I am a huge fan of these speakers. (I own the non-'i' version.)
The best choice for amplification depends on your listening preferences, as Terry alluded to, but also on your listening style. However, based on my experience, I don't think 5 watts would be enough.
What kind of classical do you listen to? If you tend to listen to chamber music, lieder, 18th/19th century keyboard repertoire, you can probably do with around 50 watts. If you listen at low levels in a small room, perhaps even less. Definitely try before you buy.
If you listen to Romantic and 20th orchestral music, opera, large choral works (requiems, choral symphonic works, etc.), particularly if you listen at realistic levels, the De Capos will definitely benefit from all the power (within reason) you can throw at them.
I'm currently using a 150-watt solid state amp. It's certainly not the best choice (for example, a 150-watt tube amp would probably be better), but this speaker is not the meek SET squeaker that many assume it is. Properly powered, it reproduces symphonic music (Rite of Spring, anyone?) and b-i-g voices (think Jessye Norman as Judith in Bluebeard's Castle) with authority and impact.
I tend to listen to this kind demanding repertoire at (or, with guilt, above) concert levels in a medium-sized room. So, obviously, my power requirements are higher.
And, as Terry mentioned, the extended bass repsonse is much more demanding of amplifier power. If you listen to organ music or repertoire that includes large orchestrations with tymps or bass drums, you will not get the best results with a low-powered tube amp that recoils from low-frequency information.
In my room/system, I can hear the fundamentals of 16- and 32-foot pipes. No, they are not rafter-shaking; the laws of physics still apply.
Good luck.
The best choice for amplification depends on your listening preferences, as Terry alluded to, but also on your listening style. However, based on my experience, I don't think 5 watts would be enough.
What kind of classical do you listen to? If you tend to listen to chamber music, lieder, 18th/19th century keyboard repertoire, you can probably do with around 50 watts. If you listen at low levels in a small room, perhaps even less. Definitely try before you buy.
If you listen to Romantic and 20th orchestral music, opera, large choral works (requiems, choral symphonic works, etc.), particularly if you listen at realistic levels, the De Capos will definitely benefit from all the power (within reason) you can throw at them.
I'm currently using a 150-watt solid state amp. It's certainly not the best choice (for example, a 150-watt tube amp would probably be better), but this speaker is not the meek SET squeaker that many assume it is. Properly powered, it reproduces symphonic music (Rite of Spring, anyone?) and b-i-g voices (think Jessye Norman as Judith in Bluebeard's Castle) with authority and impact.
I tend to listen to this kind demanding repertoire at (or, with guilt, above) concert levels in a medium-sized room. So, obviously, my power requirements are higher.
And, as Terry mentioned, the extended bass repsonse is much more demanding of amplifier power. If you listen to organ music or repertoire that includes large orchestrations with tymps or bass drums, you will not get the best results with a low-powered tube amp that recoils from low-frequency information.
In my room/system, I can hear the fundamentals of 16- and 32-foot pipes. No, they are not rafter-shaking; the laws of physics still apply.
Good luck.