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Is more amp power always better...?

Hello.  

Asking advice on what power Amp/int amp I should buy for my room size...

I have a small listening room.  11' x 10'. I have 89db speaker sensitivity  I am going to buy a solid state amp.   

For best audio quality (ignoring all other factors), my question is:  

Do folks advise "Buy as much watts per channel as you can afford"?  -OR- "Buy enough watts for the room" as more watts in reserve do not mean better quality audio?

Put another way: are more watts in reserve better for audio quality, even if amp does not use this power?  

Thank you...hope this was clear.  

dunkin
roadcykler
85 posts
 

More watts do not make for better sound. If that were true, a Decware Zen Triode would sound like absolute garbage at a whopping 2 wpc yet it does not. It continues to baffle me what some people believe despite any objective evidence. 

gotolondon2
23 posts
 

In my experience, the larger the transformer is in the Amplifier, the better it will sound (Solid State).

Class D is a bit different there, but a quality power supply in the Class D is important.

If I have this correct, the larger the transformer, the more current it can deliver (I may be wrong here) - I do know that the Dyn’s that I have are current pigs, and they sound phenomenal with high current amps and lean with lower current amps.

I have heard a lot of class D lately that sound really good.

My next Amp-Go-Round is going to be Purify’s with a tube input buffer stage (If I have that r=terminology correct).

In summery, like an above post stated, ‘Heavy is Good’ - most of the time.

My 2 cents

 

overthemoon
402 posts
 

Better amp is always better - watts are deceiving in my experience.

For example a 80 watt Audio Research Company integrated amp and it shocked me in the dynamics, clarity and powerful bass drive.  It sounded more powerful than McIntosh C462 to me.

I've currently own Moon 860A V2 which is 250 watt amp and it's an upgrade from Moon M400 monoblocks rated at 400 watts.  The 860A V2 has larger power supply (it's a dual mono) and more capacitance capacity and able to reproduce music at a finer level of detail with finesse as well as bass drive.

I agree more power is better though theirs more to understand the power of amp than just the watts per channel.

akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,167 posts
 

Amplifier power ratings: WPC in isolation is meaningless , it’s current (amps) that matters.

If your speakers are demanding to drive you’ll need a suitably muscular amplifier to support them.

Don’t look only at the headline power figure - see what happens when the impedance drops to four ohms. If the number nearly doubles, then your amplifier has good high current delivery and will be capable of driving more demanding speakers.

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