2. amps-preamps
  3. 1370650847

Do amps have a sweet spot?

What I mean by this is do amps have an output range at which they sound better? The reason that I'm asking is that I'm now running some very small speakers (Minuet Supreme Plus) and they're probably the least demanding speakers I've had; but I've found that my setup sounds better when I have the volume turned up.

Out of curiosity, I took my Minuets to my local shop and hooked them up to an NAD C326BEE. I thought it sounded pretty darned good at "normal" listening levels. I almost bought it, but then I decided to start cranking it up to what I would call "rockin" levels and the amp started to clip. If it could have played louder, I would have bought it.

So...is it usual for an amp not to open up until you start pushing it?

My current amp is an Aragon 2004.
tonyangel

Showing 2 responses by runnin

runnin
397 posts
 
If he said the NAD was soft clipping it's because he had the clipping switch on the back on, which limits the amp at full output. Can't blame him because a salesman wants to protect his gear. What I'm surprised about is that you would want to crank those little 3 inch woofers so much!

Oddly enough I've got both the Nad c162 and C326BEE. Pretty good stuff for the price but if you want more than the 50 wpc C326BEE can give you, remember that 100wpc will only get you an additional 3 decibels of volume over the 50 wpc. I found that the newer NAD sounds a little more open than the C162.
runnin
397 posts
 
Good point, indeed all watts are not created equally. I've got a small pair of Tannoy Revolutions, the DC4 model. They also have a small driver as well but are designed to handle much less power. I've had them for 2 years, but only when I replaced a cheap Onkyo receiver with the Nad C 326BEE did I get really impressed with the Tannoys.

It sounds like your speakers do indeed excel with more power.
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