It's baffling that in this hobby so few people understand what speaker sensitivity actually means. They just take what's fed to them by reviewers or other opinions and regurgitate it when talking about speakers and how sensitive they are or are not. Someone once said something along the lines of, better to keep your mouth shut and be thought the fool than to open it and confirm the thought. Then again, those that continue to spread the nonsense, think they're right.
300B SET Amp driving Wilson Sabrinas
Interesting experience to share.
In my home system I have a pair of Wilson Sabrina speakers normally driven by a Modwright KWA 150SE (Special Edition). On a lark, I replaced the Modwright with an Elekit 8600S 300B amp (Lundahl output transformers and Mundorf Supreme output capacitors) I had in another system.
The surprise, not only did the Elekit drive the Sabrinas very well (improved clarity and tonality), but at the same volume with the same input level as the Modwright! Using a passive preamp, when I set the volume knob on the preamp to the same point for both the Modwright and the Elekit it results in essentially the same volume from the speakers.
Admittedly I listen at moderate levels (SPL rarely exceeds 70dBA), but the sensitivity of the Sabrinas is only 88 dB. Who would have thought!!
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@carlsbad2 @jasonbourne71 is exactly right. Live music is extremely dynamic. Have you ever been 15 feet from a drum set? 85 dB is for apartment dwellers. Real men listen at 95dB and piss off their wives. Sabrinas will do this easily, but that amp will choke. @8th-note 1++ Even with Klipschhorns that amp is not enough. We use to bottom out Stereo 70's on K horns. Marantz Model 9s did the trick. Sounding OK and performing realistically are two separate issues. I do not want "sounding OK" I want the band in my media room. I want to close my eyes and FEEL like I am at a live performance. I is that feeling that makes people want to jump up and dance. "Working" is not good enough. People are entitled to have whatever goal they like with their systems. If listening to a table radio is their goal then a SET amp is perfect and so simple they could easily build one themselves. @ozzy62 is on the path to success. @vonhelmholtz has a valid point. Speaker sensitivity is the volume a speaker reaches with a given power at 1 meter. Have you ever seen people listen to their system at 1 meter from the speakers? Volume drops off rapidly with distance especially with point source speakers. This is why larger rooms require bigger more powerful systems. SET amps are for closets and headphones |
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- 34 posts total