Focal Kantas 2 - Will they be underpowered with my amp?

[dman777]

I like Focal Kanta's 2. I have heard them in a store off of a McIntosh 1200 amp which was 350 watts the 8 ohms. The speakers are 50-300 watts rating at 8 ohms. Right now I have a Yamaha AS-3200 which is only 100 watts at 8 ohms. Is that going to significantly under power the focals?

 

[Deleted member 48726]

That will depend on your,
listening volume,
listening distance from the speakers,
taste of music

 

[BenB]

That will depend on your,

listening volume,
listening distance from the speakers,
taste of music

Good points. I'll add that the size of the room will matter as well.

 

[mikethep]

I'm using a Benchmark AHB2 (100 watts) with them in a room 8x15x25. Lots of orchestral music, prog rock, jam bands. Clipping lights never come on. Seems to be enough power for loud enough listening.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I'm using a Benchmark AHB2 (100 watts) with them in a room 8x15x25. Lots of orchestral music, prog rock, jam bands. Clipping lights never come on. Seems to be enough power for loud enough listening.

Useless info without listening position and SPL..

 

[Ron Texas]

I like Focal Kanta's 2. I have heard them in a store off of a McIntosh 1200 amp which was 350 watts the 8 ohms. The speakers are 50-300 watts rating at 8 ohms. Right now I have a Yamaha AS-3200 which is only 100 watts at 8 ohms. Is that going to significantly under power the focals?

If you have money for a pair of $10k speakers then if your Yamaha does not play loud enough I imagine you could afford a more powerful amp. That said, you would probably get more for your money with speakers from Revel or KEF. Keep shopping.

 

[mikethep]

Useless info without listening position and SPL..

Just now I was getting at most 82 dB C-weighted peaks a few inches in front of my face on GD live at Capitol Theater, 1971, from about 12 feet away from the speaker plane. That's as loud as I think it's reasonable to listen to it. No strain. No flashing clipping lights.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Just now I was getting at most 82 dB C-weighted peaks a few inches in front of my face on GD live at Capitol Theater, 1971, from about 12 feet away from the speaker plane. That's as loud as I think it's reasonable to listen to it. No strain. No flashing clipping lights.

Thanks. That's something useful the OP can compare with.
Great attitude that you didn't take offence and went ahead and measured it.

 

[617]

About 4.5db difference in output potential compared to 300W. 3db is a slight but noticeable difference in level.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

About 4.5db difference in output potential compared to 300W. 3db is a slight but noticeable difference in level.

And a note that doesn't get mentioned much IR to what may appear like a small number;
this can also be the difference between clipping or no clipping, high distortion vs. no distortion.

 

[dman777]

My room is about 12" x 26" feet. I do not really have a listening position because I end up walking around when listening to music multi tasking. Listening volume can be between 55 db to high 70s db, depending on my tinnitus.

Music is Electric dance, alternative (ie Dinosaur Jr), 90s music, classical, jazz.

 

[Ciobi69]

My room is about 12" x 26" feet. I do not really have a listening position because I end up walking around when listening to music multi tasking. Listening volume can be between 55 db to high 70s db, depending on my tinnitus.

Music is Electric dance, alternative (ie Dinosaur Jr), 90s music, classical, jazz.

You are fine with your amp

 

[Avp1]

I like Focal Kanta's 2. I have heard them in a store off of a McIntosh 1200 amp which was 350 watts the 8 ohms. The speakers are 50-300 watts rating at 8 ohms. Right now I have a Yamaha AS-3200 which is only 100 watts at 8 ohms. Is that going to significantly under power the focals?

I see a possible issue not with low overall power, but with the fact that Kanta has impedance of 3 ohms around 100Hz, where there is a lot of volume needed to reproduce upper bass. Yamaha is not a high current amplifier (See Stereophile measurement). Thus you may find it clip at high bass volume with these speakers. When speakers are specified for power level of 300W, it mostly means that you will need separate power amplifier to drive them.

 

[Avp1]

I'm using a Benchmark AHB2 (100 watts) with them in a room 8x15x25. Lots of orchestral music, prog rock, jam bands. Clipping lights never come on. Seems to be enough power for loud enough listening.

Benchmark amplifier almost doubles power with low impedance loads. This is not exactly how Yamaha behaves.

 

[dman777]

I see a possible issue not with low overall power, but with the fact that Kanta has impedance of 3 ohms around 100Hz, where there is a lot of volume needed to reproduce upper bass. Yamaha is not a high current amplifier (See Stereophile measurement). Thus you may find it clip at high bass volume with these speakers. When speakers are specified for power level of 300W, it mostly means that you will need separate power amplifier to drive them.

So with the clipping, I would take a chance on damaging $11k speakers?

 

[Avp1]

So with the clipping, I would take a chance on damaging $11k speakers?

I do not think you really damage them, unless you turn volume all way up. But sound quality suffer greatly if clipping happens. If you spent $11K on speakers, you likely have ability to buy powerful amplifier to drive them.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

My room is about 12" x 26" feet. I do not really have a listening position because I end up walking around when listening to music multi tasking. Listening volume can be between 55 db to high 70s db, depending on my tinnitus.

Music is Electric dance, alternative (ie Dinosaur Jr), 90s music, classical, jazz.

I'd say you probably would be okay with the Yamaha. Don't sweat it and if you hear some distortion once you don't destroy anything in that second. Then you know the limit and you can then upgrade your amp if you want. I wouldn't upgrade it beforehand.

The Yamaha A-S3200 is a high quality amplifier.

 

[Galliardist]

I see a possible issue not with low overall power, but with the fact that Kanta has impedance of 3 ohms around 100Hz, where there is a lot of volume needed to reproduce upper bass. Yamaha is not a high current amplifier (See Stereophile measurement). Thus you may find it clip at high bass volume with these speakers. When speakers are specified for power level of 300W, it mostly means that you will need separate power amplifier to drive them.

Yamaha A-S3200 integrated amplifier Measurements | Stereophile.com

Sidebar 3: Measurements I tested the Yamaha A-S3200 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). I first preconditioned the amplifier by following the CEA's recommendation of operating it at one-eighth the specified power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. At the end of...

www.stereophile.com

Focal Kanta No.2 loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com

Sidebar 4: Measurements I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Focal Kanta No.2's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. All the measurements were performed without the grilles, other than the...

www.stereophile.com

The combination is borderline: if you move to the very back of a 26 ft long room (that's over 8 metres), and the distance given in the question is "walking around", it may not be sufficient. High 70dbs listening implies peaks over 90db and EDM suggests those peaks in the range where the low impedance lies.

The only way to find out for certain is to try it, as the room's contribution may settle it one way or the other. I'd budget for a replacement amp before buying those speakers, in case it is needed.

As an aside, the impedance issue seems to creep up close to 200Hz with this speaker, making it harder than most to fix with subs, which would be an alternative way out with a lot of speakers which have that impedance dip at a lower frequency.

 

[JSmith]

Focal Kanta's 2

Even though Focal say these are nominal 8 ohm speakers...

Focal Kanta No.2 loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com

Sidebar 4: Measurements I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Focal Kanta No.2's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. All the measurements were performed without the grilles, other than the...

www.stereophile.com

(@Galliardist, sorry didn't see your post)

The impedance does stay above 8 ohms through the treble, and above 6 ohms in the low- and midbass regions. However, the Kanta No.2's impedance drops below 4 ohms between 80 and 180Hz, with a minimum magnitude of 2.97 ohms at 105Hz (fig.1). In addition, the electrical phase angle has an extremely high value between 70 and 90Hz, where the impedance magnitude is low. This speaker will work best with amplifiers comfortable with a 4 ohm load.

SoundStageNetwork.com | SoundStage.com - NRC Measurements: Focal Kanta No1 Loudspeakers

www.soundstagenetwork.com

... there is a fair amount of phase deviation in the No.1's bass region too.


JSmith

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I believe the OP doesn't listen to music that loud .. 55 dB to high 70's was said ... Current amp is fine.


Peace