100W, 200W, or 300W?


I'm pretty new to this and could use some help. Working down my list of upgrades: did speakers, room treatment on order... I think next up is to replace my amp.

I'm currently using a Harman Kardon PA2000 stereo amp that I had sitting in storage. 100 WPC @ 8 Ohm. It's "OK", but it probably the weak point in my system right now.

For speakers, I picked up B&W 805D3 tabletops with stands.

88 dbSPL sensitivity, 8 ohm. They recommend 50-120W @ Ohm for the amp power on their site.

I pulled up an amplifier calculator and plugged in some numbers:

88 sBSPL, 8 ft distance, 85 dB volume w 15 dB headroom and this came out to 3W RMS w 94W peak

I have my heart set on blue watt meters so I see the following options:

1) MA5300 @ 100 WPC, no autoformers, integrated
2) MA7200 @ 200 WPC, has autoformers, integrated
3) MC302 @ 300 WPC, has autorormers, seperates


For the MA5300, I'm concerned that there isn't enough headroom. If I even get close to the 94W peak, it means that I'm pushing the amp to the max, so I'd probably be operating in an area of reduced sonic performance since it's being stressed. Is this a correct assumption?

The MA7200 looks like it'll leave plenty of headroom and it also has (for better or worse) autoformers which seems to be what puts the "mac sound" in macs.

The MC302 is just sexy as heck... but is there any realistic gain with my current set up that I would get by buying one of these? Or is it so much overkill that I am just throwing money away at this point?
eisenb11

Showing 2 responses by erik_squires

room treatment on order...


Don't do anything more until these are in place.  They change everything.

Lots of power is not important, quality is.

I'd suggest you listen for yourself, but include these three, very different sounding amps in your taste test:

  • Pass
  • Luxman
  • Ayre

Your calculation seems off. Remember that power and volts don't use the same dB equation.  Power is 10 log (Pnew/Pold) and Voltage is 20 log.  Or I got them backwards.  I'd check, but this site is free. :)

A middle of the road integrated with ~100 to 150 W will be just fine.

But seriously, get your room dialed in first.  Better sounding rooms play better at low volume and sound like you have more bass. Choosing anything now will get thrown upside down after. :)

Best,

E