Now I am a true believer in clean power! (1 Viewer)

[Mike OConnell]

I have had a stereo-only system with the following setup for a year now:

Speakers: Dynaudio 1.3SE (See specs at end of post)
Amp: Bryston 3B-ST (151 wpc at clipping)
Pre-amp: Arcam Alpha 8R
CD Player: Arcam Alpha 9
Interconnects: Silvercats
Speaker Wire: Homemade 10ga equivalent

I thought the setup sounded wonderful, but always wondered how the speakers (not very efficient ones) would react to a higher power amp. So I just switched out the 3B-ST for a 4B-ST (308 wpc at clipping) and I was simply floored with the difference in the overall dynamics and presentation of the soundstage the speakers created.

The main difference was on the effortless definition and precise reproduction of the transients in the music. When a note was to start, it started - when it was to end, it ended.

I did not expect to hear much of a difference, but am very happy with the change. I thought that once you got above a certain point that the extra power really would not matter.

The difference was evident more so as the volume was turned up, but could be heard even at fairly low levels - just more "pop" to the music.

.....Now I wonder what would happen if I added an external amp to my Denon 5800..... anybody in the KC area got a 7-channel amp I could borrow to try it out with!

Mike

Dynaudio 1.3SE Specs:

Sensitivity (2.83 V/1 m): 86 dB
Recommended Amp. Power:
Small size rooms: > 30 Watts
Medium size rooms: > 80 Watts
IEC Long Term Power Handling: > 170 Watts
Impedance, Nominal: 6 ohms
Impedance, (20-200 Hz): 3.6 - 23.9 ohms
Impedance, (200-20 kHz): 3.7 - 6.1 ohms
Impedance, HF (200 kHz): 6.9 ohms
Frequency Response (+/- 3 dB): 37 Hz - 27 kHz
Weight: 10.1 kg. each
Dimensions (W x H x L): 8" x 15" x 11.5"
Crossover Frequency: 2600Hz
Crossover Slope: 6dB/oct
Remarks:
Driver Complement:
Tweeter:28mm Soft Dome Tweeter .
Woofer:17cm one-piece moulded MSP polypropylene cone.
Extra long 75mm aluminum wire voice coil for long-throw excursion.

 

[Chu Gai]

I see it as a good idea to have enough amplifier power to drive speakers at or near their rated max wherever possible. If you have a substantial power amp, and also have speakers capable of handling that power then you can have it both loud and clean. Clipping is not so clean and perhaps that is what you were experiencing.