Posted by john (i) on January 22, 2001 at 19:39:27:

In Reply to: The Search For Watts posted by Chris O on January 22, 2001 at 09:55:33:

Thanks Chris, that was very helpful. Its too bad that SETs cannot be easily auditioned in my area. From your experience (and the type of music I mentioned), how far could one get on 8wpc in a 10x12x8 room w/ 92db speakers?

• Re: The Search For Watts Chris O 08:51:55 01/23/01 (0)
  In Reply to: Re: The Search For Watts posted by john on January 22, 2001 at 19:39:27:

  You should be able to get a good level for critical listening. Actually you will be very surprised at the volume. You will not be able to use a 300b amp for that "whole house party" effect unless you buy Klipshorns or something similar. If you do push an 8 watt amp too hard the sound will become hard as well. If you like to listen to music at a level that you "feel it", you are going to get ear fatigue and need to turn up the volume to get the same effect. This will run your 8 watter out of watts.

  The way to get big, big sound out of 300b amps is to use an active sub woofer when you want party levels. I use an active crossover that Ron used to sell from Erno Borbely. This way you can get very loud music. Most of the time, however, I run the 300b direct.

  You should be happy with 92db speakers. You may need to change your speaker placement, seating position, etc. to optimize your setup. I sometimes prefer a semi-nearfield arrangement. This will greatly increase perceived volume as well.

  If you go into this with reasonable expectations of not getting 115db peaks out of your system you should be very satisfied. I had the same concerns you have when getting into the small watt arena. I went as far as purchasing a little EL84 single ended amp putting out just under 3 wpc from ASUSA to test. I figured that I could always use a little amp in the office and it was only $399. It worked and my speakers are rated at 90db. These speakers were, however, 4 ohms and the little amp only had 8 ohm outputs so I was probably getting less than 2 watts to the speakers. Go for it.
  
  

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