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Amp's nominal power rating - any use?

I just paired a couple of Coincident Frankentein monos with my SF Guarneri Homage. The sound is great (fat, rich, dynamic, transparent) and sounds well with any type of music (opera, rock, electronic...). These are 8W monoblocks and sound like with more power or at least the same as my previous fabulous pass aleph 3 (30W class A SS). Of course it depends if tubes not tubes, class A or not, speaker sensitivity, impedance load, room dimensions etc, but what i see is that it's not a relevant criteria at all on its own. Maybe there should be some transformation formula to take into account some of these factors to get some Apparent or Perceived Power, but maybe it would be hard to take into account all factors. Any ideas, opinions, on this?
dongiovanni
unsound
7,329 posts
 
Perhaps it's a starting point without direction?
irvrobinson
295 posts
 
Dongiovanni, I confess to being biased against SET amps. I think most people that like them are just hearing a modified frequency response caused by the electrical anomalies of the output stage, like a high output impedance. Frankly, considering the high quality of your speakers, I think it might be very interesting if you try a solid-state amp and tell us what you think. If the receiver is good enough (they do okay above approximately the $500 price point) you will at least get a first impression, though the speakers are good enough a better amp might have an audible difference. If you still think the SET amp sounds a lot better, I respect that. Choosing a system is personal decision.
shiitaki
7 posts
 
The issue with power ratings is that there are so many variables, and many ways to test power output. It also takes ten times the power to increase the volume by ten db. If you are happy with what you have, and it's only a matter of worrying about the wattage specifications not aligning up, don't worry about it. As long as the amp can get loud enough without clipping, which sounds bad, you are good to go.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Dongiovanni,
Various opinions here as usual and of course the typical stereotype comment by Irvrobinson regarding SET amplifiers. Always trust your ears, you know what sounds best to you. Clearly you`re pleased with this amp/speaker combo. If you have the chance to try some SS amps I think you would be hard pressed to equal let alone better your present system. You have in your posession a remakably sounding amplifier.
dongiovanni OP
10 posts
 
It actually plays louder than my previous amp, with a more open soundstage and a more vynil sound. I think it's perfect, it goes beyond my expectations...
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