200 Watt versus 300 to 400 Watt Amplifier Comps


Currently running a 200 Watt Classe Amplifier with the Cal Labs 2500 SSP and pair of older JM Lab speakers, the Spectral 913's.

When I went from a 100 Watt Amp to the 200 Watt version I was surprised at the upgraded performance that was delivered. My question is if this system were playing CD's at a certain decibel level, and I were to go to a 300 Watt Amp and play the same selection at the same decibel level, would there be a performance increase. Is the answer the same with DVD Movie Playback??

Additionally if your speakers are rated to handle 50-200 Watts, is a 200 Watt amplifier the highest wattage amplifier one should consider?

Any and all answers will be appreciated
mattkimb96

Showing 2 responses by nrchy

In my experience moving up in amp quality provides much more than volume. I don't listen any louder than I used to listen, but the level of detail and other benefits make the better amps well worth the money. I really think there are very few people who actually push their amps and speakers anywhere never their limits. One of the biggest benefit of the higher powered amp in the power reserves.

As for the issue of power handling; your speakers are rated at 200 watts continuous. An amp that is rated at 200 watts will certainly peak much higher, but for the most part you will not even begin to approach those levels in the real world. Unless of course you are a wildman.
Actually Sean you are right right. I guess I figured everyone's amp was like mine. Also, I did not take impedence into account. Hopefully my comments were general enough that I wasn't too wrong! Is that possible?