AV Receivers and High Current

[Drumingman]

I did some checking around when buying my
Harman Kardon 230 because I wanted the best
"Bang for my Buck".
My receiver high peak currents of 35 Amps when needed.
I contacted Yamaha and Onkyo because they were on
my list as possiblilites, but no one would or could tell
me High Current Outputs.
Whats Yours?

[Willow]

35amps on the 335

[aaharvel]

+/-35 amps on the 235.

[speakergeek]

That number is a dubious value at best, even for H/K.

[Drumingman]

really why?

Prove it

[Tour2ma]

Depends on the test criteria... Current claims are not regulated, so it could be a rating for one-ch and the transfomer has little left for any others.

Strong clue for "fudging" the peak-to-peak rating is: "Is the AVR rated for a 4-ohm speaker load?" These ratings are now regulated. Current limited AVR's bail out at 6-ohms.

And my Peak to peak is around 70 amperes... but then I do not have an AVR so I am DQ'd...

[danger boy]

mine says 3 amps. it's a Marantz

[unc2701]

mine says 3 amps. it's a Marantz

In Nelson from the simpsons voice:

Ha-HA!

Seriously, that's probably your current draw, not Peak to Peak.

[heiney9]

This was just discussed about a week ago. Once in awhile it would be nice if people actually used the search function. Certainly you didn't think you were the first to ever inquire about this.

Peak/Instantaneous current measurements are dubious because as Tour2ma said (and as I have mentioned in the previous thread) there are no uniform criteria for such a rating. Many times the rating means nothing because in theory high instantaneous current can be measured (test tone & very, very low impedence) but in reality you'll never encounter said test situation and so it's moot. For any period of time the AVR could sustain this output (1-2 milliseconds) either protection circuitry will kick in (severly clipping the top of the wave form) or the tranny's will destroy itself. 35 amps certainly is a more realistic number than the 50 amps talked about in the other thread. Basic electronics theory tells me 35 amps is bit on the high side as well, but doable depending on the voltage at the PS rails and the rating of the transformer and PS caps.

See link for more discussion, feel free to comment if you can

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37514&highlight=instantaneous+current

H9

[Drumingman]

See link for more discussion, feel free to comment if you can


That is really nice of you to invite me to comment if I can!

No comment.

[heiney9]

Look...the bottom line is just because company A can print a spec on a piece of paper doesn't make it correct or reflect company A's product performs any better than company B's product. Specs at best are a rough guide and can't always be compared across many other brands as there is no uniform way of obtaining said specs. You made a good choice with H/K regardless of the peak current rating or any other printed spec....They are a solid company that build very nice stuff. The opinion here in the forum is $$$ for $$$ they outperform some of the other brands out there.

H9

[heiney9]

Also since you asked the specs on my Nakamichi reciever: 2 channel receiver

45 watts x 2 into 8 ohms both channels driven 20-20,000 <0.1% THD
80 watts x 2 into 4 ohms both channels driven 20-20,000 <0.1% THD

continuous current capabilities 12A per channel. *going on memory here, read it somewhere, can't remember.

peak current capabilities 20A per channel.

What does this mean......nada really. Why? Becasue I've owned many many receivers over the years with higher power ratings, better distortion ratings, more current capable (all according to printed specs) and the Nak plain sounds better, is able to drive lower impedences better and in some cases will play louder before clipping. So if I just looked at the spec sheet I would have missed out on a very capable, sweet sounding piece of equipment.

This is just an example of why I think listening should always take precedence over looking at a spec sheet.

H9

[Tour2ma]

Yup... 1500+ posts... ;)