Minimum Power Needed to Drive Klipsch Cornwall IVs? - Considering Erhard_Audio Ray
Hi,
I'm new to the the hifi world but have taken up the hobby with alacrity. I recently purchased a pair of Cornwall IVs to go with my Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum 2. At the time I purchased the speakers I had no idea what speaker sensitivity is. Now that I do, I realize that I have a lot of interesting options when choosing an amp. I have been toying with the idea of getting an Erhard-Audio Single-Ended Ray along with their Aretha pre-amp. The amp is only 4W/channel. I'm highly skeptical but I've been told that 4W is plenty to drive a 102db speaker and that the sound of an SE amp is amazing.
Wondering if anyone has experience driving Klipsch Cornwall IVs (or other high sensitivity speakers) with a low wattage amp. I'm also interested in experience with SE amps.
My system consists of the following:
Technics 1200G
VAS Nova cartridge
VAS SUT
Rogue Audio Triton 2 phono pre-amp
Bluesound Node
Musican Pegasus DAC
Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum 2
My room is 15' x 30' with 14' ceilings. It's a photo studio in an old mill. I'm often moving around so I need the sound to fill the space. BUT I've gotten noise complaints from my neighbors so...
Musical preference is all over the place. Today I'm listening to Dire Straits, Sturgill Simpson, Paul Simon, Miles Davis, Tycho, Post Malone, Taylor Swift, Michelle Gurevich etc.
@katokaelin Too bad there's not more information on their site- that amps sounds interesting! The cleaner the amp is, the more you'll turn up the volume control without really thinking about it. That's because an amp with less distortion won't sound as loud and so you'll naturally use the power. |
I agree with @atmasphere I drove Cornwall IVs with an SE amp using EL34s, about 10 wpc. That worked great. I am now driving Lascala IIs with a 300B, also a great match. I would have concerns with 4 watts in a room as large as yours. |
@katokaelin -- just running back of the envelope numbers, if the loud end of your listening is 90 dB at one meter, you're looking at about one-eighth of a watt to achieve that. The four watts would get you to 108 dB peaks. So, from my perspective, the Erhard's power is not a problem for the listening levels you gave. The bigger issue will be whether you prefer the sound quality of the Erhard or like a different sonic signature. If the seller has a return policy it would certainly seem worth a trial. |
