2. amps-preamps
  3. 183159-20042

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 2 responses by xenolith

xenolith's avatar
xenolith
166 posts
 

bigkidz is correct.

Do not concern yourself with amount of amplifier power, concern yourself with quality of amplifier power.

xenolith's avatar
xenolith
166 posts
 

Our custom tube monoblocks (75 lbs. with massive pi filtered power supply) put out about 100 watts each into our nominal 6 ohm 87dB NorthCreek crossovered B&W Matrix 801 Series 2 speakers. Our nearest neighbor’s house is about a 1/4 mile away. One day mrs. x and I were celebrating being alive with the volume knob and some of our Jimmy Buffet vinyl. A couple of days later at at the mailbox I ran into mr. neighbor who commented on how great our Jimmy Buffet concert sounded. He said he and mrs. neighbor enjoyed it with margaritas on their porch :)

The amps drive the speakers just fine.

More to discover