How many watts per channel are enough?


I am considering my first tube amp (Prima Luna Prologue 5 or Jolida 502 p). I lean toward the Prima Luna but it only has 34 watts per channel. Is that sufficient to drive my Jm Labs Daline 3.1 speakers (rated at 89db into 8 ohm)? My preamp is a Jolida 5 t. The room is 12 by 24 with high ceilings. I listen primarily to jazz and classical at low to moderate volume. Thank so much for any advice.
hugo1

Showing 4 responses by wolf_garcia

Your taste in music seems sane, but speaking from experience, only if you (and your friends) drink a lot, you own a disco ball and/or play a lot of beerpong, love to dance all night to Dubstep, and your listening room is in an abandoned shoe factory, 36 watts might be light (in that case simply buy the speakers, subs, and amps from a band or DJ that gave up). A Jolida 502P with "factory upgrades" is about the same cost or less than the Primaluna. I have one (502p) running supposedly 90db speakers (Silverline Preludes...review testing noted perhaps they are less) in a room a bit larger than yours and it has plenty of power to spare, sounds astonishingly good, and includes balanced inputs and "easy biasing" (you could buy 2 wired mono and double your fun for less than the cost of virtually any other decent stereo tube amp)...I do use a REL sub with it but the amp runs full range, and has 85 to 115 watts peak depending on what specs you read. If you "actively listen" to normal music within 12 feet of your speakers, a 65 watt per side amp will give you all the juice you need unless you have hearing issues, really thick hair, or very bad taste in music...Jolidas are very rarely reviewed for some reason which is why I blather about mine. Not sure why I blather about other things, but really...who cares?
Higher wattage amps make you feel better about things unless you're an "efficient speaker with a single ended mini watt amp" dude, in which case you feel better when you point that out.
Consider the fact that often you can save some money by buying the lower powered version of a well regarded design and get the benefit of a greatsounding amp without extra power you likely don't need. Pass Labs makes that point all day. And remember, a tube amp that is pushed in louder musical transients can still sound sweet as the character of the distortion (2nd order) is more ear friendly than a solid state amp clipping, which is a sound nobody should have to endure.