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Vintage Asylum Classic gear from yesteryear; vintage audio standing the test of time. |
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In Reply to: ahh.... and again I learn a little more. posted by HamBone77 on February 27, 2007 at 18:27:38:
As you have noticed, matching is the key...
Would it be an accurate assumption that those in the late 70s and early 80s that chased wattage and huge speakers were in some ways chasing ghosts?What is a big speaker? A Klipschorn is a big speaker. It is very efficient, and does not need a lot of power to play loudly. But you can.
Many two way stand mount monitor speakers are much less efficient, and need power to sound their best.What is a lot of power? In the early 70's most entry level Mass market amps and receivers, were around 10 watts/channel. Most lines had models for every price point. What were you willing to spend? 100? 2 3 500? Can a company afford to put the same tuner and preamp in its $300 30 watt/channel receiver that it does in its $549 60 watt receiver?
Is 60 watts/channel enough? To drive 4 speakers? At 4 Ohms each? During a party?For a few years, I listened to a pair of AR-2a's driven by a Kenwood 28 watt/channel receiver. I was satisfied with the sound, especially in a small bedroom. But eventually I noticed that the louder I turned up the volume, the better the AR's sounded. They seemed to "Open up" the more I cranked up the volume. It seemed that I was missing something listening at the normal volumes I normally listened at. Or perhaps the speakers were not matching well with that amp. Sometime later, I had occasion to use the speakers (I still have them) with much higher powered amps. I tried a Sansui G-7700 (120 watts/channel) and a Sony TA-3200F amp (100 watts/channel). With both those amps, there seemed to be more "ease" to the music. Like there was more reserves, more dynamics, I could draw upon to drive the music, if need be. Even listening at moderate volumes, I had that sense that there was always some "extra" behind just waiting. It seemed to make listening at moderate volumes sweeter. Contrasting that with a Yamaha CA-410II (35 watts/channel) I had, which did not sound any different than the Kenwood. Of course, that Yamaha really did not sound like anything, that was a neutral amp...
So yes, some of the 70's power wars was hype. Some companies threw all the best things they could come up with in their top Receivers. And the low price and low power units usually cut corners to cut costs. So probably the best place to be is in the middle. Isn't it always?
--Matt
"Cold Turkey isn't as delicious as it sounds..." --Homer Simpson
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Follow Ups
- All generalisations are generally wrong, including this one... - realistico 20:04:28 02/27/07 (0)
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