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Power Amp Questions

El Gato

El Gato

New Member
So, I usually find an answer to my questions here Fairly quick, but with all the posts about power amps I still don't see any answers. Close...but yet so far.
Ok. I have a Luxman L-550AXII integrated amp, Class A @ 20 watts P/channel. I have a pair of Klipsch Heresy IV's hooked up to them. The Heresy's are most likely getting moved to another room. A lot of the replacement speakers I'm looking at do not have the efficiency that the Klipsch possess. I'm thinking I may need a decent power amp between the Luxman and the new speakers in order to boost wattage if the efficiency is too low for 20 watts.
If that's the case, is the end result wattage pre amp + power amp or whichever amp has the highest wattage?
Is the resulting sound dominated by the pre or power amp or combination of both?
If I'm going about this problem wrong, let me know why. Any recommendations, advice or opinions? Thank you.

James
 
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If you use an external amp, the amp inside your luxman is unused, so no benefit from those watts. Whatever amp you might choose would be the sole power source for the speakers.

You'd easily connect an amp to the pre-outs of your luxman, so that's not a problem if you decide you want more power.

You might not need gobs of power, I'd pick some speakers and try them with your current unit before I went more. But you likely will need more if you like it loud. The heresy are very efficient indeed, you're right on track with your thinking.
 
If you're using the pre-outs on your Luxman, you would be by-passing the power amp component of the unit. The power would come from whatever power amp you decide to use.
 
If your new speakers have separate posts for the bass, and treble sections of the crossover, you could use the 20w integrated for the treble section, and the new poweramp for the bass ?
 
AudioAvarice said:
If your new speakers have separate posts for the bass, and treble sections of the crossover, you could use the 20w integrated for the treble section, and the new poweramp for the bass ?
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A power amp would need a preamp to control it.
 
loudnoises said:
If you use an external amp, the amp inside your luxman is unused, so no benefit from those watts. Whatever amp you might choose would be the sole power source for the speakers.

You'd easily connect an amp to the pre-outs of your luxman, so that's not a problem if you decide you want more power.

You might not need gobs of power, I'd pick some speakers and try them with your current unit before I went more. But you likely will need more if you like it loud. The heresy are very efficient indeed, you're right on track with your thinking.
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Thanks, Loudnoises. Any thoughts on whether it's the pre or the power amp that lends the resulting sound characteristics?
 
opnly bafld said:
@El Gato

What are the speakers you are looking at?
Your Luxman is 20w at 8 ohms and @40 at 4 ohms so I think you might be surprised at what speakers may work with if you are not into dance club/rock concert levels.
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Yes! I forgot about that question. Not very knowledgeable on this subject... Is it the speakers that determines the 40 watts at 4 ohm JBL L-100 Classics are being considered, which are a 4 ohm speaker.
 
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Impedance varies with frequency so even 8 ohm rated speakers drop below 8 ohms.
The Luxman has a strong power supply which allows it to drive lower impedance speakers well.
 
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More power may be unnecessary in his situation depending on what new speakers he gets and how loud he plays his system.

I know from past experience with lower power amplifiers that I would be completely happy with the Luxman and most speakers.
 
El Gato said:
Thanks, Loudnoises. Any thoughts on whether it's the pre or the power amp that lends the resulting sound characteristics?
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Both. really it's how they all play together. But when you're dealing with better than average gear you won't likely find huge differences. Just keep your quality on par.
 
Will the JBL Classics work fine on 20-wpc? Sure. They're sensitivity is listed at 90dB.
Will they sound even better with 200-wpc? Of course—but then so would the Heresies!
 
El Gato said:
Yes! I forgot about that question. Not very knowledgeable on this subject... Is it the speakers that determines the 40 watts at 4 ohm JBL L-100 Classics are being considered, which are a 4 ohm speaker.
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Yes.

The Lux will do just fine with the JBLs.
 
In some people's mind more unused power (200 watts) makes a difference, it doesn't, quality over quantity.
20 - 40 Luxman watts is going to be hard to beat.
 
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Its always about the speakers. They're the most important choice. So I would audition some of the new Forte' if you adequate space, then the series IV Cornwalls. Then you don't have to change or try to add an amp to add more power. If you really like the Luxman sound then you want to use a Luxman basic power amp for a perfect match. Why would you want to spend the next year or two pulling your hair trying different other brand amplifiers. I have had the opportunities to hear your IV hersey and I think the Forte and Cornwall IVs would where I would look first. You might want to try Belle speakers but they are much larger and their bass is no better if as good as your Hersey. As Belle speakers are all older the midrange horn of the Belle will not be as good as the Fort' or Cornwall IV. Plus Klipsch has done some very important re-voicing of all the model 4 speakers which you seem to prefer. I do. over earlier Klipsch models.
 
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