Mal P
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2000
- Messages
- 127
G'day Michael,
Some good points indeed. With an 8 watt amp, my speakers (which have a steady impedence curve which rises at the bass - hence relatively easier to drive) can hit 99dB peaks quite well, and even more than that since most amps can handle temporary overloads without much difficulty (the 300B tubes I use can probably hit 12 watts or so for short periods, and even after that when they clip, being tubes, they clip somewhat gently). I listen at an average volume level of 75dB at my listening position, hence leaving me with around 20dB of non-overloaded dynamic range (once taking into account the natural drop-off of volume over distance). I find this to be quite satisfactory, and plenty loud, although it depends on individual taste.
I find (and I know many people feel differently) that the level of accuracy desired in Hi-Fi systems should directly reflect the quality of the recordings one listens to... if one were to listen to pristine recordings from the top labels the majority of the time, then a very neutral setup would benefit the listener quite well. However, I personally listen to some music which is recorded absolutely abysmally... and the accurate system that I had previously grated on my ears to such an extent that I stopped listening to such recordings, despite my enjoyment of the artists. I ended up trying numerous options, including several tube/solid state pre-amps and power-amps. It came down to the little Midwest Audio 300B amp which offered a nice balance between warmth and transparency - with a little bias towards warmth I replaced the gain tubes with some old RCA 1940's types and I'm now very happy with my system, and can listen to hours to all sorts of recordings without any problems and just enjoy the music - I guess that's what an entertaintment system should do.
Cheers,
Mal
Some good points indeed. With an 8 watt amp, my speakers (which have a steady impedence curve which rises at the bass - hence relatively easier to drive) can hit 99dB peaks quite well, and even more than that since most amps can handle temporary overloads without much difficulty (the 300B tubes I use can probably hit 12 watts or so for short periods, and even after that when they clip, being tubes, they clip somewhat gently). I listen at an average volume level of 75dB at my listening position, hence leaving me with around 20dB of non-overloaded dynamic range (once taking into account the natural drop-off of volume over distance). I find this to be quite satisfactory, and plenty loud, although it depends on individual taste.
I find (and I know many people feel differently) that the level of accuracy desired in Hi-Fi systems should directly reflect the quality of the recordings one listens to... if one were to listen to pristine recordings from the top labels the majority of the time, then a very neutral setup would benefit the listener quite well. However, I personally listen to some music which is recorded absolutely abysmally... and the accurate system that I had previously grated on my ears to such an extent that I stopped listening to such recordings, despite my enjoyment of the artists. I ended up trying numerous options, including several tube/solid state pre-amps and power-amps. It came down to the little Midwest Audio 300B amp which offered a nice balance between warmth and transparency - with a little bias towards warmth I replaced the gain tubes with some old RCA 1940's types and I'm now very happy with my system, and can listen to hours to all sorts of recordings without any problems and just enjoy the music - I guess that's what an entertaintment system should do.
Cheers,
Mal