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Bottlehead Forum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share you ideas and experiences. |
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In Reply to: This question is very intersting to me posted by NickR on September 15, 2000 at 07:41:52:
Nick, you are pretty much right on with these comments.The important fact about amplifier power requirements is that it takes a change of 6-10dB to sound twice or half as loud. That is a factor of 4 to 10 in amplifier power! Basically, the peak acoustical power requirement for an acceptable sound system varies over a wide range, depending on your musical taste and your room.
Musical taste can easily account for a +/-6dB (4 to 1/4) variation in power requirements. Room acoustics (size and absorption) are probably good for another +/-3dB for "ordinary" rooms (2 to 1/2 power ratio). Speaker directivity may cover another +/-3dB - speakers with narrow directivity will put less power into the room for the same first-arrival sound intensity. Overall, I believe that people's minimum requirement will vary over a total range of 100 to 1 depending on these factors. So it's very hard to set clear rules.
As I've posted in several places before, it appears that Stereophile at least has come up with a standard that seems to satisfy most audiophiles most of the time. That standard is a peak sound pressure level at 1 meter of 102dB, which corresponds to a 4-watt amplifier with 96dB speakers. That same speaker may require a 40-watt amplifier for a few headbangers with large dead rooms, and a 0.4-watt ampilifier may be adequate for others in small lively rooms listening to 18th century chamber music. An example: I use some 91dB speakers (old JBL bookshelf types) with a 0.75-watt amplifier to watch movies. It's not "home theater" given the 19" screen, but it will go louder than I can stand. In the listening room though, I have 101dB speakers and 5-watt amps, which are OK but have not a lot of margin.
In the realm of SET amps (and here I mean those with little or no negative feedback), they do indeed clip more gracefully. That may be good for 3dB, or you may say the have as much as twice the effective power of their rating. So while I say that you need a 96dB speaker for a 4-watt amp, you might get away with a 93dB speaker with a SET.
The Paramour will certainly not "move truly large amounts of air or fully capture difficult transients" except with the most efficient speakers, which will have to be enormous to have deep bass. Really good iron is expensive, but a SET amp with such iron and a suitable speaker can actually provide bass as good or better than anything else, and I include the Krell/Wilson type combinations.
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Follow Ups
- Re: This question is very intersting to me - Paul Joppa 13:16:06 09/15/00 (0)
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