NitDawg wrote:I’m far from an

[quote=NitDawg]

I’m far from an AVR guru, but is there a general formula for the amount of power/channel needed for a given room size? Is more always better (I know you can always turn in down) but more along the lines of dynamic range (or are speakers a big part of that equation).

[/quote]

Speakers play a big role in the equation. The more sensitive they are, the less amperage is needed to drive them to the same volume as less sensitive speakers.

When it comes to AVRs, any wattage claims should be examined closely if comparing. You must make sure that wattage ratings are taken at same resistance e.g., 8 ohms, at the same frequency, etc. Even with everything the same, if you’re only talking about 10 or 20 watts difference between receivers, it will mean almost nothing in terms of volume level that can be achieved (you need double the watts to achieve a 3dB volume increase). All things being equal, more is always better, it’s just not hugely important and when it is, it is probably a situation where the room is gigantic, the speakers are 4 ohm or less, etc. In those cases, it might be advisable to go for separate amps.

In short, speaker resistance and sensitivity play a much larger role in clean volume output than an AVR’s power rating. Also, using a powered sub and setting speakers to “small” should help quite a bit to free up power on the AVR since it takes a lot more power to move the lower frequencies.