2. amps-preamps
  3. 1370650847

Do amps have a sweet spot?

What I mean by this is do amps have an output range at which they sound better? The reason that I'm asking is that I'm now running some very small speakers (Minuet Supreme Plus) and they're probably the least demanding speakers I've had; but I've found that my setup sounds better when I have the volume turned up.

Out of curiosity, I took my Minuets to my local shop and hooked them up to an NAD C326BEE. I thought it sounded pretty darned good at "normal" listening levels. I almost bought it, but then I decided to start cranking it up to what I would call "rockin" levels and the amp started to clip. If it could have played louder, I would have bought it.

So...is it usual for an amp not to open up until you start pushing it?

My current amp is an Aragon 2004.
tonyangel

Showing 1 response by 6550c

6550c
393 posts
 
I think solid state amps, such as yours, do have better TDH+noise specs at something like 80% of the power rating.
You might want to dig out some old AUDIO magazine when they still published test results, and you will see how the TDH+Noise varies with output power (as do other factors, I suppose).

One big reason Tubes sound better, is they simply test better for TDH+noise at very low power levels.
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