The sheer disappointment of not enough watts

Tri-wired and verticly bi-amped for most of the time I owned them. And yes it made a big difference even at low volumes. I’d like to see the little efficient 7-9 watt amps hit 101db at 19 hz. Not saying I listen to music like that, but i’ve Measured them hitting it with no distortion or lack of body.

My normal listening is about 75-80 db in a very large room with tall ceilings.

 

Yes. They are VERY similar to the big Outlaw Audio amps and the Crestron amps.

 

Something for everyone. I am not a fan of active speakers. If I didn’t have the speakers I do, I’d be a planner guy. Appogees or Maggie’s... I do really like my buddies Special Audio m3 turbo S Speakers. Big 15’s but at 97 efficiency.

 

Actives I've found to be a revelation. Wouldn't go back to passives in a hurry.

 

My typical listening volume is 80 to 90 dB average. Peak could reach over 100 dB. But this is with bass heavy music. The clean punch from my twin 15" sub is addictive.

I am also listening in large, very leaky room (>5000 sf) with tall ceiling.

 

Oh, there's lots of ways to go if you wanna hear rock the way it's supposed to sound. For example, not too long ago I had 70 watts a channel in tube amplification weighing mega pounds and a pair of big, manly 15" Tannoy HPD drivers in heavy duty Arden type cabinets that weighed a ton and sounded absolutely enormous! I'm talkin' completely badass. Very manly.

 

My only real exposure is the active Kef book shelves compared to the same kef's passive. I really didn't like the sound of the actives. The other exposure is when I tried to replace my PA gear with an active system. I went right back to my bagend speakers and big old Peavey amps.

 

Who on earth wants circa 850 wpc in a domestic setting?

 

If it is 2 channels only, total watts available is 1700. My 5.1 setup has total watts of 1625 (not peak power, peak is even higher) available and it is pretty good. Not overwhelming at all.

 

Someone who has speakers with an efficiency rating of 2dB.

 

Then the max output will be around 30+dB.....

 

Jeeze, you live in a warehouse, lol? j/k

 

5000 Square feet....that is like 50'x100'........ONE room?
My whole house is about 4000 sq feet and not to brag but its quite huge!

 

Sorry, should be 5000 cubic feet.

 

Haha, my mistake. 5000 cubic feet.

 

It would not have been in the 80s that these were sold/purchased. McIntosh stopped selling tube equipment in the late 60s and didn't resume selling tube gear until they decided to make an special anniversary edition of an MC275 tube amp right around the year 2000. But that limited edition amp sold so well that they decided to start making tube gear again. But the fact is that for about 30 years they were completely out of the tube business.

 

Yes, as I said these were old systems that had been set up in the 1960s.

 

Sounds about right for most domestic applications in which a wife occupies the domicile.

 

Haha, I typically get 0 dB when wife is around. When she is not, 100 dB peak pretty often.

 

It is perfectly possible to have a large speaker that moves a lot of air and is efficient and drive it without a zillion watts. I have Tektons driven by a Sphinx in a living/dining room that is pretty large and can run people to the kitchen for safer listening. It is also obviously possible to have big speakers that just need more power, especially planars. It is sad when you want to get concussed by your rock and roll and whatever you have won't deliver the whole package. It is a thrill that modern listeners tethered to their phones by earbuds (or worse still two inch desk top speakers) will likely never know. So sad.

 

Yeah, I measured 117 dB in my dorm room from a 40 watt little NAD. But I suspect the OP is experienced more with non-huge more efficient speakers, which by Hoffman's Iron Law will tend to be bass shy...also perhaps due to elevated mids or highs to juice up the sensitivity spec? The speakers I built for my dorm were larger than those dorm mini-fridges, I could have bathed my dog in them.

 

I run Tekton Pendragons on an 8 watt Coincident Dynamo MK II. Due to the efficiency of the Tekton's and robust transformer of the Dynamo, I get plenty of volume including excellent and accurate bottom end. My room is 12x20 and I can even hear well enough one room over in the kitchen.

 

All you have to do is get a tube amp that sounds the way you like, regardless of power output. Hook the output up to a dummy resistor as your load. Then tap the two leads of the resistor and run them into a powerful and clean solid state power amp. Viola, tube sound with full dynamics at whatever volume you want.

 

Just get a pair of Bryston 28's and be done with it.

The 28 squared models turn up on the used market as people move to the new cubed version.

 

The reported symptom of "not enough watts" is that the low end is anemic or missing. What would be interesting to know is if this because of the amp's different reproduction characteristics and happens at any volume, or if you're actually driving the amp into exhaustion and distortion when demanding loud signals.

Even one watt per channel can be pretty loud, producing sound pressure levels not safe to listen to for long periods of time.