amplifier power

[hawk01]

hello all!

i guess this inquiry is a cliché but please bear with me. there have been many proponents of the virtues having more amplifier power than necessary is a good thing. @amirm has consistently extolled the benefit of having powerful amplification in his numerous reviews of the typical modern day less efficient standmounter having ~85dB or so. although these were done during his gruelling test conditions under very high SPLs!

my listening habits hover around 80-83dB SPL depending on material in a 1931cuft. modestly treated dedicated listening room, dynamic peaks of ~90dB again depending on material. at the moment i am using an old trusty marantz 45W integrated and it is able to make my less efficient Revel M16 sing well to my taste. so the million dollar query: am i going to benefit with a more powerful ~100W amp with exceptional current delivery given my listening habits? or am i missing out on what my M16s can potentially deliver if they had more powerful amplification despite my moderate listening habits?

cheers!

 

[MZKM]

45W should be plenty for most music genres. It‘s usually for home theater duty where more wattage is needed, as vocals are mixed lower, so you need to turn it up more to get the same playback level.

 

[DonH56]

Take a look at _Peak SPL Calculator for a rough idea what power you might be require. I suspect you are OK.

 

[escape2]

How far away from the speakers do you sit?

Going from 45W to 100W gets you extra 3.5 dB gain - it's something, but it's not a whole lot.

My current amp at my desktop only pushes about 15 Watts per channel, but because I sit 4 feet away from the speakers, it is more than enough.

 

[hawk01]

How far away from the speakers do you sit?

Going from 45W to 100W gets you extra 3.5 dB gain - it's something, but it's not a whole lot.

My current amp at my desktop only pushes about 15 Watts per channel, but because I sit 4 feet away from the speakers, it is more than enough.

main listening position is 10ft from the speakers.

 

[hawk01]

Take a look at _Peak SPL Calculator for a rough idea what power you might be require. I suspect you are OK.

dang i get 95.4dB SPL at MLP after filling in the blanks above! ergo this is computed with my amp running at full bore?? hmm, guess i am good as you suspected!

 

[Chrispy]

Not likely a problem even before I scrolled down to see you probably arrived at the same conclusion OTOH there's nothing wrong with having excessive power on hand just in case.....

 

[restorer-john]

The power you have will be sufficient 99% of the time. It's those rare times, peak transients and listening loudly to dynamic music where more power available will make a difference.

50wpc@8R (and more into 4R) is pretty much the entry into proper high fidelity and you can do justice to most of digital's capability.

But you would need to jump to a minimum of 200wpc to really hear the difference.

I use twin 2ch power amplifiers that run 200wpc@8R/350wpc@4R and rarely (very rarely) I'll run them in bridged pairs to give >600wpc@8R/~1kW@4R. You simply don't need that sort of power in a domestic situation, it's just silly, but it does take the power question out of the equation.

 

[hawk01]

The power you have will be sufficient 99% of the time. It's those rare times, peak transients and listening loudly to dynamic music where more power available will make a difference.

But you would need to jump to a minimum of 200wpc to really hear the difference.

I use twin 2ch power amplifiers that run 200wpc@8R/350wpc@4R and rarely (very rarely) I'll run them in bridged pairs to give >600wpc@8R/~1kW@4R. You simply don't need that sort of power in a domestic situation, it's just silly, but it does take the power question out of the equation.

makes a world of difference to visualize things when you see numbers to back up the facts!

 

[hawk01]

Not likely a problem even before I scrolled down to see you probably arrived at the same conclusion OTOH there's nothing wrong with having excessive power on hand just in case.....

i could buy that mclaren F1 and stroll at 55mph on the freeway! a wee bit too slow but darn do i look good doing it. guess its the same analogy with amplifier power. nice to have more in reserve even if you do not need it. in my case the more pragmatic is will i ever need it in my room?? the wife nonetheless oblivious even if i brag having megawatt amplification in my rig!

 

[Chrispy]

Unused or even perhaps unnoticed power won't make a difference.....the need for high amp power is often over-expressed.

 

[RayDunzl]

makes a world of difference to visualize things when you see numbers to back up the facts!

The demand for "more power" occurs quickly as you turn the volume knob clockwise...

Crude Example:

85dB sensitivity with 4 ohm speakers

 

[Doodski]

But you would need to jump to a minimum of 200wpc to really hear the difference.

Not always. A Yamaha TOPART 55 W/ch will not pump it out like a 120 W/ch integrated Yamaha will.

 

[hawk01]

The need for "more power" occurs quickly as you turn the volume knob clockwise...

Crude Example:

85dB sensitivity with 4 ohm speakers

View attachment 92177

ah yes, there’s also the matter of considering how an amplifier is able to handle low impedance loads. something i suppose equally if not more significant than just wattage numbers.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

The real power demands are in the bass region. You are probably fine just as you are, but if you want more low frequency impact consider a subwoofer, or better yet, two subwoofers operated in stereo.

 

[hawk01]

The real power demands are in the bass region. You are probably fine just as you are, but if you want more low frequency impact consider a subwoofer, or better yet, two subwoofers operated in stereo.

i already have this resource in another system using dual subs connected to an avr. come to think of it, will a more powerful amp deliver a better low end heft and texture given my listening habits compared to the present 45W?

 

[Head_Unit]

am i missing out

There are all kinds of calculations possible, but in a real room with real speakers if you really really want to know if there is clipping, ya gotta measure it. The true true way is visually with a storage oscilloscope or app thereof. The next way, 45W @ 8 ohms is almost 19 AC volts RMS. A high quality AC voltmeter with peak hold could check that, or LED meters with some way to calibrate them. If you're getting near 19 volts, you could use more power. I concur that to really have more power you need to like triple the wattage, at FOUR ohms because even "8 ohm" speakers are NOT resistors. Note that by "more" power I mean for SPL; some amps without much more power or even with less may SOUND more powerful even at low levels; that is a different phenomenon.