Hey I'm from the 100 wpc or it sucks days...but my tube amp...25 works. Four me anyway.
How many watts do you really need?
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.
- ...
- 79 posts total
There is high-audio hype everywhere, not worth evaluating non-factual (vs measurable) claims. Doing so is not only unfruitful but creates indignate anger negative feelings. The only thing that is helpful is comparative review to get some relative sort of value. Life’s too short. Best to spend your time on positive things - like listening to great music. |
@kennyc I'm on your page Kenny c, understanding that you may not be totally in agreement with what I'm saying but at least like me you understand that extra wattage for headroom can protect the amp and the speaker that will keep everything running smooth sailing from clipping and distorting because of power demands from certain speakers. I also understand and I'm sure you do as well that an amplifier that is too powerful can also destroy your system and burn it OUT. But when I was speaking of high-power amplification I was speaking in terms of the Ultra-High-End Audiophile and what he is looking for in his system that is not Vacuum Tube powered. But for amplifiers that are like... D' AGOSTINO Class A/ AB and GRYPHON Class A/AB are producing for that market and level of AUDIOPHILE. Like you said you must match the amplifier to the speakers. And SUBJECTIVELY that's just my opinion on this subject of wattage and how much you really need. But I'm sure someone would beg to differ, and for that matter to each his own. GOOD DAY AND PEACE TO ALL |
@blackbird55 - I’m in agreement with you. Generally, don’t run high powered amps on highly efficient speakers as small volume control increases can send too much damaging power to the speakers in a hurry. Too little amp power to a lower efficiency speakers can lead to clipping and distortion when the amp is pushed too hard. I run a 320wpc8Ω/460wpc4Ω Audionet Humboldt into a 89db Vimberg Mino D. I also plan to investigate low watt tube midrange magic amps starting with flea watt SET amps down to ~2wpc on my 100db Volti Rival (wattage verified by Greg Roberts). If I love tube Sonics, I may climb to better gear using my “imaginary” ample budget. |
Professional sound level meters will do peaks. You may not see it on screen because it is not displaying the sound level fast enough, but it will store the peak in memory for subsequent readout. You can also record "L" values (e.g., "L5") which would be the sound level exceeded X% (e.g., 5%) of the time. These are typically used in regulatory compliance. For example, an ordinance may specify that the sound at the property line is not to exceed a level of 70 dB for 15 minutes per hour (L25), or 65 dB for 30 minutes per hour (L50). The display shown here is in "Fast Response" with "Linear Weighting." |
- 79 posts total