Harman Kardon 7300 plus LSi15's

[Lou E.]

I am new to the forum and am in the process of setting up my system. I have just purchased a Harman Kardon AVR 7300 and was seriously considering buying a pair of Polk LSi15 speakers. After reading and hearing about the 8 ohm vrs. 4 ohm possible problems I am concerned that my reciever will not match with these speakers and could cause me some problems down the road with things like heat, etc.
I do like the LSi's but don't want to make a big mistake.
Any suggestions would be appreciated as I am a novice when it comes to these things. Although I want to learn.
Thanks,
Lou

[Dennis Gardner]

Welcom to CP, Lou!

You won't make a mistake buying the big HK if you are needing a great home theater processor that will be used mostly for movies and multichannel music. The 7300 will handle the 4 ohm load of your Lsi 15s okay at reasonable levels, and provide you preamps outputs for future separate amps for them if you choose that route.

On another note, if you really are looking for great 2 channel sound, separate preamp/amp setups will ultimately be a better choice than the big receiver.

This has been my experience with the HK 7200 used with SDA speakers as you are looking at the Lsi line to do. I still use it for movies and SACD/DVD-A usage, but have chosen a tube preamp and big 2 channel solid state amp for strictly 2 channel.

Another thought, if the Faroudja video isn't a major reason for the 7300 purchase, I would buy a HK 635 and separate amp.

Good luck,

Dennis

[Airplay355]

As Dennis said, buy a receiver with a lower power rating, and then get a seperate amp to power the Lsi 15's.

[Toxis]

wait, so what is this poll about? The options don't seem to make much sense.

[aaharvel]

he's already bought the 7300 yeah?
He doesn't know which LSI's to get yeah?

The H/K's got balls- but the 15's are the hardest speakers in the LSI lineup to drive. If you can swing the extra cash- buy the 25's. They have powered subs in their cabinets, not the passive ones like the 15s- therefore the 25's would be easier to drive.

OR... and this is what I would do- if you already have a good sub then by the LSI9's. IMO those are the REAL stars of the LSI lineup- and you'll save money in the process; money that could either go into your pocket or towards a separate amp.

[danger boy]

keep the HK7300 and get the LSI's of your choice. and get an amp. and be done with it.

EVEN IF your HK can power the LSI's of your choice.. they will sound much better with an external amp. :D

[Mazeroth]

Your HK 7300 is FINE for the LSi15s.

What some people fail to understand is power is relevant to speaker output, not necessarily sound quality. For example, to gain 3db in sound output (BARELY audible) you need to double your power. That 7300 was rated at over 200w per channel, 5 channels driven. Yes, you read that right. In order for you to get BARELY more output, you would need to get a 400w/channel amp, that will run you some seriously coinage. Also, 200w is plenty for those speakers, although you *can* feed them more.

I was running my LSi15s off an HK AVR230 (55x6 or 70x2) and it made those speakers sing just fine. Keep your receiver, get the LSi15s (the BEST LSis they make) plug them in, smile, and never look back!

[Airplay355]

Oh ok I understand now. Yea, get the 15's. You can always up grade to a bigger amp later to power them.

I'd have to disagree with mazeroth though. An upgrade would not require a 400 watt amp. I'm sure you could find an amp of comparable or less wattage that would make them sound better.

[Toxis]

Originally posted by Mazeroth
Your HK 7300 is FINE for the LSi15s.

What some people fail to understand is power is relevant to speaker output, not necessarily sound quality. For example, to gain 3db in sound output (BARELY audible) you need to double your power. That 7300 was rated at over 200w per channel, 5 channels driven. Yes, you read that right. In order for you to get BARELY more output, you would need to get a 400w/channel amp, that will run you some seriously coinage. Also, 200w is plenty for those speakers, although you *can* feed them more.

I was running my LSi15s off an HK AVR230 (55x6 or 70x2) and it made those speakers sing just fine. Keep your receiver, get the LSi15s (the BEST LSis they make) plug them in, smile, and never look back!

WHAT? Where do you get your information from? The 7300 is 110w/ch with all channels driven (7, not 5). To say a 230 makes them sing just fine is like saying "I just put a honda SOHC motor in my vette and it runs just as well." Sorry bro, but if that's what you have, you haven't even begun to touch what those speakers are capable of. Stop starving your speakers, get a seperate amp (does the 230 even have preouts?) and really do your speakers justice.

How do I know this you are asking? Well I have a denon 3805 (MUCH more power than a 230) and running my lsi9's off of it (which are easier to drive than the 15's) made them sound fair at best. The RTi6's would probably give me more life to them. When I ran my amp on them.... WHOA NELLY! So THIS is how these puppies are supposed to sound.....MMMMMMMMMMMMM.

[marker]

I don't know about the HK AVR-7300, but I did see where the HK 7200 did spec out to something like 148 watts x 5 in a benchtest somewhere.

[2+2]

those test specs were probably based on 8ohms as well...4ohms should be higher....
HKs make good stuff. When I was running my LSi 15s with the AVR230 which is only like 65 watts in stereo mode, the sound was pretty good...it just couldnt get very loud. I then "upgraded" to a Rotel 1075 which has 120watts/ch....what a disappointment. Only when it was bi-amped did it sound decent. I turned it in for a Rotel 1080 which is 200watts which sounded very good....

[phuz]

Pffffffft. 400 watt amp? Yes it's true that it takes double the continuous wattage for a 3db (VERY audible) increase. Continuous meaning... oh... lets say somewhere between 1 - 4 watts continuous.

The LSi15 efficiency is 88db, so it takes roughly 1 watt of continuous power to get them to 88db. So, for 91db you would need about 2 watts of continuous power, 94db 4 watts, 97db 8watts, etc. The question here should be, does the H/K have enough current to deliver that kind on continuous power at 4, or even 2ohms (which the LSi15 WILL run at if you push them)?

IMHO, get the speakers. You'll love em. The H/K will do "ok," but start thinking about getting a seperate amp.. or two... somewhere down the road.

[Mazeroth]

Toxis,

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/ass...AVR7300lab.pdf

145w x 5 @ 8 ohms. I read somewhere else that it did in the neighborhood of 210wpc @ 4 ohms, 5 channels driven.

That test shows it did 290w STEREO at 4 ohm clipping. Yes, it has some serious balls.

Also, read the first post in this notorious thread I started on AVSForum. The thread is over a year old and still going strong:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=418666

Now, let's wrap up what I'm trying to say. Lou mentioned he already purchased a 7300 and was going to purchase a "pair" of LSi15s. Hooked up to the 7300 he would easily get 250wpc of clean power (when needed) to those speakers, which is more than he'll ever need. The LSi15s are 88db/1 watt efficient. With 250wpc he'll get 98db/4 meters distance, PLENTY loud. Even though the 7300 would be capable of delivering 250wpc (or more), at normal listening levels it would probably need to output no more than 10-15 watts. Only when you have huge dynamics will it need to output more power.

[shiu]

The AVR7300 should be able to handle 4 ohms but I am not sure about the 230. Here's a link to the S&V lab report for the 330. It apparently activated its protection mode after about half a second if asked to produce more than 25W.

[marker]

Agreed about the top dog HK. It can hold it's own with the upper NAD, B&K, and Rotel models when it comes to true power.