Do I have enough power?


I have a Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum with KT120 tubes, and I'm curious if this amp will provide enough power for a pair of Totem Mani-2 speakers. If anyone has any experience with these, I'd love to hear your opinion of this pairing. Thanks.
rossbernstein

Showing 3 responses by bdgregory

I doubt you will like the NAD (though I've never heard it) better than the Rogue with Mani's. I don't think 150W of SS power is enough to make that much difference.
I drive my Mani-2's with SS mono block amps rated at 400 w@4ohms, which is the right power for all listening. I previously owned a TAD 60 tube amp, and for fun I set it up with the Manis and had it running in triode mode - 30 watts/ch. It sounded wonderful (and I mean wonderful!) for acoustic and some jazz music (eg trio) - but would not drive them for anything dynamic like rock where you want more volume - even though it did sound good at lower volume. In Ultralinear mode (60 watts) it was a little better on dynamics, but that amp sounded so much better in triode. I saw somewhere that your Rogue is rated at 90 watts using (KT90 tubes)? This may be enough, but if you like hard driving rock or jazz fusion it may still leave you wanting.
I like them at least 2ft into the room, 4ft is better, but they are better than decent - probably great 1 ft away. They're just not their best unless well away from the wall.