2. amps-preamps
  3. 1211243644

mo' better bass: any substitute for watts?

Generally speaking, and all things being equal, will higher wattage amps generally produce more, better defined bass than lower wattage amps at a given volume level? I don't seem to hear much bass until I turn my amp up to a level that doesn't suit my listening habits. Wondering if this could be improved by upgrading my old NAD 25(or is it 35?)wpc Powerdrive amp with a newer, modest amp in the 100 wpc range or so. I'm thinking about driving a power amp directly off of an Oppo 980H. Speakers are Rega R3's which can produce bass in my small room when I crank the volume and/or bass tone control. Thanks!
clbone

Showing 2 responses by inpepinnovations

inpepinnovations
134 posts
 
Bob_reynolds has it right. depending on what the speaker impedence is at the bass frequency one is talking about, the speaker determines what wattage (power) is necessary to give the note at the required volume. If 100 watts are necessary into 2 ohms, then that will require so many amps, which will be more amps than if the impedence at that frequency were 8 ohms, but still 100 watts are required.
If the 100 watt amp is capable of delivering the amps at the lower impedence, then a more powerfull amp isn't going to be more capable of delivering more bass.
IOW, if the speaker can't do the job, then a more powerfull amp isn't going to compensate.

Bob P.
inpepinnovations
134 posts
 
Still, Atmasphere is not saying that one can get more or better bass by simply having more watts, which was the original question. And certainly not, if the speaker can't do Bass!

Bob P.
More to discover