I own the Revel Salon 2s and drive them with an Ayre V5xe amp. The amp is rated at 150 into 8ohms (300 into 4ohms). The Salons are rated with a nominal impedance of 6ohms. The nominal impedance doesn't tell you much - especially if (like me) you listen to lots of music with a wide dynamic range such as classical or jazz. With classical or jazz played from an Aurender source, I can turn the volume control on my Ayre preamp up to about 35 to 40 out of 60 gradations before I get blown out of my big living/dining room with 9’8" ceilings. At those relatively uncomfortable volumes there is zero distortions that I can detect. With rock, those volumes become quite uncomfortable - Sympathy For the Devil or The Immigrants Song at 25 is incredibly loud.i have never triggered the protection circuitry.
Why is an XA30.5 a bad match for Revel Ultima Salon II speakers?
I actually own Revel M106 speakers right now, but some day, I intend to replace them with full range speakers like the Wilson Sophia II or Revel Salon II.
People say you need a lot of power to drive the Salons. The M106 and Salon II have almost the same sensitivity, and the XA30.5 can play the M106 louder than I prefer to listen (FYI I have a Velodyne powered sub). I guess my ears are pretty sensitive to loud volumes.
Does having all the mass of driving full range woofers into the 20hz range increase or complicate the workload on the amp significantly?
What is it about these speakers and many others that would demand a larger amp even at moderate volumes? My XA30.5 is supposed to be good for about 190W into 4 ohms, but nobody, including Pass Labs, seems to recommend an amp of that size for the Revel Salon II.
If I were to buy the Salons but had no amp budget, would I be better off trading for a more powerful but somewhat lesser quality amp than the XA30.5 such as a Parasound?
People say you need a lot of power to drive the Salons. The M106 and Salon II have almost the same sensitivity, and the XA30.5 can play the M106 louder than I prefer to listen (FYI I have a Velodyne powered sub). I guess my ears are pretty sensitive to loud volumes.
Does having all the mass of driving full range woofers into the 20hz range increase or complicate the workload on the amp significantly?
What is it about these speakers and many others that would demand a larger amp even at moderate volumes? My XA30.5 is supposed to be good for about 190W into 4 ohms, but nobody, including Pass Labs, seems to recommend an amp of that size for the Revel Salon II.
If I were to buy the Salons but had no amp budget, would I be better off trading for a more powerful but somewhat lesser quality amp than the XA30.5 such as a Parasound?