Amp and Speaker pairing help

[RedKawa]

I have read through some articles and watched some videos online. In a very simplified terms, I undestood that you should be looking for an amp that is rated at least 50% more power per channel, compared to the rating of your speakers and you should match the ohms of the speakers. If the speaker is rated 40W at 8ohms, look for 60W at 8ohms per channel amp. Armed with this information I started to look around. I came across this ready made set up and it just doesn't make sense to me:

http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/mini-hi-fi-system-deals/pah012842

MARANTS MCR611 with output 2x50w is being sold with DALI ZENSOR 1 speakers rated at 100W. Is this correct? It doesn't really follow the rule I found when doing the research. I am just trying to clear up the confusion while looking for an amp online. Any recommendations for speakers rated 100W at 8ohm? Thank you.

 

[BigH]

I have read through some articles and watched some videos online. In a very simplified terms, I undestood that you should be looking for an amp that is rated at least 50% more power per channel, compared to the rating of your speakers and you should match the ohms of the speakers. If the speaker is rated 40W at 8ohms, look for 60W at 8ohms per channel amp. Armed with this information I started to look around. I came across this ready made set up and it just doesn't make sense to me:

http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/mini-hi-fi-system-deals/pah012842

MARANTS MCR611 with output 2x50w is being sold with DALI ZENSOR 1 speakers rated at 100W. Is this correct? It doesn't really follow the rule I found when doing the research. I am just trying to clear up the confusion while looking for an amp online. Any recommendations for speakers rated 100W at 8ohm? Thank you.

Many speakers can handle 100W even budget ones, however very few budget amps can produce 100w, so I think that rule is ok in theory in practise it does not really work. I think the most powerful hifi amp in the budget category was the Roksan K2 that was about 140w but it was about £700. Power is not everything, more expensive amps are not always more powerful. Speaker sensitivity with low powered amps is probably more important. Marantz amps are not that powerful, manufacturers figures are not that reliable.

 

[Infiniteloop]

I wouldn't get too hung up on the power thing.

My 24 watt Valve Amp drives my Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M's (rated 40-150W, 4 Ohm, 88dB) easily to party levels without any clipping and the sound is superb.

 

[rainsoothe]

Hi. The only risk of using a "low" power amp is, if you use speakers that have low sensitivity (like ATC, for example) you can burn stuff if you wanna play it loudly. Budget Marantz stuff + Dali Zensor shouldn't be a problem if you don't want disco levels - aka it's really enough for an apartment. Don't worry about ratings, just make sure the speakers are sensitive (87db or higher).

 

[nopiano]

Welcome to the forum. As others have said, this isn't a critical point. A bit like when you choose a car you don't really check what octane fuel it needs. It might matter, but other things are more important.

I'm not sure I'd use a "50% more" rule of thumb either. These days many speakers have a much higher power handling capacity than a few decades ago. Hence the ones you mention can take peaks of 100 watts but are paired with a 50 watt system. What matters more is the tonal match - you don't want bright speakers with a sparkly sounding amp - and the sensitivity of the speaker, i.e. how loud it is for a given input (usually expressed as so many decibels for one watt, for example, 85dB/1 watt.) If you like loud music or have a larger room, you need more sensitive speakers.

Impedance is not one fixed figure either, the nominal published rating, often 6 or 8 ohms, is only an average, or typical. Only a weedy amp will struggle with a 4 ohm speaker, and these are quite rare anyway.

Just as you wouldn't choose wallpaper by the specification of the colour, you don't want to choose speakers by ohms and watts. Go listen, preferably with your own discs.

Good luck.

 

[Al ears]

Welcome to the forum. As others have said, this isn't a critical point. A bit like when you choose a car you don't really check what octane fuel it needs. It might matter, but other things are more important.

I'm not sure I'd use a "50% more" rule of thumb either. These days many speakers have a much higher power handling capacity than a few decades ago. Hence the ones you mention can take peaks of 100 watts but are paired with a 50 watt system. What matters more is the tonal match - you don't want bright speakers with a sparkly sounding amp - and the sensitivity of the speaker, i.e. how loud it is for a given input (usually expressed as so many decibels for one watt, for example, 85dB/1 watt.) If you like loud music or have a larger room, you need more sensitive speakers.

Impedance is not one fixed figure either, the nominal published rating, often 6 or 8 ohms, is only an average, or typical. Only a weedy amp will struggle with a 4 ohm speaker, and these are quite rare anyway.

Just as you wouldn't choose wallpaper by the specification of the colour, you don't want to choose speakers by ohms and watts. Go listen, preferably with your own discs.

Good luck.

Very well put....

 

[RedKawa]

Thank you for your reply. Found it really helpful. At first I thought about getting second hand components but at the end I went to explore to Richer Sounds. I looked at some speakers online and read reviews. Went there thinking I want to try to combine Marantz amp with Monitor Audio Bronze 2. On a paper it looked good but when I listened to it, it wasn't right for me. I felt it was too bright (new term I have learned ). Went through about dozen of combinations of amps and speaker (thank you Richer Sounds salesman) and at the end found that Onkyo A-9010 with Dali Sensor 3 sounded spot on. Played my music on it, different genres and I was impressed. Bit outside of my price bracket, but it was too good to pass on. Flexed the price bracket and later found out that they were selling it in a bundle so saved around £130. This was an eye opener. Hi-Fi is something that you don't shop online with a spreadsheet. You have to have a listen. Lesson learned. Thank you everyone taking time to reply. This helped me a lot.