2. amps-preamps
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More Power is always good?

Hi all,

I'm a little lost in my search for the amp. Does more power (like more than 100W) means good?

I have been around listening to various amps, maybe a little too much that confused me.

Say for a room of 16ft by 20ft. What is the optimum power requirement?

For example, once I heard the Sugden A21Se (Class A 30W) driving the Spendor S6E, everything was nice except that I found that the basss definition and extension is lacking which is a concern to me, the showroom was smaller than my room. That's why I'm looking for amp with more power (like 100W), am I wrong? Will Class A amp like Sugden MasterClass or Accuphase E530 or Lavardin or others similar amp with power rating of 30W-50W be sufficient?

by the way I am using the old SF Grand Piano Home. I'm looking for a good amp that will outlast the GP Home, i.e. I don't have to change amp when i change the GP Home.

Any comments?

Thank you.
pingpong
gene888
8 posts
 
Hi PingPong,

Just my $.02 here. For maximum flexibility, you will probably want to go with a solid state amplifier that can deliver around 200 watts. This will drive almost any speaker at any level you will probably ever want to try.

More power is not necessarily better. It depends on how "clean" that power is, and what kind of distortion is introduced. Amplifiers which introduce lots of odd-order harmonics (which many cheaper solid-state amps do) can sound unnatural. Some people believe that tubes sound better because they introduce mainly even-order harmonics, which gives them a more natural sound (though there is much debate about this topic).

Also consider if you like keeping your gear on all the time. If you run the amp all day long, solid state is definitely the way to go (maybe with a tube pre-amp). Good luck!
snofun3
601 posts
 
Whoa - Mr. 51. Fill that bowl up again guy. Whew, that must be some stuff.
c5150
115 posts
 
Remember to flush twice.....it's a long way to my kitchen...lol

Yeah i know it seems ,far fetched and hard to let go of the brainwashing we get in life.It's not for everybody either.Only do-ers need apply.It is not a set and play mentality.I used to be that way,and if you read most of the threads on the GON ,we tend to be after a sound that is not possible. We also see when the truth comes out just how unhappy we are with our $$$ systems.Now ask yourself....is it a goal that is not possible ,or is an application that i am constantly doing wrong.I tried both sides of the hobby and you know where i stand.99% of hi-fi won't give it a chance ,but they are sure 100%, that it doesn't work.How could a 70$ dvd compete with a 20K cd player or TT.

But it does sound like nothing else you've ever heard.
chiefmegawatty
12 posts
 
I have found with many experiments with home designed pre/ power amps and Dual Concentric speakers thet there seems to be one simple rule of thumb.
The bigger the better and the more powerful the better.

Cheers,

Mike,
Bristol, UK
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