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An Amplifier Change for my Wilson Sophia 2's?

I have an Audio Research VT100 Mk II with 100 watts of tube power driving my newly acquired Wilson Sophia 2 speakers.  The sound is lovely, and the specs seem to be fine, but I do have to crank the preamp pretty high to get relatively loud music, especially when playing analog.  It got me to thinking that maybe these speakers would be better served by a lot more power.  

If I were to make a move here, I would be looking for a price neutral move.  That means selling (or trading) my amp for its market value (about $2300) and purchasing something at the same price.  

My initial research pointed to Bryston power amps, either an older one from the family of 4B Setreo amps or 7B mono blocks.  Either would deliver more than 500 watts into 4 ohms.

Would this much power make a large difference in the performance of the Wilsons?
marktomaras

Showing 1 response by jperry

jperry
2,430 posts
 
Where is the gain set on your phono stage? The gain on your Whest will go up to 72 db which is more than enough for your cartridge. I think 60 db would be about the right setting. Maybe you just need more gain from your phono stage.

Increasing from 100 watts to 400 watts would give another 6 db of volume. Doubling the watts equals a 3 db volume increase. A volume increase of 10 db would sound twice as loud twice as loud.
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