Even though the majority of one’s listening is done at around the 5 watt mark, I’m a firm believer of having ample power for transients. I also believe the quality of those watts make a huge difference as well. Having that head room and power even with highly efficient speakers make for a much better listening experience. No straining, no clipping, ease of presentation. In my experience my Tannoys are 95 db efficient and I drive them with a 500wpc McIntosh amp. When I first got the amp I thought it would literally blow me out of the room, but that wasn’t my experience. I think I’d be hard pressed to go down in wattage.
What is your experience with amp power?
So I wanted to know what my fellow audiophiles feel about power.
I realize that some speakers are current hounds and need a prodigious amount of power or watts (lets say Maggies). But my question is for speakers that do not. Speakers that are easy to drive, or maybe just higher in efficiency and can be driven by a modest tube amp or even an adequate receiver.
What is you experience with high power, high current amps ? Do your speakers sound better with more power? At low volumes, in a small or medium sized room? Do you think the quality of the music is dependent on higher powered amps?