least a Denon AVR-2310, Onkyo TX-SR805/806/875 should suffice.

The Denon looks very similar to the Pioneer in terms of specs. Would you say it offers more than the Pioneer than simply what is on the spec sheet?

Personally, I'd look at a used Yamaha DSPZ7 to get the best from them.

The Yamaha is less powerful at 140W at 8 ohms, than the originally mentioned Pioneer. Does this mean that you think the Pioneer would be powerful enough for the Dalis?

Hi, don't go too much on manufacturers quoted power outputs. Something like the Yamaha mentioned above will have vast reserves of current to drive a hard load like the Dalis

grdunn123:

Hi, don't go too much on manufacturers quoted power outputs. Something like the Yamaha mentioned above will have vast reserves of current to drive a hard load like the Dalis

I totally agree, I had a 920, quoted at 140w @ 8ohms, I now have a yamaha RXV1067 rated at 105w @ 8ohms, and I can tell you for certain the yamaha is much more powerful than my previous pioneer. I think manufacturers measure their outputs in a manner that suits them best.

Do the manufacturers do this to deliberately confuse people??? How is someone with large, hard to drive speakers supposed to match them with an amp when the specs that are stated by the manufacturer would appear to be worthless???

Look at the amount of power that the amp draws from the socket to get an idea of the output power of the amp.
Since an amp only has an efficiency of 50% (80-90% for digital amps), a 120watts/channel amp would need a 1200watt powersupply when used in 5.1. And that comes with a nice pricetag.

Most of the claimed powerratings are measured using a "downhill, wind in the back and full throttle" method. Mostly they measure the poweroutput when only one channel is driven. That way, 120watts is easy to get. If you're lucky it was measured in stereo mode. I only know two brands that measure poweroutput when 5 channels are driven: Harman Kardon and NAD. And Nad powersupplies aren't the best because they only get the same wattage at 8 and 4 ohms (power should double everytime the impedance is devided by 2). And most home cinema amps have a built in security circuit that limits the power when 4ohm speakers are connected.

So forget about the powerspecs a manufacturer states. Search for an amp with a hefty powersupply and try to get a home demo. That's the only way to make sure it can drive your speakers.

Thanks Kevin, that makes a lot of sense

Looking back at the amp spec sheets that initially looked very similar in terms of power output, I am now seeing the difference in terms of power consumption and it all becomes very clear...

Pioneer VSX-920 power consumption: 245W  power output 140WPC at 6 ohms

Denon AVR-2311 power consumption: 600W   power output 135WPC at 6 ohms

Initially I assumed that the Pioneer would pip the Denon for power with an extra 5WPC but the power consumption of the amps tells a very different story! 

Thanks again for the advice, it all makes a lot more sense now