How many watts to power my Deftech speakers?

You're not going to get a lot of bass from 6-1/2" woofers. More power will help some but there's no replacement for displacement.
Yes you can, but it will be a different kind of bass.

Physics dictates that in order to create sound from a loudspeaker you have to move air. A large bass speaker can move a lot of air with very little excursion. A small speaker can also move a lot of air, but it has to move a long way in the same amount of time to do it. I find that smaller speakers tend to sound a little punchy (if that's the right expression) when driven hard at low frequencies. Big speaker bass tends to be more relaxed, deeper and smoother (I'm an engineer and I try to avoid using non quantifiable terms like that - but you get my point). The small speaker will suffer from overshoot at the extremes of movement - oh yes it will (physics again). So everyone is right.
 
Actually it's not so much about moving air as exciting it (pumping energy into the medium). That's why horns (which are passive impedance matching devices, improving the coupling of a driver to the surrounding air) work as they do.

There are purpose built, small loudspeaker drivers that are expressly designed to operate at low excursion -- the Lowther fullrange drivers, which have been on the market for many decades, are a salient example. To get "flat" LF performance from them, the efficiency of coupling of the driver to its environment is critical, and folks have gone to great lengths to achieve it.

kleinhorn1.png

Nelson Pass' ironically-monikered Kleinhorns: https://www.passdiy.com/project/speakers/the-kleinhorn-part-1
 
I just posted this in response to a similar query and thought it would fit perfectly here.

If you use your head, you can drive virtually any speaker with virtually any amplifier. Simply put, if it starts to sound bad, turn it down immediately. If that happens, something is complaining. It could be either the amp or the speakers. In any case, it doesn't matter. Just turn it down immediately.

So, keeping that in mind, I'd say go with as much clean power as you can afford.
 
I have had a pair of BP10 since I think the late 1990's. Originally I had a Mcintosh C28 & MC 2105 for power. They sounded really , really good when set up. They sounded even better when the 2105 died and I traded it in for an MC-162 in 2001. I use them for music only, mostly FM and CD's . I have them positioned such that they deliver a good sound stage and are quite dynamic. I also have a pair of Polk subs running with them for added bass. This combination works quite well, and I usually listen at 12- 15 watts as indicated on the meters. That's plenty loud for me. I have no desire, even after many years , of replacing them. I recently heard some Golden Ear speakers with the Mcintosh MA-252 . Of course they sounded more precise and with better detail, but not enough of a difference to spend all the money needed to replace them. My C28 needs a major rebuild so at this time I am using a Marantz sr7000 HTR as the preamp and tuner. I am actually quite happy with the sound.
 
I just posted this in response to a similar query and thought it would fit perfectly here.

If you use your head, you can drive virtually any speaker with virtually any amplifier. Simply put, if it starts to sound bad, turn it down immediately. If that happens, something is complaining. It could be either the amp or the speakers. In any case, it doesn't matter. Just turn it down immediately.

So, keeping that in mind, I'd say go with as much clean power as you can afford.

For the most part this is good advice:thumbsup:. But there are a few combinations personal experience has taught me that don't work. Carver receivers and a 4ohm load do not work well together. Moving up to separates neither do brdiged Hafler DH200's with the same 4 ohm load. Both these units released the magic smoke at sane volumes due to low impedance of a pair of Boston ba400 speakers. They more than likely would've sent out those smoke signals much quicker had they been driving a more difficult load such as some of the older infinitys.
 
For the most part this is good advice:thumbsup:. But there are a few combinations personal experience has taught me that don't work. Carver receivers and a 4ohm load do not work well together. Moving up to separates neither do brdiged Hafler DH200's with the same 4 ohm load. Both these units released the magic smoke at sane volumes due to low impedance of a pair of Boston ba400 speakers. They more than likely would've sent out those smoke signals much quicker had they been driving a more difficult load such as some of the older infinitys.
Well bridging an amp makes a 4ohm speaker into a 2ohm load, it's not really the amps fault it let out the magic smoke.
 
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