I drive a pair of ZU Audio, Omen Def Supremes with a Pass Labs XA 25 class A amp. The speakers are listed as 98 db sensitive and I am using my PS Audio Direct Stream DAC as a volume control (probable not optimal), the room is 24x21x8 and I do have 2 Rythmic 15” down firing sealed subs, my listening position is 12’ from speakers. I can reach 100 db sound levels at my listening position. As someone mentioned above Pass labs may be an outlier when it comes to power rating their equipment. Conclusion I listen to mostly rock and the wife will crank up the Techno(feels like I’m in a German Discotech) while working out and I have never wanted for more power.
How much power needed to drive 91db speakers?
Sonus Farber lists the sensitivity of my speakers at 91 db SPL@ 1 meter @4 ohms. They also say I should use 50-450 watts of power. My PS Audio amps pump out 500 watts @4ohms, so the max isn’t a problem, but if I switched to something 15-50 class A watts, would that be more than enough power?
Thanks in advance.
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- 46 posts total
As others have mentioned, power requirements also depend on the size of your room & volumes you enjoy. In addition, the type of music is a consideration. Quieter acoustic music generally uses little watts but music w/ big dynamics and / or big bass can use 10 times the average power on peaks which is the primary reason for truly needing hundreds of watts/ channel. |
@curiousjim. Speaker power requirements see here. Mike |
- 46 posts total