Powering Monitors

[Magpie99]

Combining GAS with bottom feeding and ignorance can be frustrating. I'm working on building up my studio, and for monitors, I've selected the Yorkville YSM-1s, and I want to power them with a home A/V receiver, the Pioneer VSX-D505s. The receiver is listed at 340W into five channels, but I'll only be using Speaker A for the Yorkies or Speaker B for the Infinity SM-120s for two different sounds.

Are there any power or other electrical problems I have to be concerned with? The YSMs are rated for 6 ohms.

Are there any connectivity problems to be concerned about? The receiver speaker outs are not 1/4", but can I just make speaker cables to fit the ins and outs of the receiver/monitors?

To avoid colorization by the receiver during mixdown, how should I set up the receiver "EQ"? Turn treble/bass/mids all the way off?

Thanks,

Glenn D.

[TexRoadkill]

You should be okay with the impedance but check to see what ohm load your amp is putting out 500 watts at. I doubt it will blow your speakers but dont blame me if it does.

Set all the EQ and any special settings to 0 or preferably OFF if that is an option.

[JC Lives]

What Tex said is all correct. One suggestion to offer here is once you get it all hooked up, spend some time listeding to some cd's in the style of music you intend on mixing to get familiar with the way they sound. Use this as a guide when doing your mixes. Since you will be using a receiver with multiple imputs, you can have a cd player hooked up. When you make you mix, switch back and forth between your mix and the cd to see how close you come sonically.

Peace
Joe

[Magpie99]

Thanks for the replies. I've got an email into Pioneer to validate the power outputs. Thanks for the suggestion on using both speakers sequentially for mix validation. That was my plan, but it's good to see someone experienced seeing the same thing.

Glenn

[Magpie99]

Well, I got my response back from Pioneer:

I wrote:

I have the VSX 505S AV receiver, and I want to use it to power studio monitors in my home studio. My monitors are rated at 70W program power at 6 ohms. Will the 505S work with these specs? How many watts per channel does the 505S put out?

They replied:

The VSX-505S is rated at 150 watts per channel at 8 ohms. The speakers you have are not recommended for this receiver.

Now, I missed the electricity part of physics in high school and college. Can someone explain why this receiver won't work well with the Yorkvilles, and maybe point me to a electrical primer as well?

Thanks,

Glenn

[JC Lives]

Hey Magpie,

There is no reason why you can't use your receiver to power your monitors. The only caution to throw out here is that you don't want to crank them to distortion, otherwise you might blow them up.

As far as monitoring your mixes, you shouldn't be playing them that loud anyway. typically, you want to set the volume to be around 80 to 90 db. Any louder than that and your ears will get tired and you will not be able to here all the details clearly.

Good Luck Man
Joe

[Magpie99]

Thanks, that's what I needed to hear. I'm not a loud music kind of guy anyway, and the big speakers (Infinity SM-120s) are for the 'cranked to eleven' sound.

Glenn