Does my amp have enough juice to power my speakers?


Having just read a review in Stereophile of my Audio Physic Step Plus speakers (which I have to my utter dismay ,knocked over and dinged AAAgh!), the author states that his Shindo Haut-Briton Power amp (20wpc) couldn't drive the Step Plusses and states that nothing less than 35Wpc could drive them.  My dilemma is that I have a Line Magnetic 216 IA rated at 22Wpc that sometimes sounds heavenly and on other days sounds eeh.  Do I need an amp with more boost?  

udog

Showing 1 response by itsjustme

you need to provide more data.  I quickly looked up the speakers, 8 ohms, but no sensitivity listed int he review i found. Simple two-way, probably not too bad a reactive load.
I (most of us) don't know much about your amp either. 20wpc is a measurement into a pure 8 ohm resistive load, which is rarely seen in the wild.  Whether an amp can drive speakers depends on many factors including current, stability and simple voltage (generally the limiting factor in FTC power ratings).
bear in mind that dBs are -- and perceived sound levels  -- are exponential and twice the perceived sound level requires TEN TIMES the power - so the next logical jump from 209 is not 35, but 200wpc.
Yet a solid, high current, stable-into-anythign amp will drive most speakers to acceptable levels in a small to medium room.
I would suggest getting all the specs on your amp and calling the manufacturer, or your dealer, if he/she is technical.
84dB, mentioned above is very inefficient and will demand some power to come alive.  That said, i presume you want small speakers for a small living space? Might work fine.

G