QuestionI just put my old denon avr-1600 receiver in my home gym. I am only powering 2 speakers and have a powered sub... I've read that you can combine the power output for, say, the a and b speakers or the front and rear speakers to double the output power. How can I do this?
AnswerI would not believe everything I read. If it IS possible, the manual should tell you exactly how.
However, I can only find this product sheet at Denons' website:
http://www.usa.denon.com/avr1600_productsheet.pdf
This sheet does not specifically state that the units' outputs are bridgeable or 'combinable'.
Your best bet will be to get more efficient speakers.
Doubling the applied power will only give you a 3Db increase in volume. You did not specify which speakers you now run but I would bet that you can buy speakers with much greater efficiency. Look into Klipsche loudspeakers and (depending on what you have now) you may be able to increase your output by more than 15 Db using that same 60 watts per channel!
These are not free of course (and you have the choice of their lesser models to still get much more output..say 6-8Db), but on the other hand, you may turn your amp into a very effective paperweight by trying to combine the front and the surround channels to a single speaker.
JM
