old speakers vs HTiB Speakers

diduknowthat · 09-13-2007, 08:47 PM

So my parents just purchased the Onkyo HT Sr800 HTiB. I am quite happy with the sound quality except I found the rear surround sound speaker's sound to be a bit thin. So I pulled out some old speakers we had that used to belong to a stereo system. Even though it is only rated for 30 watts (it has 3 driver's, a tweater, a slightly larger one, and a roughly 4-5" driver), it sounds alot better than the 130 watt rated "full range" single 3.something inch driver onkyo rear speakers. Why is this so and is it safe to continue to use this old speaker?

Thanks in advance!

makmillion · 09-13-2007, 11:19 PM

As long as you match the impedance, there shouldn't be a problem using those 30w speakers.

The 130w rating seen on those Onkyo speakers is most likely a max rating.. ignore it, the nominal rating is all that matters, and is probably closer to 50w.

Most HTIB will run 6-8 ohms, so, as I said before, make sure that those rear speakers are matched to the correct impedance of the head unit and you'll be fine =)

PS: The 'slightly larger one' is most likely a mid-range, for reference

.. and those old speakers you're claiming sound better probably sound better because HTIB's aren't generally packaged with the nicest speakers to begin with and/or the built-in crossovers cut and apply the frequencies more accurately on your 'older' pair of speakers.

diduknowthat · 09-14-2007, 12:48 AM

I checked the speaker out again. I really can't find the impedance on it. All I can see on the back is 30watt rating. But right now it's sounding pretty nice. I might have to redo the crossovers as these speakers handled bass pretty well back when we used it as a stereo.

Also, I'm pretty sure the "slightly larger one" isn't a mid-range, when i saw slightly larger, I meant like 1-3/2" drivers

.

diduknowthat · 09-14-2007, 02:03 AM

wait, I found the ohms, it's rated for 6 ohms but my receiver is rated for 8-16 ohms. I usually dont turn my sound anymore than half way up, will I risk damaging my speakers if I keep it?

09-13-2007, 08:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
diduknowthat formerly liuliuboy Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Massachusetts Age: 17 Posts: 6,460	old speakers vs HTiB Speakers So my parents just purchased the Onkyo HT Sr800 HTiB. I am quite happy with the sound quality except I found the rear surround sound speaker's sound to be a bit thin. So I pulled out some old speakers we had that used to belong to a stereo system. Even though it is only rated for 30 watts (it has 3 driver's, a tweater, a slightly larger one, and a roughly 4-5" driver), it sounds alot better than the 130 watt rated "full range" single 3.something inch driver onkyo rear speakers. Why is this so and is it safe to continue to use this old speaker? Thanks in advance! __________________ Dell Latitude XT Convertible Tablet Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 1.2ghz CPU 3GB DDR2 677 Memory 120GB 1.8" PATA Hard Drive ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 Graphics 12.1" WXGA LED Touch Screen N-Trig Capacitive Touch/Active Digitizer

09-13-2007, 11:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
makmillion Platinum Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: ~/.mak/ Posts: 775	As long as you match the impedance, there shouldn't be a problem using those 30w speakers. The 130w rating seen on those Onkyo speakers is most likely a max rating.. ignore it, the nominal rating is all that matters, and is probably closer to 50w. Most HTIB will run 6-8 ohms, so, as I said before, make sure that those rear speakers are matched to the correct impedance of the head unit and you'll be fine =) PS: The 'slightly larger one' is most likely a mid-range, for reference .. and those old speakers you're claiming sound better probably sound better because HTIB's aren't generally packaged with the nicest speakers to begin with and/or the built-in crossovers cut and apply the frequencies more accurately on your 'older' pair of speakers. __________________ Mainboard: MSI K9NBPM2-FID CPU: AMD x2 3800+ RAM: Kingston / 5GB (2GB + 2GB + 512MB + 512MB @ 4-4-4-12) Video Card: evga 7600GT (256MB GDDR3) HDD: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200.10 (16MB Cache) x2 Optical: LG H41N + LG H44L Case: Xclio 188A (Black/Blue) OS: XP Pro Display: Acer AL2016W Audio: Logitech x-230 (Arrived - man these things rock!)

09-14-2007, 12:48 AM	#3 (permalink)
diduknowthat formerly liuliuboy Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Massachusetts Age: 17 Posts: 6,460	I checked the speaker out again. I really can't find the impedance on it. All I can see on the back is 30watt rating. But right now it's sounding pretty nice. I might have to redo the crossovers as these speakers handled bass pretty well back when we used it as a stereo. Also, I'm pretty sure the "slightly larger one" isn't a mid-range, when i saw slightly larger, I meant like 1-3/2" drivers . __________________ Dell Latitude XT Convertible Tablet Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 1.2ghz CPU 3GB DDR2 677 Memory 120GB 1.8" PATA Hard Drive ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 Graphics 12.1" WXGA LED Touch Screen N-Trig Capacitive Touch/Active Digitizer

09-14-2007, 02:03 AM	#4 (permalink)
diduknowthat formerly liuliuboy Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Massachusetts Age: 17 Posts: 6,460	wait, I found the ohms, it's rated for 6 ohms but my receiver is rated for 8-16 ohms. I usually dont turn my sound anymore than half way up, will I risk damaging my speakers if I keep it? __________________ Dell Latitude XT Convertible Tablet Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 1.2ghz CPU 3GB DDR2 677 Memory 120GB 1.8" PATA Hard Drive ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 Graphics 12.1" WXGA LED Touch Screen N-Trig Capacitive Touch/Active Digitizer

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