In Reply to: 30 dB peaks posted by Duke on March 6, 2014 at 16:50:05:
30db is fairly rare but it does occur apparently. But, today I would say 20db of headroom above the average level is a good target if you want to reproduce the dynamics on many recordings. Plus, there's also the issue of the speakers themselves; most won't reproduce these levels even if you do zap them with 1000 watts.
Today, I listen to 2A3 amps on 110-112db efficient horns. This gives me about 26 db of headroom at fairly modest (not headbanger) listening levels (probably 87db average at the seat). This is just about enough IMO. The real magic with low power SETs is to use them in multi-amp setups as compression driver amps. Once you hear this, you realize how much they are struggling even on "high efficiency" speakers in the 95db range.
For a typical 98db-ish 15" cone/horn combo with a speaker crossover, I would look into push-pull tube designs if you want real dynamics. PP just makes sense when you want power over 10W or so from DHTs or similarly refined tube amps. The output transformers can be designed for much higher power and also good bandwidth.
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Follow Ups
- RE: 30 dB peaks - nl 08:31:09 03/07/14 (0)