Frank Sol
Lunatic Member
Such a fine amp :yes:
I have one sitting in my closet :scratch2: Should let it go and let someone enjoy it
Amp power and sound quality
- Thread starter shamrock.
- Start date
Such a fine amp :yes:
I have one sitting in my closet :scratch2: Should let it go and let someone enjoy it
shamrock.
Active Member
Thanks for all the replies, I'm beginning to understand a bit more, and realising that though my amp and speakers are good in themselves they are a bit mismatched.
The positive is that what to my ears sounded great , can only get better.
I'll look for some small sensitive speakers to go with the sansui au505 and move it into my living room which is quite a small space.
The DM14s can go in the rumpus room which is really big , it's an old dojo, coming up with an amp around 100 w rms of decent quality to drive them ,on my budget of bugger all will be challenging.
The positive is that what to my ears sounded great , can only get better.
I'll look for some small sensitive speakers to go with the sansui au505 and move it into my living room which is quite a small space.
The DM14s can go in the rumpus room which is really big , it's an old dojo, coming up with an amp around 100 w rms of decent quality to drive them ,on my budget of bugger all will be challenging.
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stereofanboy
Addicted Member
ConradH
Lunatic Member
Some people are very pleased with SET amps that produce only a few watts, so you can probably do well with very little power. OTOH, I find a sweet spot at 60-100 watts/ch with good solid state equipment. I just never listen loud enough to clip such a system. Our TV goes through a 30 W/ch system and that's adequate for even the loudest movies with moderately efficient speakers. Get into some inefficient speakers and no amount of power seems like enough.
shamrock.
Active Member
It would be nice to get an amp to push along my B&W dm14 speakers.
Quality 100w rms to 8ohm seems beyond my modest budget.
Locally I can find a few decent amps rating around 70w rms output
Harmon Kardon HK970
NAD 7175pe
..are two within my budget
Are amps of this calibre going to be suitable (enough power) with my speakers?
Quality 100w rms to 8ohm seems beyond my modest budget.
Locally I can find a few decent amps rating around 70w rms output
Harmon Kardon HK970
NAD 7175pe
..are two within my budget
Are amps of this calibre going to be suitable (enough power) with my speakers?
bsandovalb
Active Member
well I upgraded from a 275w per channel Audio Research Amp to a Viva Solista with 20w per channel and cannot be happier.... speakers are Usher be10....
sKiZo
Hates received: 92644 43.20°N 85.50°W
crispycircuit
Super Member
I think your doing well as is....I'd ask some friends to lend an amp for in home testing. The only way to know if there's an improvement is to try it in your system. It's odd how some things match up nice and others don't. You can't really say till you try it.....enjoy the journey...
johnda
Addicted Member
What sounds best to me is when the amp has enough clean power to handle large transients without getting into a sweat. The amp just cruises along without giving you a sensation of hardness, which is probably the start of clipping. It's hard to describe, but with the right combo of speakers and amp, the machinery disappears and you can just hear the music. Over the years I have used tube amps rated at 17.5 and 20 watts per channel and SS amps from 40 to 85 watts per channel. My speakers were from 87 to 90 Db efficiency and 8 ohms impedance. My listening preference is to be like I'm in a night club with the performers close by. Vocals that let me imagine the gal standing in front of me, that kind of stuff. For me those performance figures were fine.
If your tastes are such that you want the music to blast at you, either heavy classical or rock, you will need more power or higher efficiency speakers, possibly horn loaded speakers to give you the added punch. Unfortunately high efficiency does mean bigger speakers, think Altec, Klipsch, JBL and for many of us that space is not available.
Good luck with whatever you choose, and enjoy!
If your tastes are such that you want the music to blast at you, either heavy classical or rock, you will need more power or higher efficiency speakers, possibly horn loaded speakers to give you the added punch. Unfortunately high efficiency does mean bigger speakers, think Altec, Klipsch, JBL and for many of us that space is not available.
Good luck with whatever you choose, and enjoy!
Odd fixation on those Speakers.
By your own admission they were beat up things.
Don't be fooled by their Brand Name .
The things are Mediocre at best IMO and clearly too lumpy a load for the pore Sansui. (which while it ain't a world beater, is by any yardstick: reasonable)
FIND decent speakers.. wayyy before discarding the amp.
By your own admission they were beat up things.
Don't be fooled by their Brand Name .
The things are Mediocre at best IMO and clearly too lumpy a load for the pore Sansui. (which while it ain't a world beater, is by any yardstick: reasonable)
FIND decent speakers.. wayyy before discarding the amp.
Rybeam
Super Member
I think you can mitigate the slippery slope a bit. You have excellent speakers, so don't worry about them, you just need some more power. A nice 50 watt plus amp/receiver will allow the B&Ws to really shine. Take your time locally, or use the members here to locate a nice quality unit.
shamrock.
Active Member
shamrock.
Active Member
By 'beat up things' I mean the finish on the cabinets is tired, theres marks on top where someone rested there cups of tea, the grill cloth is a bit frayed and tatty.. I can restore that stuff to look like new no problem.
The speakers themselves are in good shape
Whatever else I get I will keep these speakers...and the amp
dr*audio
Fish fingers and custard!
Good idea. I never heard a pair of B&W's I didn't like.
cubdog
banging through drywall
Don't mind bare. He loves to crap on people. Best to just ignore him.
FWIW, I was just in the tube forum looking at flea watt amps. Some of those guys are running speakers off as little as 1/2 wpc. So while your Sansui isn't a beast it's still a very nice amp. Especially paired with the right speakers.
I know that isn't much help but it's all I can offer.
cubdog
SteveS in VA
Active Member
Just a comment. The position of the volume (gain) knob isn't a very good measure of the power used. If the input source is relatively powerful, maximum power is reached with little gain, but if it is relatively weak, you may need more gain (more rotation on the "volume" knob to achieve the same amplifier power out to the speakers.
The point: use your ears, not the position of the knob to tell if the amp is being asked to deliver too much.
The point: use your ears, not the position of the knob to tell if the amp is being asked to deliver too much.
hnash53
Super Member
Just how many watts do you need?
For what it's worth (FWIW), here's a recent thread about ampification power that generated a bit of discussion:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=614292
Your own listening habits... how loud you listen to the music, how much bass you like, room acoustics... can be very informative to you. Evaluate your own listening habits, and then with the info in this thread and the one provided above, you'll be better able to determine your needs sonically.
Best wishes. This is a fun place... and a fun interest to have.
For what it's worth (FWIW), here's a recent thread about ampification power that generated a bit of discussion:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=614292
Your own listening habits... how loud you listen to the music, how much bass you like, room acoustics... can be very informative to you. Evaluate your own listening habits, and then with the info in this thread and the one provided above, you'll be better able to determine your needs sonically.
Best wishes. This is a fun place... and a fun interest to have.