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Experiences moving from high-power to lower-power system

Dear all,

For years I have been pursing a track of higher and higher power solid-state amplification with medium-to-low efficiency floorstanding speakers. I don't wish to start another tube vs. solid state thread. And we all know the benefits of more, often Class A, power: better headroom, transient response, imaging, soundstage, low-end control. Rather, I want to ask about the experiences of folks who have traded in higher-power for lower-power setups.  What were the tradeoffs? What got better? What got worse? Was it a question of fit with the space? Answers can be from folks with super-high-efficiency speakers and flea-watt amps, tube or solid state, or transitions to setups that are less extreme. 

Thank you,

Paul

paulburnett

Showing 1 response by alanp

alanp
1 posts
 
I have been on the fence on this for awhile deciding whether to go down this path or not. Never pulled the trigger because there are too many conflicting opinions on this route. Not too long ago one's options were between  high powered amps with low sensitivity speakers or SE flea amps with single driver HE speakers. But in recent years that has changed as newer speakers are becoming more efficient and compatible with "lower" powered SE tube amps.
The comment that  this type of system "isn`t for everyone" is frequently made. I would go further and say flea amps and single driver speaker combo systems are only for the few.

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