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 mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
Not alone so much, but in practice along with the rest needed to make music, yes.

The "sweet spot" regarding human hearing is overlooked. We hear better ie our ears have a flatter frequency response at louder volumes. That's probably the biggest and most common factor. Next would be specific amp/speaker matching and room acoustics, which varies more case by case.
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