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Has anyone come across a good, low power, surround sound technique?

T

tgerb8

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Mar 4, 2024
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Alabama
I'm looking for a decent way to get some off grid bass. I'm looking at this BEFORE I source and implement a new solar system at a new, main, cabin. I have been running two polk atrium 4s and a 100 dollar 2.1 bluetooth receiver/amplifier. It sounds great (a lot better after i replaced the cheapo "dual" speakers I was using). But it's still no where near home audio. A standard 10-12'' sub will probably draw more power than I want to supply but I haven't measured these things so maybe not. I have been interested in the mountable "thumpers" that kind of simulate bass with lower wattage. Anyone have any good ideas? Am I just being silly and it really doesn't draw that much power and I should just implement a "normal" 5.1 amp with normal bookshelf speakers and sub? (lets say in terms of 200 AH - 3 panels - and I'm never there more than 2 days at a time - probably only about 15 nights/year)
The huge advantage of the system I'm currently running is that its a very small load but still sounds great. So small that I run it off of a little Ryobi One+ 150W inverter. 6AH battery lasts a ridiculous amount of time.

Thanks!
 
You are overthinking it, doesn’t compare to most electrical heating appliances (240V water heaters, stoves, ovens, etc)
Heck, if it plugs into the wall it’s gotta be under 15 amps, 1800W
 
tgerb8 said:
I'm looking for a decent way to get some off grid bass. I'm looking at this BEFORE I source and implement a new solar system at a new, main, cabin. I have been running two polk atrium 4s and a 100 dollar 2.1 bluetooth receiver/amplifier. It sounds great (a lot better after i replaced the cheapo "dual" speakers I was using). But it's still no where near home audio. A standard 10-12'' sub will probably draw more power than I want to supply but I haven't measured these things so maybe not. I have been interested in the mountable "thumpers" that kind of simulate bass with lower wattage. Anyone have any good ideas? Am I just being silly and it really doesn't draw that much power and I should just implement a "normal" 5.1 amp with normal bookshelf speakers and sub? (lets say in terms of 200 AH - 3 panels - and I'm never there more than 2 days at a time - probably only about 15 nights/year)
The huge advantage of the system I'm currently running is that its a very small load but still sounds great. So small that I run it off of a little Ryobi One+ 150W inverter. 6AH battery lasts a ridiculous amount of time.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have Sonos Arc Bar, 2x ERA 300, subwoofer and it’s sound’s better than the harman kardon electrostatic speakers I have.

All runs on wireless.

It’s not cheap but a good system and doesn’t use that much power.
 
tgerb8 said:
I'm looking for a decent way to get some off grid bass. I'm looking at this BEFORE I source and implement a new solar system at a new, main, cabin. I have been running two polk atrium 4s and a 100 dollar 2.1 bluetooth receiver/amplifier. It sounds great (a lot better after i replaced the cheapo "dual" speakers I was using). But it's still no where near home audio. A standard 10-12'' sub will probably draw more power than I want to supply but I haven't measured these things so maybe not. I have been interested in the mountable "thumpers" that kind of simulate bass with lower wattage. Anyone have any good ideas? Am I just being silly and it really doesn't draw that much power and I should just implement a "normal" 5.1 amp with normal bookshelf speakers and sub? (lets say in terms of 200 AH - 3 panels - and I'm never there more than 2 days at a time - probably only about 15 nights/year)
The huge advantage of the system I'm currently running is that its a very small load but still sounds great. So small that I run it off of a little Ryobi One+ 150W inverter. 6AH battery lasts a ridiculous amount of time.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
When talking about audio reproduction and power, it has been said that a 10X increase of power is equal to a perceived doubling of volume. With that in mind you need to know what you want out of this. I have used 20 watt amps on mains and a 400 watt amp on bass with awesome results. If you are using a system like I mentioned for 2 hours, your usage wouldn't be 840 watts or even 1000. It would be quite a bit less because of RMS power vs max power. The type of music would influence the wattage used of course but audio is no where near as bad as a most things.

200 watts on the main channels is ridiculous
1000 watts on bass in a nice box is very nice!

For an efficient setup dont use a receiver...
Look for a class T amp like this one. I have one like this and it is great!
www.parts-express.com

Home

Topping TP21 T-Amp Class T Mini Amplifier 25 WPC with Headphone OutputThe Topping TP21 features brushed aluminum faceplate and black aluminum cabinet. The volume control is accentuated with a subtle blue LED illumination that when on surrounds the volume control. The unit features high quality...
www.parts-express.com

For subs, use the same approach. Integrated amp or dedicated amp.
Oh, and surround sound isnt worth it to me. Music is normally never a dedicated surround mix anyway so the "surround" you hear is FAKE .
 
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I have a fairly recent Yamaha surround receiver with Polk speakers and a powered sub. I don't really notice a sigificant power draw when the TV and sound system are running off the inverter ... about 60 or so watts for everything.
 
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I'm an off grid audiophile so I understand your dilemma. :cool: I have been preparing to upgrade my batteries in order to facilitate an Audio upgrade (among other things). I currently run a Polk speaker and Kenwood Excelon car audio setup in my cabin. I also use several Schiit audio products to achieve the desired sound. I use a Schiit Fulla E as my DAC and it feeds a Schiit designed preamp(Piety) that has tube characteristics. I'm replacing the Kenwood with a Schiit amplifier (Rekkr) that only uses12w. They also make a wicked surround processor (Syn) that might be what you're looking for.
 
I just used a kill a watt to measure my stereo system and came up with this.
1-LG 86 inch tv 177 watts
2 Om8 Mirage speakers w/built in subs- Rotel cd player & Yamaha Rx a4a =129 watts.
Freznel tube Amp & reel to reel tape player=190 Watts.
Music Hall record player 37 watts.
Really surprised at thee low usage on these as I was expecting a lot more watts use with the tube amp as it has 13 tubes.
Greg
 
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