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How many watts do you feed your Klipsches?

Yesterday I was listening to my basement system, a Pioneer SX-880 receiver that has watts/meter displays & I found I was sending between .10 & .25 watts into my Cornwall II/Heresy II stacked speakers. Believe me it was plenty loud.
 
RT Fan said:
Yesterday I was listening to my basement system, a Pioneer SX-880 receiver that has watts/meter displays & I found I was sending between .10 & .25 watts into my Cornwall II/Heresy II stacked speakers. Believe me it was plenty loud.
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I'm not surprised. I can't quantify my power consumption with my rig but I know it is very low. I get a kick out of folks who think they need 500 watts per channel.
 
Depending on what is hooked up anywhere from 10 watts to 60 watt amp. Most of the time the HIIs are on my 20watt Sherwood S9500c ss amp.

But whether using my smallest amp, a DynaSCA35 or my largest, a Philips 5781 200 Watters, my RS peak meter shows the same. Using am interstation noise my average level sucks up at .004 watts and using the the Shure Audio Test record, the peaks hit at 2.5 watts. This is on the Crites crossover rebuilt kits and bis titanium diaphragms.

If the Klipsch specs are right, those thinking they are pumping gigawatts into theirs should double check,.especially if they still have the original caps. On mine the cap voltage was 50 volts so an estimate based on the formula on the web, the max wattage the cap would take before blowing is around 70-100rms but only for a short time. I tested this theory on them by accident and it turned out to be true requiring me to recap but it saved the drivers. When it happened my next door neighbor ran out thinking it was a gunshot. Yeah, when it blew, it literally blew. First and only time this ever happened to me in some 55 years. Never thought my first would be with a Klipsch.
 
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At this time my Belles are fed by my Pioneer SX-780 at a max output of 45 watts. The Belles are very sensitive, at around 104db. They have been modified with Crites crossovers and tweets so I don't know exactly how this effects their sensitivity. Never play these very loud anyway but I enjoy what I'm hearing at low volume, maybe 9 or 10 o'clock on the dial.

S.J.
 
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Modded Forte 1's: woofers feed from Pioneer SX-1980 and mids/tweeters feed from Dynaco ST-70 using a PAS2 as the pre-amp. This combination of amps balance perfectly. I keep the volume below 12:00, I like having headroom and chest thumping bass.
 
Southern said:
Modded Forte 1's: woofers feed from Pioneer SX-1980 and mids/tweeters feed from Dynaco ST-70 using a PAS2 as the pre-amp. This combination of amps balance perfectly. I keep the volume below 12:00, I like having headroom and chest thumping bass.
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Very intresting, I would have never thought of anything like that.


Best-

Boozehound.
 
For average listening most folks listen around 85 db with enthusiasts and professioals around 90 to 93 db. If you figure a 10 db peaking factor or 103 db which is 4th to 10th row concert level. This not amplified concerts, just good old fashioned sysmphonic band, orchestra, massed choir and organ type.

So because of the directivity of the average klipsch you might loose 4 to 6 db in level between the speaker 1 meter rating and your listening position. So what does that mean? For a Corner horn 105 db 1 watt 1 meter, - 5db 100 db add 3 db of power to reach 103db= 2 watts of power. Now most speaker manufacturers, Klipsch, Bozak, EV, Altec, JBL when running tests use 110 db as a barometer level of performance. That's about 10 watts for a Corner horn, La Scala and Belle, you'd need about 25 to 30 watts for a Cornwall, and to much power for a Heresy consumer version. I guess a Chorus would need about 50 watts and a Forte would fall short just like its cousin the Hersey. But in any case all the Heritage series excluding the Hersey for home listening would be happy with a great amp like a MC 30 or MC 225 or for todays offerings a MHA100 or MC 152.
 
We have many pieces of gear left over from the years we did gigs locally even the road case with amps and electronic crossover. So our sub bass horns are fed with 250wpc,the modified Pro LaScalla cabs are fed with 125wpc through the electronic crossover giving us unlimited head room. It is certainly overkill but all music sure has what we like with nail pulling volume at just a slight twist of the volume knob.
 
Just added a Harman Kardon Citation 19 amp to the collection. 100 watts strong that I'm using with a Dynaco Super Pas 3 tube pre into my Cornwalls. Great match all around.
 
bystander said:
Re: Coytee's "cacophony of violence"

I cracked up when I read that in your earlier post, and again right now. That is an absolutely hilarious story. For some of us Klipsch fans who like to crank things up now and then, "a cacophony of violence" could actually be a good marketing slogan!
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"We thought your stove fell over or something..." From the gals downstairs after the plane crash on DSOTM through DIY corner horns in my apartment.

WRT watts, my friend later bi-amped them with G.A.S. Grandsons (80 watts into 4 ohms, iirc) and his whole house would buzz.
 
laatsch55 said:
Headroom Dear Man, headroom....
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Completely agree - I'm running a BAT VK-250se that puts out 150w per side, yet I seriously doubt I can handle 10 full watts :no:, but this ensures it remains in high bias class A, sounds sweet and detailed to me :thmbsp:

It's always nicer to have the extra H.P., one never knows when speaker choice will change, I'm not big on having to change out amps because I change my speakers. Cheers!
 
250w per side and I use it more than I should.If in to loud enough the meters are often peaking between 25 to 250w and low level around 2.5 watts.
 
moray james said:
more watts do not equal more bass. One of the finest amps i have ever listened to for bass quality superb impact and articulation and tone is a set 2a3. It is not how many watts you have but what you do with the watts you have got. Good to hear you are enjoying the scott. Best regards moray james.
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+1, +1, +1
 
With my Cornwalls, RF7 II, and CF3 my normal practice was to use around 50 wpc of tube power. That was way more power than I've ever needed.

cubdog
 
My Fortes sound wonderful with as little as 35 watts per channel. And will shake the walls when paired to my Pioneer SX 950 at 80 wpc.
 
I have Forte 1's w/ ALK XO'S and speaker spikes installed. For tubes I use an RH Universal built by a AKer Santa at around 6wpc. For SS it's a Pass F5 clone built by marantzfan at 25wpc.
 
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