KEF Centre Speakers

[sriee]

Hi Experts,

I'm currently having KEF Q900 Floor Standing speakers for my left and right speakers. My Centre speaker is Q200c. I bought a 200 w Power Amp, hence, connected my Q900 speakers to the Power Amp . Now I feel,,... I want to connect even my Centre Speaker to the Power Amp , but, my current Q200c cannot be connected to my Power Amp, since its Amp requirement is only 130w max. I checked Q600c, whose Amp req is 150 w max. If I buy a Q600c, then connecting it to my 200w Power Amp might tear it apart since, my Power Amp is way too high( 200w) for my Q600c...

so I am wondering how else can I connect my centre speaker to my 200w Power Amp...I want to do this since, I feel, the dialogue delivery and centre channel music will be more clear and good.

Please advise me ....

Cheers!!!!

 

[efernand1]

Hi

A power amp is typically LEFT and RIGHT...how are you supposed to connect the CENTRE speaker? Can you please provide more details on what is the Home Theatre or Music setup at your place?

I feel then we can possibly assist you in the right direction....

 

[andis]

hi,
you can not connect centre speaker to power amp, for connecting centre speaker you may need avr.
as far as vocal is concern q900 are more than enough, I have experienced q500 about the vocal its great sounding........
so need not to try centre, let floor stdrs deliver their sound
happy listening...
andis

 

[sriee]

Dear Experrts,

I guess, I should have explained the complete setup

I have a Denon AVR, which in turn is connected to the 7 channel-200w each- Power Amp. Left & Right are KEF Q900. These two are connected to the Power Amp. Centre is KEF Q200c. With this Power Amp, as you might know, I can connect all 7 speakers to the Power Amp. As of now, I have connected only the Left & Right since, other speakers are quite small.

Well, the intention of bringing the Centre Speaker is to enhance the movie watching experience, especially when I use the 7.1 speakers or the 5.1 speakers. I felt, if I connect the centre speaker to the Power Amp, the dialogue delivery will be better.

Hope I'm clear enough now interms of my setup.

Cheers!!!

 

[sash]

From what i know, the speaker puts a certain power demand on the amp. Also max power per channel is 200 w, doesn't mean it is always putting out 200w. That is the max it can do. In my opinion you should be easily able to use your existing center channel with your amp.
BTW, which power amp are you using? Emotiva?

 

[sriee]

Thanks Sash...

My Power Amp is Sherbourn PA-7-200 ( 7 Channel 200 w each )
Actually what I thought is that .. if my centre speakers( max 150w) are connected to my 200w power amp, then, when I'm watching a movie at a high volume, then, I'm scared that the power amp might output a higher wattage and hence, the speaker might burst.



Cheers!!!!

 

[john_k_antony]

Sriee,

What I have learnt is that

A. With a High power amp and Low power speakers, your ears will bleed first before the amp fry the speaker

B. With a Low power and a High power speakers, your speaker will get fried much before it reaches to the volume to bleed your ears. I happened to witness this scenario very recently at my home with a low power 105W (may be around 40W/ch with all channels driven) Denon AVR frying my KEF Q300 speakers rated at 120W.

So its always good to have a high power amp driving a low power rated speakers.

My 2 cents.

-John.

 

[k_vijay12]

Sriee,

What I have learnt is that

A. With a High power amp and Low power speakers, your ears will bleed first before the amp fry the speaker

B. With a Low power and a High power speakers, your speaker will get fried much before it reaches to the volume to bleed your ears. I happened to witness this scenario very recently at my home with a low power 105W (may be around 40W/ch with all channels driven) Denon AVR frying my KEF Q300 speakers rated at 120W.

So its always good to have a high power amp driving a low power rated speakers.

My 2 cents.

-John.

@John : I beg to differ... I use a Bang and Olufsen 50ASX2 Module amp to drive KEF Q300. This amp gives output of 22wpc @ 8 ohm and 47wpc @ 4ohm load. I find this setup quiet good for listening to music. I am planning to upgrade to 65wpc stereo amp using the B&O 125ASX2 module for better output since the Q300 are not very sensitive and aren't audible at low volume levels... I learnt from my dad (a rtd Electronics Lecturer) that for a 100W rated speaker, 40-60watt amp shd be good enough, else there is risk of speaker coil blowing off as amp power reaches the speaker rated power. This risk increases when minimum volume on the source is high when we start the amp. Please correct me if i am wrong.

 

[vanfrankgo]

there is risk of speaker coil blowing off as amp power reaches the speaker rated power. This risk increases when minimum volume on the source is high when we start the amp. Please correct me if i am wrong.

 

[k_vijay12]

Sriee,
How are you powering your current center channel ? get an 75-100W monoblock to drive it. This power is more than adequate for a centre channel.

 

[john_k_antony]

@John : I beg to differ... I use a Bang and Olufsen 50ASX2 Module amp to drive KEF Q300. This amp gives output of 22wpc @ 8 ohm and 47wpc @ 4ohm load. I find this setup quiet good for listening to music. I am planning to upgrade to 65wpc stereo amp using the B&O 125ASX2 module for better output since the Q300 are not very sensitive and aren't audible at low volume levels... I learnt from my dad (a rtd Electronics Lecturer) that for a 100W rated speaker, 40-60watt amp shd be good enough, else there is risk of speaker coil blowing off as amp power reaches the speaker rated power. This risk increases when minimum volume on the source is high when we start the amp. Please correct me if i am wrong.

What happened in my case was the relatively low power Denon clipped when I was playing at higher volumes. The clipped Denon burnt my speakers. If I were using a high power amp, it wouldn't have clipped and caused the speakers coil to burn.

That's why I told a high power amp and relatively low power speaker combo will bleed your ears first before the speaker gets fried. The chances of a high power amp getting clipped will be at a very loud volumes. A low power amp will go into clipping at a very early stage and the chances of speaker getting cooked is very high. If you listen to moderate volumes, there is no chance of this happening. I am talking about reference level HT volume levels. The chance of this happening for regular music listening is very low. I mentioned this because OP is using the setup for HT use and dynamics range in a good action packed movie is very wide.

Thanks,
John.