Seeking help with a receiver..

[gauravka21]

I have been looking for a home theater setup for my living room. I am using a 40" Sony LED TV. I have two LG floor standing speakers (purchased via ebay @50 bucks) 140W @ 4 ohms. Now that is all I currently have. I am trying to have a customized setup.I just wanna use this system for listening to music and some small house gatherings (wherein we usually play electro house & techno). I am seeking suggestions on what else I would need to have this up and running. I can buy 2-3 more speakers and a sub woofer or just a receiver to use it with these two speakers? Any advise will be greatly appreciated. I don't wanna end up spending too much. Thanks.

 

[ssddx]

well... to power the speakers you would need either an amplifier. if you kept it 2.0 or 2.1 that would be all that you need to power them and it would work with 3.5mm sources like ipods and phones directly connected. you could also hook it up to a computer and play itunes or internet radio.

a receiver however would offer you more options. you could connect multiple sources up at once, easily connect more speakers, calibrate the speaker delay, as well as a multitude of other options.

a receiver is going to typically cost about $200-300 brand new (you can find cheaper used). as far as what would work with your system you want to look at the spec sheets and see what is capable of powering around 140w @ 4ohm. if memory serves me right.. i believe that most 100w@8ohm receivers typically have specs at about 150w@4ohm so thats a good starting point.

speaker sensitivity also has alot to do with it. the lower the speaker sensitivity the more power they require. a good little discussion on that here
http/www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/what-drives-4-ohm-speakers-well

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as far as amplifiers are concerned...i did a bit of searching around but didnt find anything quite as you needed it. this one http/www.ebay.com/itm/PYLE-300W-2-X-150W-2CH-DIGITAL-AM-FM-STEREO-RECEIVER-AMP-AMPLIFIER-PT560AU-NEW-/330837633962?pt=Receivers_Tuners&hash=item4d0775abaa would have been perfect if you had 8ohm speakers but since you have 4ohm speakers is overkill and you could blow them. for your current speakers i'd look for something closer to 150w x 2ch @ 4ohm.

however... that amp would work perfectly with something like the sony f5000p floorstanding speakers which went for about $100/pair brand new a few years ago. i found some used here for the same price you paid http/www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-SSF5000-Floor-Standing-3-way-Speaker-48003-/321392307540?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item4ad4796d54 if i remember they were 150w @ 8ohm speakers.

we have them in the other room running on a receiver without a subwoofer and they get LOUD as in loud enough for an electro party even on an amp which isnt capable of pushing them to 150w. since they have woofers you really dont even need a subwoofer.

however, you already have some towers...which is a dilema.

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i'd still say a receiver would ultimately be a good idea if you wanted to attach subwoofers and more speakers in the future though. however, again its going to cost about $2-300 for something half decent unless you buy used.

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anyways... just a few ideas...

 

[americanaudiophile]

You will need a surround sound receiver as most TVs have only optical or ARC via HDMI audio outputs.
I would suggest that you get a subwoofer too since I doubt that the LG speakers will give you enough bass for your music. You can always add center and surround speakers (or use the LGs as rears and upgrade the fronts) later. Surround sound does not seem to be a priority with you.

 

[ssddx]

^agreed. if you will be using the tv as a "source" then you would need a receiver with optical or hdmi (with arc support). also agree that if you use those LG speakers they likely wont have too much bass which honestly could be a real problem if you plan to play electronica over them.

i would like to note that if you dont ever want to upgrade to surround sound you can buy receivers which only handle 2.1 sound. note: i'm talking about a full sized receiver here.

 

[gauravka21]

Thanks For your replies guys. I found a deal on a Yamaha RX-440 (details below)-

http/usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx/rx-v440/?mode=model

Will these work for my set of speakers? I was checking the specs which suggest "Yamaha's famed low impedance drive circuitry is included in this receiver so that it can handle virtually all loads and a wide variety of speakers. For further speaker matching, the amplifier can set for either 4-or 8-ohm speakers." Seems as if these would work with my set of speakers and i can add a sub woofer to the setup too?

 

[ssddx]

from what i can tell its capable of 160w @ 4ohm so it should work for those two speakers you have already. yes, it also has a connection for a subwoofer cable.

however... from a few short google clicks for "RX-V440" it appears that there are some sound quality issues you may want to look at before you purchase. the one i saw had multiple people claiming "stereo" mode sounded bad.