How many watts??


If I have a 80 watt stereo amp and I normally listen at quarter volume and never play at levels higher than this. Do I really need 80 watts could I use a 15 watt amp at half volume?

My next question if I have speakers that my mfg states needs min 50 watts to really make them sound good with my current amp rated at 80 watts but played at qtr volume does that mean I am not really getting the best from these speakers. If I play at half volume this is too loud, do I need a bigger room. Sorry if I did not explain clearly enough.


ecpninja

Showing 2 responses by ghdprentice

It’s a balance between speaker efficiency (less efficient, easier to make accurate) and power requirements. More power generally allows faster rise to transients. The right balance depends on you personal tastes and listening habits. I have 140 watt per channel tube amp and my speaker sensitivity is 90db. I listen at ~70 db… I believe Audio Research is working on a REF 250, I’ll likely buy one. It will increase the dynamics of the system at all levels of play.
In general more power is better. Watts are relatively meaningless if you desire good quality sound. Lots of current is a better indicator. If an amp, say, doubles the wattage with decreasing impedance it is a high current amplifier. But basically the higher quality the amplifier the better they sound. There are different designs that sound somewhat different.