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Am I reaching the max power / amplitude of my Rotel RB-951 power amp?

I'm currently using a Rotel RB-951 power amp to run some vintage 3.8D Fuseliers. They are pretty beefy and require a 4 ohm load, with a range of 50-125 watts as far as I can tell (information is slim on these online). 

 

However, with my Eskinsin bluetooth adaptor plugged directly into the amp, or using a Kenwood Kr3130's tuner plugged into the amp, I am only able to get up to a maximum of 70 decibels with the meter in between the speakers. The clipping indicator on the amp does not come on at any point. 

Since I seem to have such a distinct cutoff in volume, regardless of the input method, I'm thinking that I must be reaching the power limit of my amplifier. Does that sound right?

 

The Rotel does not offer power specifications on 4 ohm loads (but it can do them, per the manual). At 8 ohms it's rated at 50w/ch continuous and 100 watts in bridged mono. 

thatguyyouknow

Showing 1 response by glennewdick

glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,531 posts
 

your speakers are 5ohm, 88db not overly sensitive but not bad either your amp has 150wpc so i would not expect it to run out of power. I suspect something else is the issue. Like Cleeds mentioned it may be not enough gain in the preamp/source. The kenwoods pre-out may not be up to the task. Or another issue that's not easily determined from the information available. Like is muting on. 

One thought though your meter is between your speakers? is this directly between them as that's not the ideal place to measure from. 

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