[steave-o]

i regularly fry my receivers and amps. i bought a used harman kardon hk 6500 amp and after 4 wks its junk! ive been looking at a pyle pro pt3300 3000 watt peak amp, and a set of pyramid pmbh 18 speaker cabinets with a peak power of 650 watts each. does anyone have any knowledge about either of these and if there a good set to put together? thanx in advance for any kind of advice!... steave-o

 

[tonyvdb]

Welcome aboard Steave,

This depends on your budget, Receivers only have so much power that they can output at one time and depending on the speakers this can be a real challange particularly if the go below 4ohms.
Personally I would stay away from companies like Pyle and they are not good quality and do not put out the watts they say they do without alot of distortion.
If your looking for an inexspencive amp and your receiver has pre outs have a look at the Samson servo line or the Emotiva line as they make good quality amps that wont break the bank.

Enjoy your stay with us at the Shack.

 

[tcarcio]

I agree with Tony on the Pyle pro but if you are going with pro audio gear then you would be better off checking ebay for a Crown, Qsc, or Behringer amp. You will get better quality and the power ratings are much closer to the truth. What is your budget?

 

[steave-o]

i was kinda shying away from the pyle amp due to it low price and total lack of reveiws on it. id like to spend a couple hundred if i could on an amp. all i need is the power from it. im not interested in any receivers per say becuse all my music is on my computer. thanx for the advice on the pyle. do you have any advice on the pyramid pmbh18 speakers? i ask becuse i bought my dcm 10 loud speakers used allso and after i hooked up the harman amp it wasnt to much longer that something actually cought on fire in one of those speakers. so now im looking into dj speakers and a bigger amp to get the sound and volume im looking for.

 

[tonyvdb]

What do you use these speakers for and how large a room do you use them in? Pro DJ speakers always sacrifice quality over volume compared to a good set of floor standers. To get into anything decent in the Pro grade aditorium speakers your looking at big bucks if you want quality.

 

[nova]

Hi Steave,
Welcome to the Shack.

 

[tcarcio]

Here is an example of what to look for on ebay......http://cgi.ebay.com/Crown-Audio-XLS602-Amplifier-Pro-XLS-602_W0QQitemZ290369306859QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item439b5c00eb I bet the guy would take less.

 

[steave-o]

thanx tc! would one of those xls602 be enough to power a pair of 650 watt pyramid cabinet speakers?

 

[steave-o]

there for my living room. im tired of blowing floor speakers and honestly i love to feel my music as well as hear it. the room is about 25ft by 20ft. id rather go overkill than way under. ive replaced to many stereo receivers and amps this year allready.

 

[tonyvdb]

DJ speakers will not work any better, You need to get a good quality receiver or pre pro setup but must be willing to spend some money (over $2000) if your not willing to spend the mony and like it loud it will continue to happen. You need to also consider a good subwoofer to add to the system as this will hepl remove the lows from the mains putting less strain on the speakers.

 

[steave-o]

i never thought about adding a seperate sub. obviously im way new to all of this. i still like those pyramid pmbh18s or the pmbh215s. there both rated at 650watt peak. can i power either pair with the crown xls602 amp? or am i just getting ready to throw away more money and my dead stereo pile thats growing in my closet? and thanx for putting up with my lack of knowledge shackster! steave-o

 

[tonyvdb]

I'll be honist with you I can garentee that the Pyrmid speakers will not handle 650watts. I would not put more than 200watts into each speaker but use a good quality amp or receiver and you will make them sing.

 

[tcarcio]

OK, I think Tony is giving you good advice but I run PA speakers in my HT myself and I am very happy with them. They sound fine but I do have a good reciever with EQ and seperate subwoofers with EQ for them as well. That being said it just depnds on what you are looking for. If you just want to throw something together for fairly cheap money then that Crown will work fine for any speakers that you choose. I also agree with Tony on the sub. If you like alot of bass you really need to add a seperate sub. I run my whole 7.1 system on pro amps and I have the Crown XLS 602 and it is a great amp. I will also say that pro amps have fans that can be noisy but you can replace them with quieter ones and the Crown isn't bad.

 

[steave-o]

hey thanx ah million to both of you! i have a bid on that xls602. well my cuz is going to put it in for me when he gets home. but he brought up another thing i dint think of. ill be running the amp to the speakers but im running my laptop to the amp forthe music. will i also need to buy a receiver to have the juice to go from my laptop to the amp? all of my music is on my laptop. it worked great with my harman amp wich had a volume controle. can i run that crown with just my laptop as its source?

 

[tcarcio]

I do not use a computor in my system so I can't help you there. Hopefully someone will chime in with that knowledge. Good luck on your bidding....

 

[steave-o]

hey thanx alot for all of your help so far! it is greatly appreicated!

 

[tonyvdb]

Using a laptops line/headphone out will work no different than the receiver you did before the only issue is that if you dont have a good soundcard in the laptop the signal may be a bit dirty. Thats not a big issue though and will still work.