which one do i buy??

[gribsy1]

Im looking at an onkyo amp maybe a 706 or a 876 but dont really have a clue which one to get, ill be running 2 B&W 683 floorstanders and 2 B&W 685's at the rear, im planning on hooking up a cd player, and my mixer and decks, not sure how this works but also want surround sound when watching dvds, is this all possible? and could anyone give
me some advise on the best amp to get

[gribsy1]

just been doing some reserch and found out the 706 is 100 watts per channel, and the 683's are rated between 25-200 and the 685's are rated between 25-100 so would giving both sets the 100 watts through the amp be good as the floorstanders would be about half their maximum but the bookshelfs will be bang on their max, if you see what im saying? also could i bridge the floorstanders to give them more? i just really want to know if this system would all be good together before going for it.

[QuantumUK]

If your budget allows for the 876 then go for it as you get far better amplification and video processing on board as well as 2 HDMI outs.

[PsyVision]

I too am interested in the answer to this question.

I have seen some people using an Onkyo 606 to power the 686/685 combo as they are both 100W maximum and the Onkyo outputs at around that.

However, also I like the 683 floorstanders and would then get either 686 or 685 for rears and would like to know if the 806 would power them fine (I can't justify the jump to the 876)? Secondly is there any potential to damage the 686/685s by overpowering them? - I presume only if you turn the volume up too high?

The B&W site has DS3 rears as part of the 683 HT package which are rated at 100W and so I presume that using 685s instead would be okay - I can't use DS3s as I can't wall mount.

[martincwday]

Originally Posted by gribsy1

just been doing some reserch and found out the 706 is 100 watts per channel, and the 683's are rated between 25-200 and the 685's are rated between 25-100 so would giving both sets the 100 watts through the amp be good as the floorstanders would be about half their maximum but the bookshelfs will be bang on their max, if you see what im saying? also could i bridge the floorstanders to give them more? i just really want to know if this system would all be good together before going for it.

As mentioned in my reply to your other query here, don't get hung up trying to match the 'power' of the speakers to that of the amplifier. There's a thread here that covers some of the issues.

Originally Posted by PsyVision

I have seen some people using an Onkyo 606 to power the 686/685 combo as they are both 100W maximum and the Onkyo outputs at around that.

However, also I like the 683 floorstanders and would then get either 686 or 685 for rears and would like to know if the 806 would power them fine (I can't justify the jump to the 876)? Secondly is there any potential to damage the 686/685s by overpowering them? - I presume only if you turn the volume up too high?

Unless you're trying to kill your neighbours through sound I'd be very surprised if any Onkyo were to damage those speakers...

Cheers

Martin