2. amps-preamps
  3. 194444-3130

??? How Do You Determine How Far You Can Take An Amp When Choosing Speakers ???

 Talking to a friends son today who is only a few years into this hobby..He’s moved up from an all in one home theater system to a gently used Peachtree Audio Nova ( Gen.1 ) that his dad had sitting in a box the last few years..
 As he is an Electrical Engineering student, he’s gone through the amp & refurbished it with new caps,resistors,transistors & a new 6922 tube from Gold Lion...
 His speakers are also hand me downs from pops..A set of original Dynaudio Audience 52’s..While discussing speaker upgrades he asked me the same question I posted in my thread title..I honestly didn’t know how to answer him..
 I’ve always worked on the budget basis,seeking out the best option for my given price range..He’s already making $ hand over fist & he stated flatly he didn’t have a budget in mind,being willing to spend as much as it took to get the absolute best speakers his amp would support..
 At some point in the future I’m sure he will finally get the urge to upgrade the amp but that could be many years from now..
 So the question I pose to you is, how would you determine just how much speaker your choosen amp will sing with before becoming the weakest link in the system?Twice the retail value of the amp?3 times,5 times,10?
 I realize most common system building dogma dictates choosing speakers first then buying an amp for them but he's already got the amp so that doesn't work here...
 I know synergy between speakers & amp plays some importance in the final overall sound but he lives in an area not known for being an audio store hotspot & dragging his amp to stores several hundred miles away seems like a real PITA...Any advice?
 


 

freediver

Showing 1 response by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
7,722 posts
 

Wow, that is a challenging question. It’s a bit easier if thinking about the beginning of the audio chain, since if you have a poor signal, better components may make it sound worse. But at the speaker end, unless you are under powering the amp, generally, the better the speaker the better it will sound... I guess unless you are getting a tremendously detailed speaker... for example Magico... too revealing. I have heard Magico make some pretty good equipment sound bad. Hmm, thinking out loud... obviously. 

Most of us are trying to set ourselves up for the next upgrade. But sounds like he does not want to. So, I’d go for the 2x to 3x area. If he doesn't know he is going to upgrade in the future... then being conservative makes sense. 

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