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SPL meter results relative to Magnepan's (supposed?) craving for power/current

Hi all...
My thoughts are; if my ambient/background level is about 40dB and readings of "music" at my typical SPL from my listening position show about 75dB, that means that what I'm actually hearing is mostly noise and not my Maggies? Surely yes... Right? 

Even though my Maggies are in a very big room, do I need to rethink my amps power output of 400 WPC if I prefer a lower listening level? Overkill? I understand the benefits of "headroom" and amp/speaker "synergy".

At which SPL do your Maggies wake up and sing?
Thoughts? Comments?

Thanks!
mkh1099

Showing 1 response by don_c55

don_c55
1,025 posts
 
An ambient noise level of 40 dB is very high!

My ambient noise level is 28 to 33 dB.

My Magnepan 3.6 "wakes up" at at around SPL peaks of about 75 dB.

But that depends on amplifier quality, 

A very high quality power amp can sound very good, late at night, when ambient noise is low, even at low volumes.

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