A couple of years ago Hi-Fi+ published and interesting review, where they compared three Conrad Johnson's power amps- LP70, LP140, LP280, which use essentially the same design, circuit and type of output tubes, the only difference being, as you could probably guess, an output power-70, 140, and 280 Wt. respectively.
Without going into much detail, the bottom line was, that in the same system (actually with some fairly efficient speakers), every more powerful model sounded better, than the one with the lower output. LP 280 was an overall winner.
I completely concur with the above based on my personal experience.
Power of the amplifier has very little to do with the loudness, or efficiency for that matter. It has more to do with the ability of the power amp "to control" the speaker, allowing it to play at it's full potential. Obviously, it has direct impact on how the dynamic aspects of music are being handled.
In essense, you can make 10 Wt. amp to play almost any speaker loud enough, but it won't sound good doing it.
Without going into much detail, the bottom line was, that in the same system (actually with some fairly efficient speakers), every more powerful model sounded better, than the one with the lower output. LP 280 was an overall winner.
I completely concur with the above based on my personal experience.
Power of the amplifier has very little to do with the loudness, or efficiency for that matter. It has more to do with the ability of the power amp "to control" the speaker, allowing it to play at it's full potential. Obviously, it has direct impact on how the dynamic aspects of music are being handled.
In essense, you can make 10 Wt. amp to play almost any speaker loud enough, but it won't sound good doing it.