Two channel amp assistance!

Here's my partial story why I am looking into a external amplifier. A few months ago, I bought a BlueSound PowerNode Gen1. I paired it with a pair of Pioneer SP-BS22 bookshelves speakers. I use this for my garage to stream music via WiFi with Spotify.

Well, I ended up moving the unit to the patio area where I installed a pair of Polk Audio Atrium 5. We were having a BBQ, and one of my friends requested to turn the volume up. So, I cranked it up to 100%. The PowerNode went into protection mode. It appears the PowerNode doesn't have enough power. So, I went ahead and reduce the volume to 85%. The PowerNode went into protection mode again. I had to reduce the volume to 70% and it stopped going into protection mode.

BlueSound techs and I had a discussion, and after the tech stated that possibly something was wrong with the amplifier after looking at the diagnostic file. So, I sent my unit out to them, and they are sending me another unit.

So, in the mean time, I found a used Denon HEOS Link G1 for $120 shipped. Why did I buy this? 1) It supports Pandora and Amazon Music, which is something my wife loves to use as well. 2) It supports more music streaming providers. 3) My idea is to get an external amp so I can crank the volume up without having the unit going into protection mode! 3) I will be selling my BlueSound PowerNode because it doesn't support Pandora or Amazon Music.

So, my question is out much power would be enough? I don't want to have a monster amplifier for this. I just want to have enough power to be able to possibly use 100% of the volume for a song or two. Most of the time the volume will be set to about 70% to 75%? Furthermore, I don't want to spend too much money into an external amp since it will be used for the patio area.

I'm hoping to be able to spend less than $250. I've seen some used 2 channels amps going for $175. I'm also possibly looking at the Emotiva A-100.

Mark C Flick said:

What is your budget for an amp? I think those speakers will take a bit to get the volume you want, especially being outside. My opinion, 100 - 125 wpc should be plenty for those speakers, almost any decent amp or receiver should do the job. A well built used amp like an Acurus A100 ($100 - $300), a new Emotiva A-300 (msrp $399), or many people have very good experience using something like a Crown XLS-1000 (msrp $299) would be some of my recommendations. A lot will depend on how much you want to spend.

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I kind of mis-calculated the cost. I spent $120 for the Denon Link, and if I spend another $300 for an amp that would set me up at $420. For that amount, I could buy a networked AVR and use AirPlay to stream music.

Sonnie said:

That's a good deal on the Monoprice amp. I might prefer a used Acurus at $150-175 if I could find one. I've seen a few used B&K amps on the cheap here and there as well.

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I'm actively looking for a decent used amp as well. I'm in not hurry to get one so I can wait for a little while.

Todd Anderson said:

Maybe I'm a bit confused... you're looking for an amp to drive the Polk Atriums?

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Yes. That is correct.

Todd Anderson said:

Those speakers should be easy to drive... 90dB sensitivity.

If I were you, I'd go check accessories4less.com and buy a $250 (or less) AVR and call it day. Anything in the 80W per channel range should be more than enough to suit your needs (unless you have space constraints)...

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That's what I thought as well, but my BlueSound PowerNode wasn't able to drive them.

I'm waiting for my PowerNode replacement to get here so I can sell it and either get a good used amplifier to combine it with my Denon HEOS Link or get a network AVR like you recommended.

Todd Anderson said:

Something doesn't sound right with the BlueSound PowerNode.... those Atrium 5s shouldn't be super simple to drive.

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BlueSound Tech tested my PowerNode, and I was told that it "appeared" that something was wrong with the amplifier. So, I sent the unit back to get it replaced.

For the time being, I bought a Sonos Connect Amp to test it out, and the only time the Sonos Connect Amp goes into protection mode is when I play music for a few minutes while the volume is at 100%. I usually play music with the volume between 65% to 80%, which the Sonos Connect Amp did not have an issue to do.