amp current....

[Anonymous]

chebby:
maxflinn:...having said that, ive found i need to get to eleven with my current setup...

"Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten."

Works on so many levels this post.

 

[Anonymous]

Sabby:maxflinn:JC1982:
I went to the Dynaudio demo room briefly at the WHF Manchester show. I walked in half way through the demo but the Dynaudio guy was basically saying that he wanted to dispel the myth that their speakers are hard to drive because of their 4 ohm rating. He said that unlike some other speakers impedence is uniform at all volume (?) levels and therefore they are not necessarily hard to drive. He proceeded to demo the 2/6's with a 30wpc amp which seemed to drive them fine to prove the point.

I don't know how much of this was true or sales talk but it could mean that these particular speakers are not as difficult to drive as other 4 ohm speakers.

yyyeeeeeehhhhhhhhaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww

.....

thank you very much JC1982. hopefully those who appear to know otherwise will now believe me, the dm 2/7's im currently listening too are being driven easily by my as-500 , the combo sounds FANTASTIC

Max I just don't understand. Why do you need reassurance from others that your 2/7's can be easily driven by the as-500? Don't you trust your own ears? You are obviously very happy with the sound you are getting from this combo, so why not leave it at that.

a bit of humour sabby, i dont need any reassurance at all, and of course i can trust my own ears, and im delighted with the combo, and, more importantly......

this thread has nothing to do with my system..nothing...

ta

 

[Frank Harvey]

Sizzers:A fascinating thread this, but could you explain the relationship between current and low volume listening please David?
If an amplifier isn't particularly good at providing effortless bursts of current, it's not going to sound particularly dynamic. An amplifier that is laid back in this sense at normal volume tends to sound even less exciting at lower volumes. Partner that issue with speakers that requite more current/power for whatever reason, and you're on the road to snoozeville. An amplifier has to sound dynamic and lively to bring certain speakers to life (whatever the volume) - obviously there's a lot of variables here as some speakers just aren't great at lower volumes, but a higher current amplifier can help.

This is why many large floorstanding hi-fi speakers sound dull and fairly lifeless on budget AV receivers.

 

[Anonymous]

so, if an amp does not have sufficient current for a set of speakers it will "clip" at high volume?

 

[Sizzers]

Thanks for that David. No such problems with my set-up but I was just curious as I'd never really considered current delivery that much before, but it's obviously somewhere there in the scheme of things.

 

[Sabby]

maxflinn:Sabby:maxflinn:JC1982:
I went to the Dynaudio demo room briefly at the WHF Manchester show. I walked in half way through the demo but the Dynaudio guy was basically saying that he wanted to dispel the myth that their speakers are hard to drive because of their 4 ohm rating. He said that unlike some other speakers impedence is uniform at all volume (?) levels and therefore they are not necessarily hard to drive. He proceeded to demo the 2/6's with a 30wpc amp which seemed to drive them fine to prove the point.

I don't know how much of this was true or sales talk but it could mean that these particular speakers are not as difficult to drive as other 4 ohm speakers.

yyyeeeeeehhhhhhhhaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww

.....

thank you very much JC1982. hopefully those who appear to know otherwise will now believe me, the dm 2/7's im currently listening too are being driven easily by my as-500 , the combo sounds FANTASTIC

Max I just don't understand. Why do you need reassurance from others that your 2/7's can be easily driven by the as-500? Don't you trust your own ears? You are obviously very happy with the sound you are getting from this combo, so why not leave it at that.

a bit of humour sabby, i dont need any reassurance at all, and of course i can trust my own ears, and im delighted with the combo, and, more importantly......

this thread has nothing to do with my system..nothing...

ta

I agree, just as JC1982's post and your estatic response has nothing to do with this thread.

 

[Anonymous]

I absolutely concur with this. I think the bottom line is you can;t drive these high end speakers with budget kit - I have read a lot about the virtues of NAD et al low cost amplification, but my experience tells me the exact opposite.

I have recently switched from small bookshelf 'budget' high efficiency speakers to tall floorstanders with low efficiecy that I suspect have a quite complex impedance curve over the frequency range as they have four drivers - one aluminium, one kevlar and two paper (I think).

With my 30W pc amp the budget speakers really 'sing' - but display all the budget vices (boominess, lack of detail, etc. etc.)

The 'high end' speakers really sound dull with the same amplifier and very 'closed in' (no boominess though

Needless to say - I'm in the market for a 120W power amp with the ability to push at least 200W at 4 ohms.

Phil

 

[Anonymous]

This is a very good discussion which i can,t make head or tail of. If lots current is vital for quality sound and watts give no measure of current, then how are you meant to know how much current your amp is giving or indeed how much current your system needs to sound good. Does anybody know how much current my little Sugden gives out, is it enough for the A6s ?. It is 36 watts class a/b if that helps. Thanks john..

 

[Anonymous]

I biamped my ATCs with Arcam Alpha 8R and 8P amps to very good effect. A little laid back at low volumes and I had to turn the volume up a little more than with my previous B&Ws but the basic sound was very good. As i listen at low volumes quite alot these days I ended up getting a NAD C370. Recommended by a certain dealer who knows alot about these things. And no, he didnt gain a sale as the amp could only be bought secondhand!

The sound is absolutely amazing now. Effortlessly dynamic and punchy. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Im delighted!

This amp is powering speakers that cost ten times as much and it iholds its own. I know better can be had with more cash but isn't that always the case. I'd bet an amp costing ten times as much doesn't sound ten times better.

Actually I know this to be true from experience.

 

[Frank Harvey]

bobbyg81:This amp is powering speakers that cost ten times as much...Five times

The £400/500 price point used to be, what I felt, was the start of quality amplification. Audiolab's 8000A and Arcam's Alpha 9 are two such examples (the current level would be nearer £1k with products like the Naim Nait 5i and Roksan Kandy, although Audiolab's 8200A seems to be dragging that level back down).

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:bobbyg81:This amp is powering speakers that cost ten times as much...Five times

The £400/500 price point used to be, what I felt, was the start of quality amplification. Audiolab's 8000A and Arcam's Alpha 9 are two such examples (the current level would be nearer £1k with products like the Naim Nait 5i and Roksan Kandy, although Audiolab's 8200A seems to be dragging that level back down).

I was going with what I paid. Thats a fair point though. Mind you it's nearer 6 times with the last ATC price increase!

Still its a bloody good amp and spending a grand on a new one wouldn't improve things very much.

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:bobbyg81:This amp is powering speakers that cost ten times as much...Five times

The £400/500 price point used to be, what I felt, was the start of quality amplification. Audiolab's 8000A and Arcam's Alpha 9 are two such examples (the current level would be nearer £1k with products like the Naim Nait 5i and Roksan Kandy, although Audiolab's 8200A seems to be dragging that level back down).

i think quality amplification starts at around £300, at least in the context of being able to both drive 4ohm speakers perfectly adequetly and with pretty decent sound quality to boot . of course more expensive amps may do both a tad better, but then there's always something better, at what point does one conclude an amp is good enough though? im not sure but im pretty sure its nothing to do with an amps price..

 

[Anonymous]

maxflinn:
FrankHarveyHiFi:bobbyg81:This amp is powering speakers that cost ten times as much...Five times

The £400/500 price point used to be, what I felt, was the start of quality amplification. Audiolab's 8000A and Arcam's Alpha 9 are two such examples (the current level would be nearer £1k with products like the Naim Nait 5i and Roksan Kandy, although Audiolab's 8200A seems to be dragging that level back down).

i think quality amplification starts at around £300, at least in the context of being able to both drive 4ohm speakers perfectly adequetly and with pretty decent sound quality to boot . of course more expensive amps may do both a tad better, but then there's always something better, at what point does one conclude an amp is good enough though? im not sure but im pretty sure its nothing to do with an amps price..

You conclude that the amp is good enough when it sounds great with your speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

brittondave:maxflinn:
FrankHarveyHiFi:bobbyg81:This amp is powering speakers that cost ten times as much...Five times

The £400/500 price point used to be, what I felt, was the start of quality amplification. Audiolab's 8000A and Arcam's Alpha 9 are two such examples (the current level would be nearer £1k with products like the Naim Nait 5i and Roksan Kandy, although Audiolab's 8200A seems to be dragging that level back down).

i think quality amplification starts at around £300, at least in the context of being able to both drive 4ohm speakers perfectly adequetly and with pretty decent sound quality to boot . of course more expensive amps may do both a tad better, but then there's always something better, at what point does one conclude an amp is good enough though? im not sure but im pretty sure its nothing to do with an amps price..

You conclude that the amp is good enough when it sounds great with your speakers.

. of course, im thinking more someone coming on here and asking for reccomendations for a suitable amp to use with a pair of 4ohm speakers and being advised to spend north of £600 because cheaper amps wont be able to drive them..

im sure thats often a correct assumption, depending on the speakers of course, but i dont think it always is. why would it be?

 

[Craig M.]

maxflinn:
FrankHarveyHiFi:bobbyg81:This amp is powering speakers that cost ten times as much...Five times

The £400/500 price point used to be, what I felt, was the start of quality amplification. Audiolab's 8000A and Arcam's Alpha 9 are two such examples (the current level would be nearer £1k with products like the Naim Nait 5i and Roksan Kandy, although Audiolab's 8200A seems to be dragging that level back down).

i think quality amplification starts at around £300, at least in the context of being able to both drive 4ohm speakers perfectly adequetly and with pretty decent sound quality to boot . of course more expensive amps may do both a tad better, but then there's always something better, at what point does one conclude an amp is good enough though? im not sure but im pretty sure its nothing to do with an amps price..

i would like to see what your amp did with some dyn focus 110s, 4ohm loading and capable of leaving most budget amps begging for mercy. the difference between budget and £1000+ amps, on those speakers, is huge. it's also very difficult to compare power ratings as manufacturers measure things in different ways, some will measure output at 1khz, others will measure over the audible frequency range. the amount of watts an amp can put out, tells you very little about the amount of control it will have over a speaker. your ears are about the safest way for the average person to determine if an amp can control a pair of speakers, assuming you know what you are listening for!

 

[jiggyjoe]

If you really need lots of power for resonable money then you cant beat Nad.

For example their c372 integrated can deliver into 1khz 20m/s tonebursts (which is more like a music signal than a continuous sine wave).

300w into 8 ohm.

535w into 4ohm.

940w into 2 ohm.

wait for it..................1450w into 1 ohm!!!

most amps barring a krell turn themselves off for protection into loads lower than 2 ohms.

this sucker could drive a Apogee Scintilla!!