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 2 responses by n80

Interesting post. Can't help you because i have no experience with low-power systems and only experience with one high power system (250w/c). But I have an add-on question: You mentioned space/size constraints. What other reason would there be for going from a high to a low power system?
I don't understand speaker specs and such but I understand the concept that some can be driven effectively with lower watts (efficient) while others take more watts (less efficient).

So, does efficiency have any bearing on SQ across the board?

Does a more efficient speaker necessarily sound better at lower volume than a less efficient one.

I've heard that my speakers (Aerial Acoustic 7B towers) are not efficient and require a lot of power. To me they sound good at low volume but I have nothing to compare them to.