I'm confused

Do you have a subwoofer? Let me know I have a few ideas pending that answer.

Per 4)WPC channel matching I have no idea what you are talking about here. Their are reasons why some match better than others, generally with the level of gear your into you need not concern yourself with that mess.

Yea, more I learn the more I get confused.

Marty

I looked briefly and could not find the impedance of your speakers. Please check and post for us-8 ohms, 6 ohms, 4 ohms?

Double check your settings and be sure the speakers are set to "small". Make sure you are dumping as much as possible to the subwoofer. Downside here is your subwoofer will get overloaded, big time. A subwoofer capable of handling all your lower frequency needs is a great place to start. The low frequency range uses the vast majority of you receivers available power.

Turn off all the "loudness" buttons, built in eq's ect. These things can do major damage.

I have some confusion on the 5.1/7.1 details of your system. Honestly, physically remove the extra two speakers and start with a 5.1 system. For your room size this is especially important. I am not big on 7.1/6.1 for a few reasons, others have stated reasons in this tread. Currently I have all the gear to run these setup and choose not to. Removing these speakers will free up power for you receiver. Don't leave the speakers in this room, unused speakers do really weird things to the acoustics of the room.

Most cost effective solution-find a different hobby. Only joking. A three channel amp for the front three is the best place to start in my opinion.

The first place to start is to understand why an amplifier clips. Simplistically I believe the answer is the unit runs out of power. The straight truth here is the Denon is a very small unit. This is a given truth with any receiver. True, some on the largest models will "rock", but for the price one can do better.

A dedicated outlet/line is a line that runs directly from the circuit breaker to the outlet you plug things into. One always needs to install/have installed these lines. Finding out which outlets are on which lines and not plugging anything but HT gear helps, but is not dedicated. Not having the fridge/window ac on these same circuits is a big plus.

I seems from your original post you are willing to spend a few bucks. If want to crank thing up, start with separate amplification. If your looking for all the minor details in movies, sound separation ect. start looking at a dedicated processor(Outlaw mention). Your current Denon will perform all these functions currently, just not the amplification to suit your needs.

The power clean up posts are very valid, I just don't think your at this point. I think you have reached the available power limits on your Denon and are wanting more.

Good luck,
Marty

Large/Small: A "Large" speaker is one which receives a full range of sound, 32Hz to 20Khz basically. A "Small" speaker setting is one in which the pre amp/processor routes the low frequencies, say 80Hz and below to the subwoofer. This is a ball park guesestimate, others please correct if totally off base, but I think the vast majority of the receivers available power(75%) is used to create the low frequencies, ~80Hz and below.

With your setup I see a few problems. One, you have a subwoofer, let it do it's job with the low frequencies. Two, your receiver is simply not capable of creating these low frequencies at the volume level you desire. Also creating these frequencies from both your subwoofer and main speakers does really weird/bad things. What can happen is the two can cancel each other out. So all this hard works ends up being canceled out by the time the sound reaches your ear.

Think of it this way, your subwoofer has a built in amplifier just to these low frequencies(150watt) and your are also trying to do these plus everything else with it's built in 90 watt amplifier, 5 times over. NOTE:You subwoofer will have it's limits, I guessing these limits will be below your desires(next thread..:).

Power coordinators-I'm all for power conditioners. Given this situation I would advise you forget about this and focus on the core components. Amps/subs/speakers/processors. If the power at your wall is fairly clean, power conditioners will have a much lesser effect. How do we know if the power is clean/dirty...still have not figured this one out. Did a thread on this and was left thinking I should just call NASA. IT all comes down to trail and error with power conditioners.

If your serious about working on the power issue I strongly suggest installing/having installed a dedicated line or two. Dollar for dollar I have yet to find a tweak that improved my personal system as much. Some people can hear grass grow, I can't. I heard a big improvement when I did this one. Plus the cost can be far less than most power conditioners. Don't be afraid to try your system with out any power conditioners, you might be surprised.

Separates: I think most people can hear a large improvement. Just an opinion. Plus you can upgrade only the component(processor/amp) you desire instead of being forced to upgrade both at once. It's funny, if you look into your receiver you will see a big transformer, big heavy metal thingy plus all the other circuitry. In a stand alone amp, that is all thats in the box, and it takes up the whole box.

Outlaw: I have never heard this gear. No clue, everybody seems to give high praise here on the web about this gear. I think they have a return policy, I assume your stuck paying to ship it at least one direction if not two.

8 ohms=good for receiver.

Marty

Gunbei- I just stated 80Hz as a place to start. Keep things simple, less confusion for this specific instance. Reality here is crossing at 120Hz or higher might be the best idea. I don't know if the Denon receiver in this thread has these options. If the manual says by setting the speakers to small means they will be crossed at 80Hz by default I just thought this would make more sense.

Buscis2- Interesting statements on the power issues. In my opinion you could plug this receiver into the site of a nuclear power plant and still come up lacking. It is a very small receiver in all aspects. I'm not sure how much one can ask of this receiver.

Marty

Please take my remark "Pick another hobby," with a large pile of salt.

Really what I meant is some people are perfectly fine with most any given gear(they are not reading this...) and, myself at least, find the limits of my gear and try to learn why the gear has limits/causes of such limits and how to increase such limits.

To follow this tricky road leads to one end point, a new piece of equiment. Equiment cost money, sometimes a great deal of money. The best I can do is to try and spend my money wisely.

I knew your thread was coming, things not sounding good. Please try the "flat" settings for a week. The human ear/mind has a great ability to adjust. The settings you had were "correct". Right now you are use to listening to a majorly inflated/hyped up soundstage.

" The left main speaker popped twice quickly during the heavy bass"

I have been meaning to say something about clipping. Clipping is way, way bad. This is how equiment dies.

Best of Luck,

Marty

Ahh, 2 ch is easier. Less channels..:)Cheaper also.

Just goofing around.

Marty