Canton Reference 9.2 with Arcam A85 underpowered?


Hi,

I couldn't resist some dealer demo Canton Reference 9.2's for $1999 (normally$4000.) I hooked them up to my Arcam A85 and they sound great together. The problem is that Canton says the minimum power rating is 120 watts (4-8ohms) and my a85 Diva is 85 watts into 8ohms. Should I worry about this?

Here are the links to the Canton speakers and Arcam integrated amp:

http://reference.canton.de/en/products/reference-9.2-dc.htm

http://www.arcam.co.uk/_ugc/file/a85p85_manual.pdf

Thanks,
Erik
nadman12

Showing 1 response by kennyt

I have had several Canton's in my home (I still have a full Vento system and had the Ref 3.2's for a while as well) Canton makes an amazing speaker, but they will do better with more power. I for one wouldn't be cranking them up with an 85 Watt Arcam amp. I have run my 809's and 802's on 200 Watt Mark Levinson amps, Krell Evo's (400 Watts//channel) and have tried them on less powerful amps as well and can say the improvement in bass response from the higher powered amps is significant.

I would think you'd be OK as long as you aren't trying to crank out high volumes (something Canton's don't do very well anyway) but you will definitely reap a major benefit from switching to higher powered amplification.