enough amplifier power


I am curious as to why so many people think that their amplifiers are powerful enough for their speakers. I use a Yamamoto A-08S--around 1.5 watts output. I use it with a Fostex F-106ESR. The combination is a little ragged at low volumes, but beautifully immediate. Distorts awfully at anything approaching a decent volume. I see people using 20-100 watt amplifiers with medium efficiency loudspeakers. I do not see how this can work any better. If you work out the math, most loudspeakers need 200-500 watts minimum. That is not even taking into account low impedance loudspeakers. Do people not know what distortion sounds like? Or, compression either, for that matter? Please enlighten me.
hedwigstheme

Showing 2 responses by russ69

It depends what you are trying to do. Play chamber music late at night or trying to make the neighbors move? I ran a 350 wpc amp for over 2 decades, Just sold my 400 wpc amp, and I still have a good 200 wpc amp on hand but most of my systems now are 25 or 35 wpc. It's more than enough for me. 
"...The golden rule is that your amplifier should be about twice as powerful as your speaker can handle..."

I’ve never heard such a rule. The reality is you need an amp that at a minimum gets the job done. But if you like to really jack up the volume, you better have a good amount of headroom. RMS power is meaningless because it's the distorted peaks that kill drivers.