I recently bought Aperion 5.1 Setup.  5 series bookshelf for left and right channels, 5 series center channel, and 4 series bookself for back surrounds, and also a 10" dual sub (not in yet cause its on backorder).  I bought the new Denon 2309CI (100 watts per channel) receiver and hooked up the speakers only , cause like I said i don't have the sub yet, I didn't run the Audyssey auto calibrater yet, but I noticed that I don't get any decent volume until I get to about -6db.  Is that normal?  Just seems like I really have to turn the amp up to get a decent volume level.  Do I need an amp?  And if an amp is the solution to solve this problem does the stand alone amp bypass the amp inside the Denon or does it just add those watts per channel to what the Denon is putting out?  Meaning if the Denon is 100 watts per channel and the stand alone is 200 watts per channel will it just be 200 watts or 300 watts?

Thanks I really like the sound of the Denon with the Aperions I just think it is a little weird that it is not very loud.

Hey there,

Hope I can answer a few of your questions. I notice that you have the 5b's as your left and right. Those speakers sensitivity is at 84db, which is on the low end. The lower the number is on the sensitivity the more power it takes to drive them. For example, a speaker rated at 92db would be significantly louder at -6db volume than a speaker rated at 84db. That does not mean the quality of the speaker is any less, just takes more power. I have the 6b's as my left and right and they are only rated at 82 db. I am currently driving them with an Onkyo tx-sr 875, which is rated at 140 watts per channel. The volume gets loud for me around -15db and I have 30 more db's to still go up. No I don't know a lot about your amp, but some do come with an amp out slot. Your amp will be the new power for the speakers eliminating the reciever while your reciever acts as a preamp decoding all the sound and video formats. Hope this is of some help.

kg2380:

I recently bought Aperion 5.1 Setup.  5 series bookshelf for left and right channels, 5 series center channel, and 4 series bookself for back surrounds, and also a 10" dual sub (not in yet cause its on backorder).  I bought the new Denon 2309CI (100 watts per channel) receiver and hooked up the speakers only , cause like I said i don't have the sub yet, I didn't run the Audyssey auto calibrater yet, but I noticed that I don't get any decent volume until I get to about -6db.  Is that normal?  Just seems like I really have to turn the amp up to get a decent volume level.  Do I need an amp?  And if an amp is the solution to solve this problem does the stand alone amp bypass the amp inside the Denon or does it just add those watts per channel to what the Denon is putting out?  Meaning if the Denon is 100 watts per channel and the stand alone is 200 watts per channel will it just be 200 watts or 300 watts?

 

Thanks I really like the sound of the Denon with the Aperions I just think it is a little weird that it is not very loud.

I don't know your particular amp but my 75 w onkyo pushes my 5B fronts quite loud indeed.  A couple of things to consider.  Room size makes a difference.  When you do get your subs and crossover the 5B at 80 Hz it wil free up the amp a good bit.  Scondly, even if you did not run the auto config you might want to check your settings.  For instance, I can't remember the sensitivity of the 5C off the top of my head (must be slipping) but say it is 86 db and the 5B is 84 db.  You might want to set the highest one as the 0 point and bump the 5B and 4B up 2 db.

As far as a second amp goes, you can never have too much gear, or power.  If your AVR has pre amp outs the new amp will just replace the builtin 100 w for the fronts.  There can be a side effect of this however, a good 2 channel 200 w per amp will probably be of higher quality than the AVR amp and with most AVR systems even though they are rated as 100 w per channel that does not mean they can drive all channels at that level.  By removing the fronts which usually take the most power, the other channels will be better able to cope. 

I must say I don't have any personal experience with Denon so take this with just a little grain of salt, I do know they make fine gear. 

Currently I just have the 5B fronts and an 8D sub.  I use the sub with music as well as movies and the 5B with the correct placement and a sub to free up the bottom end can sound like a much larger speaker!

Cheers