My modified Klipsch Lascalas do not need much power, but when I listen to certain music, at certain levels ( 100db peaks and above ), my ears do appreciate a larger, higher wattage amp. My ears check out fine, btw. Of course I am talking about good clean watts. The playback of cannon shots and explosions ( an example would be from Roger Waters " Amused To Death ", etc., definitely satisfies me more with larger output amps, and needless to say, my system handles it beautifully. Chamber music and some Jazz trios do great with any smaller amp I have, but there is still a " heft " and a " meat on the bones " thing going on with a larger amp. FYI, I drive all of my amps passively. Enjoy ! MrD.
Does my amp have enough juice to power my speakers?
Having just read a review in Stereophile of my Audio Physic Step Plus speakers (which I have to my utter dismay ,knocked over and dinged AAAgh!), the author states that his Shindo Haut-Briton Power amp (20wpc) couldn't drive the Step Plusses and states that nothing less than 35Wpc could drive them. My dilemma is that I have a Line Magnetic 216 IA rated at 22Wpc that sometimes sounds heavenly and on other days sounds eeh. Do I need an amp with more boost?