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How Much Power? [message #43428] Sat, 20 December 2003 06:34 Go to next message
elektratig is currently offline  elektratig
Messages: 348
Registered: May 2009
Grand Master
Chris' post below about Crown amps got me thinking . . . How much power are you guys using to drive your Pis? I generally use 8W 300B amps to drive Theater 4s and have more than enough gain. The bass rolls off a bit but is ample and any tradeoff is well worth it. If I hook the 4s up to a 40W EL34 amp I can drive people out of the house. I can't imagine needing more power than that.

Do people really use 100W or more to drive these things?


Re: How Much Power? [message #43429 is a reply to message #43428] Sat, 20 December 2003 08:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18791
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
You're right. I'm quite happy with a little 2 watt tube amp, and it gets remarkably loud. Certainly for music in a 500 sq. ft. room, but even for HT movies with lots of slam, bang, boom. I wouldn't have thought that the soundtracks of action movies would have been realistic on such small tube amps, but I was wrong. It's pretty loud, and really cool to do.

But then again, I also have the other end of the spectrum with a Crown MicroTech 2400. I can host parties and dances and stuff like that with this thing. I joke that I could arc weld the frame on my car with it too. The word "impact" is given a whole new meaning. The word(s) "home repair" are also given new meaning because it will vibrate the drywall loose from the studs. No kidding.

In either case, the quality of sound is really great. These are two different worlds, in that there are two different sets of strengths. Naturally, the little tube amps are very intimate and sweet sounding. And they'll generate a lot of output too, as you well know. But naturally, 1000 times as much power represents 30dB difference, so even if your system suffered from 5dB compression there is still a huge 25dB difference. If you're setting up in a fairly large room with a lot of people absorbing the sound, that extra output is really necessary. And even for a smaller room, the more power that's on tap, the more dynamic range your system is capable of.

Re: How Much Power? [message #43440 is a reply to message #43428] Mon, 22 December 2003 09:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DRC is currently offline  DRC
Messages: 169
Registered: May 2009
Master
Well, I drove a pair of pair of Audiophile 4's at a New England Bottlehead meet (two meets ago) with a 6v6 pushpull amp (10 watts?) on the TAD 1602's following an active xo, and a a pair of 300B amps (9w/ch) driving the passive xo JBL mids and TAD 2001 tweets.

The Bots were leaning toward arena rock on vinyl at that point, and in a good sized living room/kitchen area it was damned convincing. (The JBL 2123 mid was a bit prominent, and Bill M. found the bass/cab a bit "thrummy", but it ROCKED just fine.)

Re: How Much Power? [message #43443 is a reply to message #43428] Tue, 23 December 2003 13:04 Go to previous message
JLapaire is currently offline  JLapaire
Messages: 156
Registered: May 2009
Master
In my living room they rarely get more than a watt to fight over. When we go out to play, the "little" 200+ w/ch Crown will go right up to clipping and the sound is clear and articulate (and very loud). I find that even in a pretty large room full of drunken revelers the system strains only on the lowest synth bass and then only if it's too loud anyway.

My speakers are basically Theater 4 Eminence guts in a Karlson enclosure with Delta Pro drivers and the PSD2002s on mystery horns that I thought were CH3 knockoffs, but now that I've seen real ones (thanks Bill) I've got no clue. The DJ friend who's trying to ruin me is getting seriously spoiled by them.

So beware and stick with miniwatt amps or you'll be driven right out of the house and into places where people drink and dance and carry on. I think it happened to Wayne years ago and he's had to go to Doc Bottlehead for help.

John

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