Help a newbie understand


So the pandemic had me listening to a lot more music and as a consequence, I sold my 30-year-old but still functioning Snell c2 mk4 speakers and Adcom GFA 555 200 watts per channel amp which together sounded great ( to my uneducated and now failing hearing ) playing my digital library of CDs.I wanted to try something different.
I replaced them with Canton reference 9k monitor speakers ( which can handle 200 plus watts and a Technic su g700 integrated amp. max. 70 watts a channel. These also sound great in many different ways. By the way I bought both on Audiogon.

What I miss in the new system is its ability to play loud( I'm old and going hard of hearing) this has led me to play the amp at levels between -10 and 0 per the amps "wide range scale peak power meters"  and at those levels, the needle occasionally spikes into the region slightly above 0  for fractions of a second to a second or two but not ever reaching +6( the next demarcation on the meter) per the integrated amp's meters.

My fear is frying my speaker's voice coil etc. by clipping when I play at the above level so I have two questions. First, is the headroom sufficient to prevent frying my speakers given the listening level and the volume's slight venture into going over 0 on the meter and second how do I read this "wide range scale peak power meter"?
The peak power meter's main demarcations are as follows-50/0001,-40/001,-30/01,-20/.1,-10/10, 0/100,+6/200.and under those numbers is the symbol db/%. 
So I went online but could find nothing that I could understand relative to how to read this type of meter. For example, if the relationship is dB/% what does  -50 represent and the % 0001?, what about 0/100,+6/200?The top numbers make no sense to me -50? -50 what no watts who's on first.
Thank you in advance for your time and expertise.
scott22

Showing 4 responses by scott22

Big _greg yes our speakers are the same mine is the newer version of yours. I do not think I am playing them super loud either but I wanted to have some idea of what danger I am putting them in as far as clipping of the amp.  My goal is not to blow then up via clipping of amp. my limited budget of $4,000 had to cover speakers,  power amp, preamp,DAC, and CD source lol.  As I never bought anything on Audiogon I wanted to purchase from a local seller in case there was a problem. There was no problem both sellers were honest and fair and I believe the price most reasonable both products were virtually new. I am pleased with the sound but when I see the needle go past 0/100 not knowing what that means concerned me as I do not want to blow up my speaker. Just want to understand the limits of this system.


Stringreen I loved those Snells but after 30 years I just wanted something different that was in my limited budget and geo proximity. The Snells also were power-hungry but the Adcom had 200 watts per to drive them. A lateral arabesque indeed but one from the tutued hippos in Fantasia to Misty Copeland at NYC.
Noromance great suggestion thanks. I love how helpful folks are on this site so willing to share their knowledge. to quote  Blanche DuBois  "Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." 
Coincidently this morning Paul McGowan had this valid observation in his soft sell  for PS Audio. 
Wow guys thank you so much nekoaudio, elliotbnewcomb, and fuzztone for your explanation and advice very much appreciated. I'm playing at different levels depending on the cd and even song .the "Who" Zepplin, Stones Beatles, Tull,   etc. the needle is bouncing as high as going anywhere from a little below  -10 to 0( on average) with spikes  I'm guessing +2. Jazz, blues   Dexter Gordon,  John Coltrain, Art Pepper, Bill Evans, Mile Davis, Chet Baker, etc.  -20,-10 those number and in the late evening even less power,-20,-30 on average. Classical on Telarc, Deutsche, Grammophon Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven, Schuber, Bach, I'm playing back at the -10 to  0 levels unless late then again much -20,-30. I'm listening about 7 ft from the speaker.

Millercarbon Thank you I'm learning a lot. Darn really like those Cantons but then again I really only have a couple of frames of reference. Sad all the local stereo stores have died off. As a kid I used to go to Soundex( spelling ?) in Willow Grove Pa Woo was that fun to visit you could hear so many levels of goodness depending on your disposable income.