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Amp matching with high sensitivity speakers

I sold a pair of B&W 803 D2’s and went the polar opposite with a pair of minty Chorus 1’s I bought from a friend. I have mixed feelings about the move so far but have new Crites Crossovers and Ti diaphragms in hand and will be installing as soon as I can find a couple of hours. Perhaps that will improve detail and dynamics a bit. One of the reasons for picking up the Chorus is trying the high sensitivity speaker/lower watt amp combo that many audiophiles enjoy.  

I came across a post from Klipsch recommending to use no less than 80% and no more than twice the speaker’s continuous power rating. The RMS on the Chorus is 100 watts. I could be wrong but take that to mean use an amp no less than 80 watts and I more than 200 watts. The article talks about potentially damaging the speakers with too low or too much power. https://support.klipsch.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044125891-Choosing-the-Right-Receiver-Amplifier

I’m looking for feedback on those actually using lower watt amps on this 80% rule for speakers. I’m using a 300 watt Levinson 532H but eager to try a lower power tube or a First Watt solid state as soon as possible. Thanks for chiming in. 

bfoura

Showing 3 responses by bfoura

bfoura OP
88 posts
 

Hey @carlsbad, I would like to find a low cost, low

powered to experiment with and appreciate you suggesting the Sophia Baby Tube amp. Do you know if it has a line level input? I need to have a remote and if I can hook my preamp to it that would work. Thanks @mulveling for

the explanation. Speaker technicals are not my forte and what you’re saying makes sense to me. It makes sense to me that underpowered amps would work with high sensitivity amps but should I be concerned about using a 300 watt amp with these speakers? Cause of my living environment I can’t play too loud. Everything has sounded fine with the Levinson but wonder if moving down a few watts will help protect the speakers and perhaps provide better sound. 

bfoura OP
88 posts
 

Sounds like I have some options for amps for these speakers, which is what I was hoping for. I will say things don’t sound of out whack with my 300 watt Levinson, which many would consider over kill for these speakers but it’s what I have right now. 

Would going with an all tube system introduce more hum or blackground noise with high sensitivity speakers? I have a tube pre and phono and curious about that. Or, would a high watt amp like my Levinson contribute to background noise as well? 

 

bfoura OP
88 posts
 

Thanks @Mulveling for the explanation! That could explain some hum concerns I experience when moving interconnects and components in and out. The gain for the Levinson is 26db. The gain from my Audible Illusions L3A is 30dB which seems quite a bit more than you recommend. I have a Herron preamp with two gain options: one at around 14 and the other at about 8dB. I’m going to move the Herron back in to see how everything reacts. Today I installed a Cardas blue sky phono interconnect to replace the stock one in my table and a hum is there when I turn up Tyne volume a bit. I wish there was a book or similar to find out more about all this electronic component matching you detail. 

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