Do amps have a sweet spot?

Thanks guys. At least, I now know that I may not be crazy.

I really can't explain the love affair that I'm having with this Aragon. I do know that it's really OLD and out dated. I suppose there's just something to a two channel 100 wpc amp weighing 40lbs.

Still, I did like what I was hearing out of that newer NAD model. My dilemma (isn't there always one of these?) is that NAD's top of the line classic unit is $1500. I really don't need a pre amp. Mine is a NAD C162 and is pretty nice. My dilemma is what sort of amp to go with. I've been very interested in the Class D offerings. I also have to decide how much power it is that I really need.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the comments.

The guy at the shop said that it was the amp soft clipping. I don't know much about that because I've never had an NAD amp with that feature before.

I know it wasn't the speakers. They sounded very in control and clear, right up to the point where the signal started going in and out. Besides, I've had the speakers up to higher levels in my den, which is larger than the listening room at the shop.

Well, sometimes I like to play it loud and I needed to make sure that what I was considering could do what I wanted it to do. As for cranking those little 3" woofers, as I said, the speakers were showing no signs of stress.

I understand that doubling the rated power of the amp is only supposed to get me an additional 3 db, which is why I didn't even bother to try the two other upper models that they had.

I know that my Aragon does what I need it to do with these speakers in the volume department. I suppose it's another example of the fact that not all watts are created equally.

I suppose I need to find an amplifier that sounds equally good at both low and higher volumes in my system.

Bombaywalla,

I'm going to read that thread, for sure. Thanks for the heads up.

Runnin,

Yeah, the Minuets are small, but they can eat some power. As mentioned above, I'm running an old Aragon 2004. It's a bit of a beast for what it is. It's rated at 100wpc at 8 ohms and 200 wpc at 4 ohms; and weighs right at 40lbs. My only problem with it is that I don't get that satisfying feeling from the music until I turn it up a bit until everything comes together.

My feeling was that maybe if I got into a smaller amp, I could get that satisfying sound at a lower volume. The NAD for me sounded good, but it didn't quite get it for me. It also didn't go quite loud enough for when I do want it loud.

I could have gone for one of the more powerful models, but at those prices, I'd have several options in terms of getting an amp.

Right now, for some reason, I really have a bug to get into a class D amp just to try it out, but that's a subject for another thread, which I'm gonna start right now.