New...and in need of advice

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Hello. I'm new here and hoping someone might be able to help with some advice. My current set up includes a pair of Tannoy Saturn S6 floorstanding speakers bi-wired to a Cambridge Audio Azur 640a amp. Pretty basic, I realise, but it suits my needs fine. Or at least it would if it could go a bit louder without the amp kindly cutting out. The amp is apparently 75w into 8 ohms, so if I bought a bigger amp I presume I would get more volume? And if so, what is the recommended output to comfortably power these speakers? Any recommendations for amplifiers?

Basically, I love the quality the vast majority of the time but on the odd occasion that I want to crank things up a bit, I'd love to be able to do so without the amp cutting out all the time. Any advice for more noise gratefully received. Many thanks in advance!

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_608850036]

Anyone...?

 

[bigboss]

So does your amp actually cut out? It should easily be able to handle higher volumes. What's the size of your room? I'm assuming you're not pushing it to insanely loud levels.

 

[bigfish786]

Do you have the amp on the floor, or close to your speakers?

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_608850036]

So does your amp actually cut out? It should easily be able to handle higher volumes. What's the size of your room? I'm assuming you're not pushing it to insanely loud levels.

Hello Bigboss,

Thanks for your response. Yes, the amp cuts out and the protection facility kicks in meaning I have to unplug the amp and wait a few seconds before plugging back in. It's almost as though the protect thingy is too sensitive. Cuts out anywhere after about 1 o'clock on the volume knob. Room is not big. So I don't think I'm overdoing things, or pushing it to insanely loud levels! Or am I....?!

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_608850036]

Do you have the amp on the floor, or close to your speakers?

Hi Bigfish,

Interesting question. The amp is in a unit in a corner so it can get quite hot, if that's what you're driving at... It's about 2-3 ft from one of the speakers.

Intrigued!

 

[bigfish786]

Do you have the amp on the floor, or close to your speakers?

Hi Bigfish,

Interesting question. The amp is in a unit in a corner so it can get quite hot, if that's what you're driving at... It's about 2-3 ft from one of the speakers.

Intrigued!

Is, a friend had the same issue with a harman kardon amp, anything above a certain volume would turn it off, our thoughts were it was the vibration causing this, with it being situated on the floor. That could be a possibility.

Or, it may simply not have enough power to drive your speakers. I'm no expert on this, but if you know anyone with an amp, try it, and see what happens .

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_608850036]

Do you have the amp on the floor, or close to your speakers?

Hi Bigfish,

Interesting question. The amp is in a unit in a corner so it can get quite hot, if that's what you're driving at... It's about 2-3 ft from one of the speakers.

Intrigued!

Is, a friend had the same issue with a harman kardon amp, anything above a certain volume would turn it off, our thoughts were it was the vibration causing this, with it being situated on the floor. That could be a possibility.

Or, it may simply not have enough power to drive your speakers. I'm no expert on this, but if you know anyone with an amp, try it, and see what happens .

Good thinking. Might well try it this weekend. Many thanks for your thoughts.

 

[ID.]

[Cuts out anywhere after about 1 o'clock on the volume knob. Room is not big. So I don't think I'm overdoing things, or pushing it to insanely loud levels! Or am I....?!

Interesting thing is, most volume knobs are pretty much hitting full volume around at around the 11 or 12 o'clock position. Depending on the source, the amp may already be clipping at the 10 or 11 o'clock position. This is a generalization, and I don't know how it is on your amp.

Now why would they make a knob that hits full volume so soon? As far as I know (1) it is to accommodate sources that are quieter (record players, etc.). (2) It sounds really impressive when amps get loud quickly. The new buyer then thinks, wow, if it is this loud at the 10 o'clock point, imagine how much more power and volume it can give!

tl;dr version - Yes, there is a good chance that you are pushing the volume up too high considering the demands of the speakers and the capabilities of the amp.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_608850036]

Thanks ID.

So presumably if I had an amp with a higher wattage I'd be able to get more volume out of the speakers....?

Please excuse the ignorance!

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

What's the db rating on the speakers, this also is a reason some speakers can be easy or difficult for amps to drive 88-90 into 8 ohms is a relatively easy load, but once below these figures things can start to get difficult. Anyway i reckon at the 1 o'clock position on your amp, I think you'll be starting to push things with lots of distortion kicking in, it can't be pleasant to listen to. it must be extremely loud, I've not had my Naim xs past 10 o'clock, and thats plenty loud enough, or maybe I'm just getting old, lol. I've had a Cambridge amp in the past, and never felt the need to go past the 12 o'clock position.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_608850036]

What's the db rating on the speakers, this also is a reason some speakers can be easy or difficult for amps to drive 88-90 into 8 ohms is a relatively easy load, but once below these figures things can start to get difficult. Anyway i reckon at the 1 o'clock position on your amp, I think you'll be starting to push things with lots of distortion kicking in, it can't be pleasant to listen to. it must be extremely loud, I've not had my Naim xs past 10 o'clock, and thats plenty loud enough, or maybe I'm just getting old, lol. I've had a Cambridge amp in the past, and never felt the need to go past the 12 o'clock position.

Fair enough. It's not very often that I push things beyond 1 o'clock but I live in the middle of nowhere so just occasionally I like a bit of a blast! Still not quite following though. The sensitivity is 90db, if that's any help? The speakers are 6ohm, the recommended amplifier power is upto 120 Watts and the amp apparently produces 65w into 8ohms or 100w into 4ohms meaning it must produce 80w ish into 6ohms? Interestingly I've just seen quite a lot of negativity online about the protection system.

 

[ID.]

90 db is pretty sensitive. The amp should be able to drive them loud enough, but more watts never hurt.