Same wattage but different loudness?

[radovantz]

I recently tried Marantz and Denon receivers both rated for 80w per channel with MS Avant speakers. Marantz sounds great at the volume of -10, but Denon has to struggle at the volume of 00 to produce the same loudness, also suffers lack of detail and loosing weight. So why those receivers with the same wattage don't have same loudness ability? Denon AVR-1905 & Marantz SR4500

 

[Anonymous]

It's all down to current. The amount of current an amp provides gives it it's sense of power, attack and scale, whereas 'watts per channel' is just a rough guide as to how loud an amp sounds - the problem with this is that manufacturers measure WPC differently, unlike current, which is measured in amps.

An AV amp is providing up to 7 channels of audio from one transformer, which limits the ultimate power that can be produced when all channels are active.

Naim's original Naim Nait was rated at 13wpc, but sounded louder than most amps up to and above 50wpc.

 

[Sliced Bread]

...and don't get me started on Onkyo's measurement taken from 1 channel driven. Who on earth buys a 7.1 amp just to play it in mono! To be fair Onkyo's amps are not under powered (although my experience is limited to the 905), but I do hate this 'massaging' of figures. We need a single, nice and clear industry standard.