Amplifier power and speakers - Denon and Dali

[SQren]

Hello everybody

I was in my local hifi store a couple of days ago, and have fallen for the Denon Piccolo, RCD-N8. I was in doubt whether I should use floor speakers or compact speakers, and the sales person made very strong arguments for floor speakers, in particular, the Dali Ikon 6 mk2. It sounded great, however, I'm confused about power demands, and I dont know if I should trust a sales person... For all I know, he's just humoring me.

I know that I should be aware that I might burn the speakers if I turn the volume up too high... The sales person said that it would not happen, unless I really cranked the volume up to "insane" amounts. That's not my intention, all though I'm not really sure what insane amounts is.

Here's my problem, and my lack of knowledge. Dali lists recommended amp power for the Ikon 6 mk2 between 25-180 watts. The denon ceol lists rated output as 65 W + 65 W (4 Ω, 1 kHz, T.H.D. 0.7 %) and dynamic power: 80 W + 80 W (4 Ω). The denon also has a power consumption of 55 watts, I dont know if that is average or peak?

Without knowing much about it, it looks like a very small amp for those speakers? I'm really worried that I brake the speakers or that I'm missing out on great sound because I chose a small amp?

English is not my first language, so I apologize if something was hard to understand.

 

[BigH]

Try to find the amp rating at 8Ohms, probably be about 35W. How loud do you like to play the music? These speakers need plenty of room around them so what is your room like. The distortion figure looks high, my feeling is the amp is not really upto it for those speakers.

 

[SQren]

Thanks for the reply

I'm not sure where to find the amp rating at 8 ohms, I've searched through Denons specification sheet and manual. But it's probably around 35 watts as you write.

I'm not throwing wild parties or something like that, so the volume will never exceed anything that would be annoying for the neighbours. I also dont know if it is a stupid setup for movies aswell? I imagine the highest volume setting would be for watching movies. Most of the time, the system would be used for background music. Maybe I should go for a surround system instead.

My living room is 40 m2. And I'm trying to find something that's good for streaming spotify, internet radio and movie watching. I had the feeling that ceol is too small for those speakers

 

[Tarxman]

The Ikon 6 Mk2 speakers are a fairly efficient speaker if the specs are to be believed. 2.83 volts (1 watt @ 8ohms) will deliver 89dB from 1 metre away. For every increase of 3dB you wish to get, the amount of power needs to double. I.e. 1 watt = 89dB, 2 watts = 92dB, 4 watts = 95dB, 8 watts = 98dB etc.

Also, since the Ikon's are 6 ohm, they will draw approx 1.5 watts from 2.83 volts.

End result, the Denon should be ok to drive them even if it is 35 watts or so @ 8 ohms.

 

[SQren]

Hey Tarxman... That's fantastic, very interesting.

Thank you for your input.

 

[davedotco]

The Ikon 6 Mk2 speakers are a fairly efficient speaker if the specs are to be believed. 2.83 volts (1 watt @ 8ohms) will deliver 89dB from 1 metre away. For every increase of 3dB you wish to get, the amount of power needs to double. I.e. 1 watt = 89dB, 2 watts = 92dB, 4 watts = 95dB, 8 watts = 98dB etc.

Also, since the Ikon's are 6 ohm, they will draw approx 1.5 watts from 2.83 volts.

End result, the Denon should be ok to drive them even if it is 35 watts or so @ 8 ohms.

On the other hand, the little Denon systems have a maximum power consumption of around 65 watts.

Allowing for some inefficiancies in the power supply and allowing for some power to be used on sections other than the power amplifiers the unit can perhaps sustain about 20 watts per channel long term.

If the speakers are reasonably efficient and the levels kept reasonably modest, then this is probably enough to play music without obvious distortion, so in that sense they are compatible.

Whether the system provides enough presence or punch or scale to the music is another matter entirely and i have no doubt that different people would have different views on that.

It is my experience that ,when dealing with electronics of limited capabilities, it is best not to ask too much, simple, easy to drive small speakers are generally the way to go.