@bartsw
the discussion is about
"According to the president of D’Agostino, he and others make amps that are way more watts than any of us will ever need and almost none of them stay in class A very long."
I’m asking you to sum up your contribution/belief/opinion related to that.
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My posts have been my experience related to, yes, we use very little power ’except’ for peaks. That leaves everyone needing to judge how much reserve we want for those peaks.
That’s how I got into meters showing peaks, and posted the Fosi thingy, I ordered one, it will be here Monday.
I recalled having to change the setting on McIntosh meters, just to get them moving, and mentioned that. Struck me as a joke at the time, like, you sure as hell don’t need all that power if it can’t even move the needles.
I have a digital SPL meter that shows db’s, active, avg, peak.
My Reel to Reel Meters seem to rise faster than they fall, that’s my perception, I assumed by design to help me set the levels to avoid distortion/over-saturation while recording, and/or playback.
I read half of a long article that popped up about McIntosh Meter history, it got complicated, I stopped reading, but I thought it mentioned the new linear meters have ’peak hold’, so I mentioned that. I just tried, it didn’t pop up this time, you could do your own search.
As for sensitivity, you mentioned the avg. spec we are given is for 300 to 3,000 hz. That’s the 1st I ever heard that, no one else said ’that’s right’ or ’that’s wrong’, so I’m in no position whether to believe that or not.
In any case, I believe 300-3000 is the bulk of what we hear, bulk of what we need power for, as I said, very low will have it’s own separate amp, and highs do not need much power for any sound level, too much power burns their coils.
Soooo, I used the term ’based loosely’ on your speaker’s sensitivity. If you want a simple answer, and don’t have or want to buy meters, an inexpensive SPL meter (I think everyone should own one) and your speaker’s sensitivity can give you a ’loose answer’. And that’s at the listening position, not 1 meter away.
btw, IF these speakers can make 90db at 1 meter away, which is quite loud, with only 1 watt, doesn’t that prove the statement "... way more watts than any of us will ever need ..."
All of this meter/sensitivity/peaks is complicated by true impedance curves which are far from flat, have dips, peaks, and I don’t know how meters response to varying impedance is.
I like tubes, and my preference is for 30-45 wpc, and I have always advised: ’don’t even listen to inefficient speakers (you may like/love them), don’t do it’
so, instead of countering what I say, relative to ’yes, we use very little power, except peaks’, tell us what you believe, especially, how do we ascertain enough power for peaks.
