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Eminent Technology 8b Speakers - Amp/wattage Recommendations

I recently purchased a nearly new pair of 8bs. I am now looking for an amplifier. 

My preference is tubes over SS.

The room is 23x15x10 feet dedicated for music. 

I like to play music fairly loud at times. 

I will likely biamp, meaning whatever tube amp I end up using will receive a high-pass filtered signal and drive only the mid and high freq panel drivers. 

I am aware that Bruce T recommends 75-200 watts. 

I am considering two options, (a) Quicksilver KT monos with KT150 tubes (100 watts) and (b) another amp by a boutique builder using 4 KT 120 per side and 120 watts. 

My preference is option (a), but worry that 100 watts is not sufficient. 

I would appreciate any real-world experience on how many watts is practically needed with the 8bs. Are they as power hungry as I think they are, or is 100 watts more than enough? 

Does bi-amping make a difference, meaning one can get away with using less watts since you are driving only the mids/high drivers and not the subs? 

Any feedback or suggestions from 8b users would be appricated. 

Thanks much! 

 

 

jwr159

Showing 1 response by blisshifi

blisshifi's avatar
blisshifi
1,231 posts
 

I’ll probably get yelled at for this, but I had the LFT-8b in a small room (10’x20’) a few years ago. It was powered by a Luxman MQ-70, a rare 35x2 EL-34 tube amp influenced by Tim de Paravicini. Well, it rocked without clipping and distorting, easily into the 90db’s, maybe even 100db peaks. This was also considering sitting about 7-8’ away. One thing to consider is the added gain from a preamp, which is likely 8-14db, and room gain. Once you add all that up, it boils down to the quality of the current and of each watt.

Given the OP’s room size, a more powerful amp might be needed, but perhaps not necessarily.

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