@atmasphere Your posts often appear to be casting pearls before swine. @ditusa Expends far less energy offering links to seminal and informative articles. You persist in crafting exquisite, targeted essays only to be ignored, or worse, belittled. I admire your persistence, and respect your knowledge, craft and experience. I only wish everyone did. Perhaps the seeds you sow will take root and grow in the minds of those who receive them.
High current amp search
Hello, so as the title says, I'm looking for a 200+ wats amp (8ohm) that will double it's power down to 2 ohms but importantly also check all the audiophile boxes so strong, articulate, fast bass, smooth resolving mid-range and extended non fatiguing highs. It's proving to be rather difficult because hardly any manufacturers list output into 2ohms. Budget is around 4000$ so I'm looking at mostly used. Besides something like the Krell FPB 300/400 CX which can be had for that much , what else can be recommended?
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Try a Parasound JC5 back-to-back against a “high current” Coda No.8 and then you will better understand Atmasphere’s argument regarding power vs current.
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Hello lukaszwk! Don't miss the Starke Sound Fiesta 4, the best bargain on power amps. The have been offering special pricing around Thanksgiving for the last few years. I drive Maggies and inkwitz with them and anythintg else that enters my home. Enjoy the Music! |
My philosophy is that since it is the speakers that shape a system’s end sound, they come first. Selecting speakers based on impedance is like picking a movie based on which snacks the theater’s concession carries. Go that route and you may see a great movie, if you’re lucky. You may find that the speakers whose sound pleases you most have a nasty impedance curve. Don’t go oh snap and look for different speakers; just limit your amp auditions to suitably powerful candidates, and add a generous margin for headroom. @atmasphere you are right about power vs current, of course. Ohm’s law tells us that I=V/R, (current equals voltage divided by resistance); therefore if a) voltage is constant, and b) impedance (resistance for all intents and purposes) drops by half, then current has to double, and so on. So, if I’m not mistaken, if you’re pushing, say, 50V into an 8 ohm load, that’s 6.25A of current and 312.5W of power. That would amount to about 100 dB SPL from a 85 dB (in)efficient speaker. 50V into 4 ohms: 12.50A and 625W 50V into 2 ohms: 25A and 1250W 50V into 1 ohm: 50A and 2500W Note that loudness is the same in all four examples above. The rise is limited by how much current the power supplies are able to deliver. There are high-current amps out there. Here is a quote from the Stereophile review of the Krell FPB-600:
The complete measurements are here. The numbers are so insane it’s worth the read. https://www.stereophile.com/content/krell-full-power-balanced-600-power-amplifier-measurements |
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