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Amplifier watts and bass frequencies

Posted by FlyCast (A) on September 10, 2015 at 12:26:01

First of all I have to extend a huge thank you to everyone that has replied to my messages as well as offered adivce through private communication, I am getting closer to working with some people to get this ball rolling. I put together my last system with the final touches on it in the early 2000 and back then I didn't know of much of a hifi web presence, and relied on dealers and friends for advice. As such I set up a simple system consisting of a BLH Lowther and SET amp. This whole multi way horn thing is really new to me, please excuse the dumb questions. I took early retirement and these are the first hifi upgrades I am embarking on.

I am wondering about amplifier power, as I have read some posts from knowledgeable members saying even high efficiency bass drivers, like 98 db/w will need 50 watts or more. However they were talking about direct radiator bass, I'm not sure if this carries over to horn loaded mid/upper bass. I have done some searching and come across many excellent posts including ones from Paul Joppa.

However I am still wondering about the bass frequencies and power requirements. Lets say with a horn loaded system from 80 hz on up the midbass horn sets the efficiency for the system at 102-105 db/w. Would it still require more than what a 300B SET amp could provide (this is what I currently use), or should I start looking at stuff like 845/211 SET? Sitting 4-4.5 meters way. To have adequate headroom the calculators I have checked say 300B SET is right on the edge of acceptable. The most dynamic music I would listen to is symphony music in hi-res digital, some of it like Mahler on the Japanese SACDs has quite a lot of dynamics. I understand that the SET amps would clip more gracefully, but I would prefer to have amps that have the headroom. For now lets say the SET will be covering all the horn loaded frequencies (80 or 100 hz up), with a solid state amp to cover the low bass.

For instance this calculator image attached below. If I relax the loudness requirements it gets closer to 300B SET territory, but I left it as "worst case scenario"

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