Hooked up an old realistic power meter
Not sure if anyone remembers the Realistic APM-300 and I've had one from years ago and decided to hook it back up for fun. According to it, for most music and volume I listen to, it says I'm using barely a watt.
My speakers are 87db for one watt, amp pushes 225. My sounds level meter confirms the approx. 88 decibels I listen to and I did crank it up to around 90+ decibels and was still only using a few watts.
For some reason I though I would be using way more power than that and wonder why if everything is correct, why I need such a big amp?
That must have been quite the revelation for you. Granted, it won’t be the outcome in every scenario. Some speaker designs will demand/require more amplifier power/current. I suspect that the 12 watt amplifier is very high quality with a well thought out power supply. Charles |
Your findings aren’t that surprising to me. I do believe that the often stated need for reasonable amplifier “headroom “ is logical but can be overstated. I find myself generally in the same camp as @carlsbad2 . If possible borrow a high quality modest power rated amplifier (Tube or transistor) and compare with your current amplifiers. Could be a case of quality amplifier wins out versus the quantity of available/stated watts. Charles |
