Amp power for beginner (1 Viewer)

[Greg Br]

Getting back to power, I am getting either getting a pir of Martin Logans(forgot the model, midsize though), Paradigm Studio 100's or Klipsch RF-7's, and am not sure what amp to get to power the mains only.

 

[Saurav]

I'm wondering how a more reasonable set of well-made horn speakers might sound. Say, something like Klipsch RF-7's?

I think a lot depends on what they're driven with, and of course the room. IMO, it doesn't make sense to take a high efficiency speaker and pair it with a plodding monster SS amp. You need tubes, preferably low powered SETs.
I heard his HT system too, which uses horn speakers that he's built for around $350/pr, again being driven by tubes. That system actually sounded smoother in the treble than my box-speaker based system. Very pleasant and intimate and unfatiguing to listen to... in fact, my tastes run towards a slightly more sparkly treble than what that system had.

 

[Michael R Price]

Don't listen to speaker sensitivity specifications. Most are fudged. Look in a magazine review measurements to find the actual sensitivity. Example: Klipsch RB-5s claim 96 dB sensitivity and it's really 92.1. My Kit281s claim 92 dB sensitivity and it's really 89.7... you get the idea. Most manufactures claim 'in room sensitivity,' whatever that means.

I do believe the absurd efficiency numbers of certain horn-loaded speakers like the Klipschorn and other DIY horns are correct (>100dB).

Anyway, part of the purpose of the larger amplifiers is to have lower distortion at high volume levels. For example, say you're in a long heavy action scene at reference level, demanding 80 watts from your amp. A 100 watt amp, while capable of playing the scene, is nearing clipping and probably has quite a bit of distortion (>1%). A 200 watt amp wouldn't be near it's limits and would probably sound a lot cleaner.

I wanted to test this for myself by bridging my amp and listening to one speaker at high levels (versus normal mode with 1 speaker connected). However, my amp can't take the 2 ohm load it would get if I bridged it into 4 ohm speakers. So, never mind that.