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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?
sboje

Showing 1 response by xti16

xti16
1,525 posts
 
@bifwynne 
Depends how loud you like to listen. Tubes are fantastic from top to bottom until you want max spl. As you hit the upper limit of tubes the highs and mids will increase in loudness but the lows will peter out and stay consistent. That said if your normal listening level is in the upper 80/low 90db the ARC should be fine. 95db peaks should be fine but once you push 100/100+ db the lows peter out IMO.
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