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In Reply to: RE: newb here first post. getting back into hifi need some a dice on power/impedance posted by John Elison on April 18, 2015 at 00:26:58
Wow! Nice speakers! Unfortunately, my budget these days is more mid fi than hi fi so I'm limited to 1000 dollars. I've been looking into the emotiva products which seem to get good reviews from their users. I was thinking of a pair of xpa100 Monoblocks at 250 at 8 ohms and 400 at 4 ohm respectively. Then there is the xpa 2 which puts out 300 at 8 ohms and 500 at 4 ohms. Not sure if that's too much for my speakers. Again, I've been reading that I should worry less about to much power?
Follow Ups:
The XPA-2 is a great amp and has plenty of grunt to drive those speakers. Plus I've heard it plays in Class A mode for the 1st 50 watts or so. However, the XPA-100s are very good amps, too, and you'll get the benefits of monoblock construction - no crosstalk between channels.
Honestly, either model will provide you with more than enough clean power and both come with 5 years warranties. If I were making the purchase, I would probably go with the XPA-100s - less weight to lug around and the $100 savings is nothing to sneeze at. Additionally, the XPA-100s offer 60,000 uf of capacitance per channel (total of 120,000 for 2 channels) where the XPA-2 offers 45,000 uf for both channels. This means that the XPA-100s have *enormous* reserve power available for sustained transients.
Either way, you have 2 great choices here...
-RW-
Most of the time, you'll never listen above 80 to 90 db. Otherwise, you'll be as hard of hearing as my ex-Marine son-in-law that got the 50 cal machine gun as his job.Often, the lower rated amps that stay in Class A for lower outputs do sound better. Your speakers and room will give out far before you get to 300 watts.
-Rod
Edits: 04/18/15
The ML 12s that you have are listed on Logan's site as a 4 ohm nominal load and 92db efficiency. I did not see any test results of that load rating to know how much lower than 4 ohms they may go. My own experiences with Thiel CS3.6 and many other 4 ohm rated speakers is that they will and do often dip below 4 ohms and that becomes the Achilles heel of many amps. Unstable below 4 ohms leads to possible amp or speaker damage in some cases.
My opinion and many others is this: To much clean power is far less dangerous than to little power. Clean power in reserve covers the dynamic swings and keeps the amp out of the "clipping" range. Clipping will destroy speakers and can hurt the amp as well. That said, I like they way your thinking with the Emotiva monos or stereo amps. They spec out pretty strongly at 8 and 4 ohms with almost double the power into 4 ohms. (a good sign)
Mono block amps are a blast to have for many reasons (I had many) but keep in mind the need for two outlets (1 duplex) dedicated to the amps alone! You're not going to plug big monos into a power strip and get the maximum from them unless you have a non-limiting power distribution system. Then there's all the other stuff you have looking for outlets. See, monos are fun but come with criteria. The XPA-2 on the other hand needs just one wall socket and the rest of the gear can run off a distribution network.
92db doesn't scream the need for massive power to play fairly loud but your own playback habits determine the need for headroom. If you like it dynamic and live then yes, you need a substantial amount of power and both of your examples would suffice short of a rock concert in your room. Your speakers don't appear to me that concert levels are your goal but rather good sound. Maybe loud at times but not AC/DC or The Who live.
Yes Cruz. You hit it on the head. I like to listen loud at times but not to crazy and not for long. Quality sound is important to me. Thank you everyone for your assistance. It's not only educational for me but making me feel better about my purchasing decisions.
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