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Tri-amping Qs:

I'm anticipating buying a pair of Emerald Physics EP-2.3s. I would ultimately like to tri-amp them. I'm thinking of starting with a single 100wpc amp, then adding a second amp for bi-amping, and finally a third for tri-amping. The speakers are 97dB efficiency. My average listening levels are 75-80dB and peaks are rarely over 105dB. A 100wpc amp will provide 20dBw of power. With the 97dB efficiency, max volume would be 117dB. My questions:
Is my math correct?
Will this give me enough headroom?
Will I have to use 3 identical amplifiers?
Or can I reduce the wattage of the mids and highs, say 60wpc for the mids and 30wpc for the highs?

My head says no.
Thanks GP
gary7m

Showing 2 responses by gary7m

gary7m OP
4 posts
 
mzkmxcv,
Thanks for clearing that up for me. 
GP
gary7m OP
4 posts
 
Gentlemen,
Thanks for your responses. I appreciate them very much and I appreciate you taking the time to write those long answers. I can now go looking for an amp that will have enough headroom @ approximately 75-100w.

Al: Thanks for your two responses. That was thoughtful. Your answers gave me a way to think differently about my questions and gave me a basis to compare amplifiers.

mzkmxcv: Thanks for taking the time to respond. Your answer added more to my knowledge and provided an answer to what power I would need to deal with headroom and also extended my understanding of how to determine how powerful an amp should be to drive particular speakers. Now I know, in the future, that I double the wattage as a good rule of thumb.

When I said "peak," I should have said, "On my chintzy iPhone-based dB meter, A-weighted, the needle infrequently taps105dB," usually in orchestral music. The EP 2.3s have an onboard DSP, so I can use your information about that. I also appreciate your opinion about tri-amping. That will save me a pile of cash and allow me to put more money into a higher quality single amp. I guess it's the geek in me that thought tri-amping would be better than using a single amp.

Again, thanks to you both,
GP
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