Speakers typically don't "blow" from having a big amp unless you "piledrive" them for an extended period of time. It is typically the reverse situation i.e. "clipping" ( heavy distortion ) of an under-powered amp that brings on speaker damage.
Having said that, it is easy to "smoke" speakers with an amp of this calibre and power capacity. The "big" thing about the Sunfire amps is that they seem to have limitless dynamic range. By that, i mean that they can play louder and louder and never seem to get as "harsh", "gritty" or "compressed" as so many other amps do when being "pushed". As such, you may find yourself listening at higher than average listening levels since it does not seem to be "loud". As i've mentioned in a few prior posts, much of what people think of as being "loud" is nothing more than "distortion" which results in a form of listening fatigue. My experience with this series of amps is that you can listen for extended periods of time with the volume ROARING and not have "ear strain".
As to what speakers you can run, you can look at pretty much anything your heart desires. I say this as that amp can drive just about anything that you throw at it. Just keep in mind that most of the heat that this amp generates comes out of the BOTTOM of the amp. As such, i recommend lifting the amp off the shelf with some type of cone, metal footers, etc... I would NOT use anything that is soft and / or damaged by heat.
If you do end up running speakers that are low impedance and / or a reactive load, your amp will get warm and even hot ( bottom plate ). Even if the amp is getting warm, touching the top as you might with a lot of other amps will somewhat fool you into thinking that it is coasting.
In order to let this amp really do its' thing, you really do need to have it hooked up on its' own 20 amp dedicated line. The standard 2 channel 300 / 600 wpc Sunfire amp can pull 20 amps if you drive it into clipping at 2 ohms. At that point, it will be doing somewhere in the area of 1400 - 1500 wpc. That is, IF you can supply it with enough voltage and current. As such, you have FIVE channels that are rated for 400 / 800 wpc, which would pull even more power. It could do this even if running at higher impedances than 2 ohms and NOT driving it into clipping.
I would make a few other "generic" suggestions. Run balanced cables from the preamp / processor to the amp. I would also try using both the optical ( Toslink ) and coaxial digital inputs from your cd / dvd player into the TG III and see what you like better. Common sense would tell you that the coaxial "should" perform better but i was pleasantly ( and shockingly ) surprised as to just how good Toslink can sound. In some respects, the Toslink actually sounded better than the coaxial that i had been using. Obviously, most of this will vary with the individual components being run and the cables being used. Sean
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Having said that, it is easy to "smoke" speakers with an amp of this calibre and power capacity. The "big" thing about the Sunfire amps is that they seem to have limitless dynamic range. By that, i mean that they can play louder and louder and never seem to get as "harsh", "gritty" or "compressed" as so many other amps do when being "pushed". As such, you may find yourself listening at higher than average listening levels since it does not seem to be "loud". As i've mentioned in a few prior posts, much of what people think of as being "loud" is nothing more than "distortion" which results in a form of listening fatigue. My experience with this series of amps is that you can listen for extended periods of time with the volume ROARING and not have "ear strain".
As to what speakers you can run, you can look at pretty much anything your heart desires. I say this as that amp can drive just about anything that you throw at it. Just keep in mind that most of the heat that this amp generates comes out of the BOTTOM of the amp. As such, i recommend lifting the amp off the shelf with some type of cone, metal footers, etc... I would NOT use anything that is soft and / or damaged by heat.
If you do end up running speakers that are low impedance and / or a reactive load, your amp will get warm and even hot ( bottom plate ). Even if the amp is getting warm, touching the top as you might with a lot of other amps will somewhat fool you into thinking that it is coasting.
In order to let this amp really do its' thing, you really do need to have it hooked up on its' own 20 amp dedicated line. The standard 2 channel 300 / 600 wpc Sunfire amp can pull 20 amps if you drive it into clipping at 2 ohms. At that point, it will be doing somewhere in the area of 1400 - 1500 wpc. That is, IF you can supply it with enough voltage and current. As such, you have FIVE channels that are rated for 400 / 800 wpc, which would pull even more power. It could do this even if running at higher impedances than 2 ohms and NOT driving it into clipping.
I would make a few other "generic" suggestions. Run balanced cables from the preamp / processor to the amp. I would also try using both the optical ( Toslink ) and coaxial digital inputs from your cd / dvd player into the TG III and see what you like better. Common sense would tell you that the coaxial "should" perform better but i was pleasantly ( and shockingly ) surprised as to just how good Toslink can sound. In some respects, the Toslink actually sounded better than the coaxial that i had been using. Obviously, most of this will vary with the individual components being run and the cables being used. Sean
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