Upgrading speakers - will my amp be underpowered / cause any problems?

Korkyb

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Hi all

I've had the same separates system since I bought it 20 odd years ago.

My old Mission speakers have now gone to a better place and I'm thinking about using this as an excuse to improve the system starting with the speakers.

I would like some floorstanders and the set that has caught my eye are the Focal Chorus 714 V 's currently selling at "half price". Divine Audio Focal Chorus 714 V Floor-Standing Speakers, Black (Pair)

Obviously these speakers are head and shoulders above my old amp which is a Rotel RA-930AX.

Is this likely to cause a problem? Could I damage either the amp or much worse the speakers?

I was also thinking of connecting them to my surround sound system which is a Yamaha RX-V367. This isn't that old but again is entry level. Yamaha RX-V367 review - Surround Sound System - Trusted Reviews

- So am I wasting my time (& money) going for the Focal's?

- Am I likely to have any problems?

- Should I just do the (financially) sensible thing and buy some Wharfedale Diamond 10.3's instead.

Upgrading the Rotel and the Yamaha arent an option at the moment - with a wifie around this will have to be a long term plan changing bits as they "break"......... if you know what I mean :)


Many thanks for your advice - off for a lie down now.
 
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The focals will look and sound nice. Some part of the system is always going to be better than another when you upgrade in parts. So it may as well be something that is half price. Also in general because electronics still tend to be developing more than speakers there is likley to be more chance to buy better cheaper in the future. Just my two pennorth.
 
Korkyb said:
Hi all

I've had the same separates system since I bought it 20 odd years ago.

My old Mission speakers have now gone to a better place and I'm thinking about using this as an excuse to improve the system starting with the speakers.

I would like some floorstanders and the set that has caught my eye are the Focal Chorus 714 V 's currently selling at "half price". Divine Audio Focal Chorus 714 V Floor-Standing Speakers, Black (Pair)

Obviously these speakers are head and shoulders above my old amp which is a Rotel RA-930AX.

Is this likely to cause a problem? Could I damage either the amp or much worse the speakers?

I was also thinking of connecting them to my surround sound system which is a Yamaha RX-V367. This isn't that old but again is entry level. Yamaha RX-V367 review - Surround Sound System - Trusted Reviews

- So am I wasting my time (& money) going for the Focal's?

- Am I likely to have any problems?

- Should I just do the (financially) sensible thing and buy some Wharfedale Diamond 10.3's instead.

Upgrading the Rotel and the Yamaha arent an option at the moment - with a wifie around this will have to be a long term plan changing bits as they "break"......... if you know what I mean :)

Many thanks for your advice - off for a lie down now.

Those Focal's look very nice and because it will be part of a cinema setup then you can lesson the load on the ROTEL amp by selecting a higher Xover say 80-100Hz as there's a lot of drivers for that ROTEL to drive.
You do have a sub ?

Also if you are starting from scratch then also think about the long term i.e matching centre and surrounds but more so on the centre channel, As having three matching speakers for the front three is very very important, The steering & panning of a film should be as seamless as possible as this creates a sense of being more real and draws you into the film.

So think about where you want to be in the long term and just because there's a good bargain on one item in the long run could cost you more money.

But that amp will drive those speakers as long as you Xover those speakers so there's less load on the amp.
 
Thanks guys!

I do have a sub on the Yamaha AV system but not on my Rotel.

Sorry to be a complete noob but I dont know anything about Xover - how would I select this?


Also thinking about the system as a whole - might I be better going down the simpler and cheaper route of something like the Diamond 10.3's
 
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What speakers do you current have attached to the Yamaha? The Focals really deserve a better amp than the Yamaha to get the best from them and as above you would really want the matching centre otherwise your front soundstage is not going to sound great. Also since the centre takes over 60% of the total sound output you do not want a tiny centre and massive fronts.
That said, I would still get the Focals as they are a great speaker and great value at that price but I would just use them as a stereo pair with your Rotel.
 
At the moment I'm just using Yamaha satellites.

Centre speakers from Focal appear to start at £300 & (unfortunately) I'm not sure I could justify that for a single speaker.

I'm also not sure I could justify the cost of the 714's if I wasn't going to be using them as part of the AV system......

I think I'm talking myself towards the cheaper option where I could get a more balanced setup :-(
 
You may be able to use a phantom centre. That is no centre and have better quality sound in general
 
Thanks again for all you advice guys.

I was just about to buy the Focals yesterday when I has one last quick look at Gumtree to see if anything had come up locally.

Glad I did !!

I am now the proud owner of the following:

a pair of KEF iQ5se Floorstanders.
an KEF iQ6c centre.
and a pair of KEF iQ1 rears.

I also got at least 20m of decent looking new cable chucked in too. (copper coloured with a blue line running along it).

The kit is all in original boxes and one has a delivery label to Sevenoaks Sound and Vision dated 2008.

All for £290 - I'm (clearly) no expert but I think that was a rather good deal..................Unless someone wants to burst my bubble :)
 
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