70dB is really low, and you indeed have a totally different amp calculation than guys like me. When you’re regularly pushing well into the 90s, then powerful amps and efficient speakers become worth their weight in gold. The power factor between 70dB and 90dB is 100 times! That means 100 Watts to me is like 1 Watt for you. You should definitely subscribe to the "First Watt" philosophy.
Too much power?
I have a wonderful system with a great amplifier, and yet auditioned a more powerful version of the same amp. It indeed seemed to have more punch and drive, but at the expense of playing it a bit too loud. As my current system I rarely play over 70 db, since it’s perfect at low levels. I wonder other than bragging rights, what does more power get you? Since we aren’t here for PA style sound, is there a reasonable limit to how much you will benefit from higher power/ more expensive and? Especially since tire just using one watt most of the time?
Showing 3 responses by mulveling
@dain There’s definitely some gear that falls apart at lower volumes, for whatever reason (non-linearities such as class AB crossover distortion, etc). But I think the bigger issue is our human hearing response curves, and how it heavily favors midrange frequencies as the volume level drops low (this is how speech maintains intelligibility even at a whisper). This means that systems which boost the bass and treble frequencies will sound more "whole" at lower volumes. Conversely, systems with a truly flat response may need to be throttled to "come alive". This was the whole premise between "loudness" buttons on stereo gear of the past. |
I really didn’t expect it, but every time I cross over beyond 200 Watts of tube power, I get significantly better dynamics, bass, impact, and subjectively better "grip" over the big 15" drivers as a whole. Like I said I do listen quite loud, but then my speakers are 96dB / Watt Tannoys - and even 20 Watt amps can blast them quite loud, but NOT with the authority of the higher power amps! I have one set of tube monos good for an honest 250 Watts / ch, and another set of tube monos good for almost 300. There is a BIG difference with these over the sub-200 Watts tube & SS amps I’ve used. There are likely other reasons beyond the raw power output, like premium parts & construction - but I think there’s also something to running multiple push-pull pairs of tubes per side, if you can afford to. |