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Current March “Speaker” issue of Stereophile has Sam Tellig reviewing the new Rega Brio 3 integrated amp which is rated by Roy Gandy (head of Rega) at 49 watts per channel into 8 ohms (it’s Gandy’s cynical way of making fun of people who rely on specs says Tellig). Tellig states “its power rating of only 49 wpc means you MUST match it with loudspeakers that are reasonably sensitive - say 90db or better - and whose minimum impedence doesn’t dip below 4 ohms”. It seems to me that Tellig is the one who is relying on specs and specs that are questionable at that: many speakers with sensitivities as low as 85db that do not drop below 4 ohms can be used very successfully and more than sufficiently loud for most ears with 50 wpc amps and some rated much less.
Follow Ups:
Finding a 90+ dB efficient speaker these days "voiced" or rather designed to work well with typical ~50 WPC solid state is very difficult. I know because I own a 50 WPC solid state amplifier of excellent pedigree (IMO) in the Naim NAP150 and recently upgraded my speakers. One of my criteria was indeed "easy to drive" insofar as nominal 8-ohm load and reasonable efficiency.I settled on Spendor S6e which met my criteria here.
The current trend is "mega watt" amplifiers. Go to Musical Fidelity's website and you get this page to read relating super wattage requirements to dynamics, peaks and loudness.
As with everything in high end audio, trade offs are inevitable. A key design principle for good sound to me is using ONE PAIR of output devices per channel (or even single-ended or, in the case of Naim, quasi-complimentary). This results in transparency, rhythmic coherence and resolution. One such "super amp" following this ethic is the Dartzeel (sic?). Normally, though, you get true "high fidelity" without substantial cost (since your output devices, heat sinks and transformer are the main costs and big wattage requires these in spades.
The inevitable downsides are reduced current drive, drive capability into low and/or reactive impedances and peak wattage capability. So your headroom and dynamics suffers somewhat into "typical" speakers, which are around 6 ohms average and 87 dB efficient these days.
So what. You picks your poison. So you don't get super duper loudness and dynamics and orchestral peaks get truncated somewhat. But the upsides IMO outweigh the downsides.
Per the standard rating, a 90 dB efficient speaker will require 64 watts to produce a level of 108 dB. This is not an unusual peak level for a symphony orchestra, depending upon where you are seated. Jazz may be similar and rock can certainly run higher. But more important, this standard is measured one meter from the speaker, fall off in level will be experienced with greater listening distance.In the real world, counter to onemug's experience, my speakers are rated as 90 dB efficient and a 30 wpc SET fell on it's face trying to drive them, even at modest levels. However, mine are rated at 4 ohms but their impedance drops below 3 ohms are two different points within their performance spectrum. Also, they have a complex 1st order crossover. I have used both a 150 wpc at 4 ohms ss amp and a 150 wpc triode tube amp, both of which will play as loud as I might want without and sign of distortion. Still, changing to 800 wpc at 4 ohms brought significant improvements with my speakers (admittedly, factors other than power output are involved here).
So, while I cannot speak for Sam (could anyone?), I think he was offering a simple guideline based on his years of trying various amp/speaker combinations, not an absolute statement.
I agree. I seem to be doing what many people would think impossible, driving my Maggie 3.6's with a 16 wpc SET. I do have a big McIntosh solid state amp and noticed the meters weren't going much past 5 watts so I subbed in my Art Audio Carissa Sig. Works like a charm. Key points are: Strong power supply/transformers and realizing you are not going to go real loud. I find that single ended/class A/no feedback sounds pretty nice at low volumes, don't feel like I have to turn it up to make it sound good. Always keep an open mind.
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