2. amps-preamps
  3. 190144-130

Shocked. Need Opinions. How muck power do I need?

I’m moving so of my sound gear around. As a temporary measure, I set up my little Cambridge EVO 75 in my main system. Driving my Dali Mentor 6s in a large room (36x36). Speakers are 9 feet apart and seat is 10 feet from speakers. This 75 water replaced my much more powerful monoblocks. To my shock, the amp drove these speakers just fine. The bass was a little weaker, but perfectly acceptable.  Here’s what I want to know— if 75 watts are enough, will 40 watts do? I’m talking all solid state. What say you?
 

 
 

 

tomaswv

Showing 2 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
16,592 posts
 

@loomisjohnson  - I can believe that, but also Pass I think likes big old school speakers.  See if you can find Pass' article on damping factor and whether it really should be low or not.

erik_squires
16,592 posts
 

I think you hit the nail on the head, the issue for many speakers is not watts @ 8 Ohms, but current delivery.  It’s how well an amplifier does in the 3-4 Ohm range that’s important, especially with speakers with dual woofers as they tend to hit a low in the bass, as you point out.

Unless you are trying to shake the walls down 100W is often more than enough for most listeners.

A Luxman 509 or even a 507 for instance would probably be more than enough for you.

More to discover