Amplifier Monitor Audio Monitor 300

[steynmarnus]

My journey started when I went to my local pro/enthusiast audio shop and the staff had me listen to the monitor audio monitor 200's they had setup, as I asked for a budget friendly floorstanding speaker. I was extremely pleased with the bright and very clear upper end and really punhcy and deep low end/bass. I could not believe that small package produced such powerfull sound. Needless to say at that price I was not gonna search any further, and as some future proofing for the next spot I might move to, I decided to buy myself a pair of Monitor 300's.

Now of course the other half of the formula, and arguably just as important, the amplifier. Now do forgive me if I have commited a great sin here - I have always appreciated high end audio setups from friends and family, but this is the first time I treated myself with one and I only know enough to get by with the essentials.

So The Monitor 300's are rated for 150W RMS with and impedence of 8Ω, and according to the manufacturer recomends a 40-150W Amplifier. Now it is my understanding that you dont need an amp that wil push out the max watt the speakers can handle, it's good to have overhead, but not a requiremnent (maybe it is, I'm going of given knowledge). So with that in mind I got my old Pioneer AV-receiver out of storage, the unit is an Pioneer VSX-324-K. It is rated to push 60W into 8Ω, however other sites report "100 W/ch (6 ohms 1 kHz 0.7 % 1ch Driven)". I am planning on buying a proper amplifier but just wanted to see if I can't use what I have before spending more.

First thing I noticed when I hooked it up and played some tunes is that the low end is almost completly gone, there is some bass tones but they are much much softer than the rest. I also had to turn the volume quite a bit to get decent volume. Now here's the thing, the AV-receiver was meant to drive small surround sound satelite speakers and a subwoofer, so I did not expect too much, but as it said (at least on paper) it should be able to deliver 60W into 8Ω. I thought it fell withing spec. I am willing to now go and get a more suited amplifier but dont want to blow the budget, my cutoff is 310 USD/290 EUR.

So my questions is - is the amp power even to blame? Or is it the fact that this amp is very old and that some components are just not working as well as they should? If the amp power/capability is at fault, what amp could you recommend that wont break the bank. It does not need to be an av-receiver, would more than happy with hi-fi amplifier etc.

 

[HeadBanger]

There’s a few things I’d check first before looking at another amp.

1. Check that you haven’t inadvertently wired the speakers our of phase - check the +ve & -ve connections at both the amp and speaker terminals are wired correctly.
2. Has your AV amp previously been run with a sub and you still have a legacy sub setting engaged (so high pass filter applied to main speakers somewhere around 80-100Hz)?
3. Any tone control/ EQ applied? Can you switch off if so (e.g. engage source direct setting)?

HB

edit 80Hz, not 8Hz!

 

[steynmarnus]

There’s a few things I’d check first before looking at another amp.

1. Check that you haven’t inadvertently wired the speakers our of phase - check the +ve & -ve connections at both the amp and speaker terminals are wired correctly.
2. Has your AV amp previously been run with a sub and you have a legacy sub setting engaged (so high pass filter applied to main speakers somewhere around 8-100Hz)?
3. Any tone control/ EQ applied? Can you switch off if so (e.g. engage source direct setting)?

HB

Aah yes, those are some important notes there, thank you @HeadBanger .

1. I confirmed that + goes to + and - to - on the amp and speaker setup now, all good.
2. I actually think it might be the case yes, as the remote does not seems to work all that great anymore I did not bother changing those setting but it would make absolute sense that if the low-pass if on, those lower end frequencies simply wont be sent to the Front L+R channels, so no blame of the amp's power capabilities. I will try and get another remote or fiddle with button on re-receiver iteself to see if I can spot the low pass settings.
3. The amp seems to come with plethora of EQ's sound modes, I will have to page over them and see if the make a substantial difference.

Will report my findings here again. Thank you for the sound advice!

 

[Timmy C]

If I am looking at the right amp, there should be a button on the front panel near the middle below the display. If you can press that and get it to show 'pure direct' on the display, I would think this will disable any eq including crossover points. Give that a try if you can't get your remote working.

 

[steynmarnus]

If I am looking at the right amp, there should be a button on the front panel near the middle below the display. If you can press that and get it to show 'pure direct' on the display, I would think this will disable any eq including crossover points. Give that a try if you can't get your remote working.

Thank you sir, this seemed to have done the trick yes. The remote gave me all sort of issues, thinks it's just to busted from age.

 

[steynmarnus]

Aah yes, those are some important notes there, thank you @HeadBanger .

1. I confirmed that + goes to + and - to - on the amp and speaker setup now, all good.
2. I actually think it might be the case yes, as the remote does not seems to work all that great anymore I did not bother changing those setting but it would make absolute sense that if the low-pass if on, those lower end frequencies simply wont be sent to the Front L+R channels, so no blame of the amp's power capabilities. I will try and get another remote or fiddle with button on re-receiver iteself to see if I can spot the low pass settings.
3. The amp seems to come with plethora of EQ's sound modes, I will have to page over them and see if the make a substantial difference.

Will report my findings here again. Thank you for the sound advice!

It seems to have been the low pass filter causing the flat sound I got out initially. Thank you once again.