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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
geek101
284 posts
 
@shkong78 500 Watts of SET per channel? How much heat do the amps put out?.
wtf's avatar
wtf
307 posts
 
After many years with inefficient speakers and the appropriate amps to drive them my own curiosity got the best of me. I’m somewhat budget constrained (lower end of the audiophile totem pole) which is a bit challenging when trying to put together a SET/high-efficiency system but with plenty of research behind me I started with the speakers and purchased Omega’s Super 3i. To get a handle on the sound I paired them with several amps I have in storage. Good start. Long story short, about 3 months later I ordered a Decware SE84UFO (2 wpc). The reported synergy I read about was immediate and obvious. I’ve since added a nice NOS DAC and Omega’s DeepHemp 8 Subwoofer. This is the most satisfying system I’ve put together .. tone, nuance, coherence, soundstage .. everything improved. Late night listening is a joy. No doubt this type of system isn’t for everyone but for me, I can’t imagine going back.

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.

1extreme's avatar
1extreme
161 posts
 
Ok, this is weird. I just posted the above comment and it got logged under another's userid.  Is AG having a problem?
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.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,794 posts
 
B&W801 driven by Jadis 500 gave most powerful bass in my room.

High efficiency full range speaker driven by 300B gave beautiful human voice.
I get the best of both worlds- I run Classic Audio Loudspeakers which go down to 20Hz but are also 98db 1 watt/1 meter.

I run them with tube amps that have full power bandwidth to 2Hz, and unmeasurable distortion and lower power levels. I get the best bass I've ever had in my room, along with the most realistic voices (and other instruments too). The amp makes about 45 watts into the 16 ohms of the speakers.

If you really want this to happen, the higher impedance of the speaker is really helpful to the performance of the amplifier!
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