NuForce Icon-2 (18w pc@8ohm) drive B&W DM685. Is it a bad idea?

[admin_exported]

Hi,
First of all I admit I'm new to the hifi world. Still learning and asking stupid questions around

.

The background is that I have a small creative D100 active speaker. To me it plays pretty loud and room filling (5m*5m). But after checking the specs, I'm surprised to see its output power is only 2*2W. Then I was just thinking even if I bought a super 100W pc amplifier plus two DM685 speakers, all I need would still be say 5-10W power from these guys to fill my room and meet my own level of loudness requirements

. Then, this small desktop amp, NuForce ICON-2, came into my radar, with 18W pc output.

On the speaker side, I was looking for those with 5" or 6.5" woofers and then found BW's DM685, DM686, and Scandyna's Minipod quite good and fit my needs.

My question is can this little desktop amp drive these speakers? Does this combination make sense? Appreciate if you guys can share your thoughts.

 

[drummerman]

Complex issue but if using reasonably sensitive speakers, most people will not normally use more than 10w. These 10 watts will/can go pretty loud and are in some ways the most important ones.

Whether your '18 watt into 8ohm' amplifier will have sufficient headroom or dynamic ability to properly convey musical peaks on well recorded music in a 'live like' manner, or more pointedly to the best ability of the media used (as opposed to just being 'loud') is another question. - You are also more likely to damage speakers by pushing your amplifier into clipping. Then there's the issue of varying driver impedances, your amplifiers ability to control drivers and more to make life a little easier for you ...

On a positive note, I am having fish for dinner and am really looking forward to it.

Have fun

regards

 

[Anonymous]

Hej drummerman,

Thanks for your reply. What speakers would you recommend for this destop amp? Would like to get some ideas for what is the right match this kind of amp.

BTW, enjoy your fish

 

[chebby]

How about an AVA Maestro 50? (£229)

 

[drummerman]

The NuForce amplifier or chebby's suggestion may well sound ok within their constraints, what do I know?

They seem to have about the same (limited) amount of useable power. If you dont need more and you like what you hear, why not.

Personally, if I was looking for a small desktop amplifier I'd probably get something like a NAD 315 or 6BEE. It doesn't look as neat though.

Oohh, fish ...

regards

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestion. however my requirement is that most time my music source is my computer. so I need a USB DAC.

I found another box which has more power 45w

Cambridge Audio Azur 351A

 

[Craig M.]

How much amplifier power you need depends on a few things. A big part of that can be how loud you want to listen and how dynamic the recordings are, as well as how efficient the speakers are. If you want to hear unclipped dynamic peaks on well recorded music, you need quite a bit of power with most speakers. This link is to an amplifier power calculator. I'd allow for at least 10db peaks when using the calculator. Your Creative D100 speakers probably sound loud due to distortion, an undistorted sound can seem quieter then a distorted one. Is it important for your amp to look nice? If it's going to be tucked out of sight, a pro-audio amp can cost peanuts but provide decent power output - but it will likely look ugly. Google Behringer A500 to give yourself an idea.

 

[chebby]

I like that calculator. Reassuring too. It seems that my amp needs to be somewhere between 39 and 62 Watts per channel (with my speakers and listening distance) to handle peaks at the loudest I have ever recorded them playing in our living room. (And that in itself was much louder than than normal just because it was a test.)

I doubt that I will ever use more than 25 watts in normal use with this set-up.

 

[Craig M.]

Yes, I think at fairly close distances, lowish volumes and reasonably efficient speakers, most music probably doesn't need megawatts. I also think 10db peaks would be fine for most music, 20 db peaks would definitely allow for unclipped peaks on the majority of music but that would require a big jump in power. I think the main limitation with that calculator lies in accurately measuring the sound levels you listen at, I've tried an spl meter and apps on 2 different mobile phones all at the same time, and registered a 15db difference between them.

From this link Crown recommend the following based on a speaker with 85db efficiency: Home stereo: 150 W for 85 dB SPL average (with 15 dB peaks), 1,500 W for 95 dB SPL average (with 15 dB peaks)

So, given an inefficient speaker, power requirements aren't too outlandish as long as average levels aren't too high. This site says that 85db is the level of city traffic when you are in a car.

 

[chebby]

From this link Crown recommend the following based on a speaker with 85db efficiency: Home stereo: 150 W for 85 dB SPL average (with 15 dB peaks), 1,500 W for 95 dB SPL average (with 15 dB peaks)

Zoiks! I think I respect my ears a little more than that. Typical 'average' levels of 75dB (@ 2.5m distance with my 89dB efficient speakers) and 15dB 'headroom' is more like it for me. (8 watts according to calculator.)

80dB average with 15dB headroom would be a maximum. (25 watts.)

Anything over those kind of levels, for any sustained length of time, and i'd worry for my ears. The few times I have used headphones, I have only ever had the volume set to a level where someone in the same room can get my attention by speaking rather than shouting (or I can still easily hear a telephone over the music).

Just how loud do you guys call 'loud'?

 

[Craig M.]

Just how loud do you guys call 'loud'?

That was partly the point of my last post, it depends what you measure it with. I've no idea because I can't say for sure, the three devices I've used (simultaneously) had a 15db spread. How do I know which, if any, were accurate? If that other site I linked to (which said city traffic was 85db when you are sat inside a car) is accurate, then definitely over 85db, because other traffic seems pretty quiet when I'm in my car - I certainly don't have to shout to make myself heard to other passengers. Safest bet is to have as much amp power as you can, especially as many speakers are harder to drive than their efficiency would have you believe.