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?

2psyop

Showing 1 response by musicfan2349

@curiousjim mentioned Acoustat. For years I used a pair of Hafler DH-220s running in bridged mode to power them and the RH Labs sub I have. This provided about 440wpc. Then a few years ago someone pointed out to me that electrostatics aren't exactly stable impedance and that the bridged mode was not an optimal set up. It was a simple enough experiment to change things by flipping the bridging switch and moving the speaker cables to a single channel on each amp. 

The difference in sound was astounding even though I was only providing 100wpc to the speakers! The detail and depth was greatly improved and the bass was still authoritative. I was amazed. (And my butt was sore from kicking myself for wasting all those years! 🙄)

The point I'm attempting to illustrate is that power is only one factor to consider. Compatibility and quality should also be carefully considered in your choice of amplification. BTW, I wound up with an ARC VS-110 which is about 110wpc and I'm happy as a clam. While it doesn't go to the subterranean depths of the solid state Haflers, it does everything else very, very well. 

Hope these thoughts help your hunt.

Happy listening...