So would a 17w quad valve amp be louder than a 200w-300w amp then?
And when the distortion kicks in valve amps it sounds good right and better than distortion on a solid state amp?
Post Your Home Cine & HiFi Kit...
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So would a 17w quad valve amp be louder than a 200w-300w amp then?
And when the distortion kicks in valve amps it sounds good right and better than distortion on a solid state amp?
Soldato
all other things being equal, no it wouldnt. generally, the lower the impedance the more current needed to drive the speaker. conversly the higher the impedance, the more voltage the amp needs to provide.
There isn't really a right or wrong but you either need more current (which produces a lot more heat) or more voltage....or both lol. if an amp is designed for 8ohm speakers only then definately, avoid lower impedance loads as it will put more stress on the amp. some amps are capable of driving down to 1ohm or even lower - THX ultra certified amps, as an example, must be capable of driving 3.2ohm loads
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My Krell can probably drive an oil tanker if rigged up right 
Perhaps I did not explain it too well, James made a rather better job I think. If you want outright 'loud' though, then stick with beefy transistor amps, that is what transistors are good at.
Perhaps I did not explain it too well, James made a rather better job I think. If you want outright 'loud' though, then stick with beefy transistor amps, that is what transistors are good at.
Wiki link
A speaker maybe rated at 8 ohms - (this often has the word 'nominal' after it)- this is basically saying the average impedance is 8 ohms, it can vary a lot dependant on the speaker. A 'good' design would vary less from this number, the reason it would be 'good' is that it would put less strain on the amplifier if you matched it with an amplifier designed specifically for 8 ohm loads.
Speakers will vary their impedance with the frequency of the sound they are producing.
cut from another website:
Speaker Load Considerations
Ok, here is the tricky part. Since loudspeakers are reactive loads, and there are a wide assortment of products on the market all with their own individual impedance characteristics, we have to make some assumptions. Usually a good loudspeaker design maintains a stable impedance vs frequency within the audio band. Here is a plot from a loudspeaker previously reviewed on Audioholics.com.
As you can see, the magnitude of impedance is centered around the nominal impedance rating of the speaker (8ohms), with dips down to 6ohms.
This speaker load is a relatively easy load for an amplifier to drive. Most modern day loudspeakers are relatively benign loads to drive compared to some of the more difficult ESL designs which typically have impedance dips down to about an ohm at 20kHz. We consider the ESL case an outlier as it is not representitive of a typical consumer product and usually requires cabling with low DC resistance and inductance for optimal performance.
Lets take a worst case typical modern speaker design load and assume we have a dip down to 2 ohms at 20kHz (very rare case).
o.k, so how does this effect the sound...
Home Amplifiers are given ratings normal at 8 ohm ( or maybe 4 or 6ohm for A/V gear) - let assume 50w x 2 at 8ohm. a good amplifier will have good enough components that it will follow rules of physics so that at 4 ohm ( half of 8ohms) it will double in power - so 100w. Lets say our speakers drop to 4ohm load from 8 ohm nominal at 50hz. so just when some nice bass kicks in.
lets say the cheaper amp which is rated at 60w x 2 at 8 ohms isn't built with such good components and cant follow amplifier ideals of doubling power output with a drop from 8 ohms to 4 ohms. lets say it only manages 1.5 times instead - so 60w will become 90w. less than our 'less' powerful previous amp.
hope that clears up a bit rather than confuses!
A speaker maybe rated at 8 ohms - (this often has the word 'nominal' after it)- this is basically saying the average impedance is 8 ohms, it can vary a lot dependant on the speaker. A 'good' design would vary less from this number, the reason it would be 'good' is that it would put less strain on the amplifier if you matched it with an amplifier designed specifically for 8 ohm loads.
Speakers will vary their impedance with the frequency of the sound they are producing.
cut from another website:
Speaker Load Considerations
Ok, here is the tricky part. Since loudspeakers are reactive loads, and there are a wide assortment of products on the market all with their own individual impedance characteristics, we have to make some assumptions. Usually a good loudspeaker design maintains a stable impedance vs frequency within the audio band. Here is a plot from a loudspeaker previously reviewed on Audioholics.com.
As you can see, the magnitude of impedance is centered around the nominal impedance rating of the speaker (8ohms), with dips down to 6ohms.
This speaker load is a relatively easy load for an amplifier to drive. Most modern day loudspeakers are relatively benign loads to drive compared to some of the more difficult ESL designs which typically have impedance dips down to about an ohm at 20kHz. We consider the ESL case an outlier as it is not representitive of a typical consumer product and usually requires cabling with low DC resistance and inductance for optimal performance.
Lets take a worst case typical modern speaker design load and assume we have a dip down to 2 ohms at 20kHz (very rare case).
o.k, so how does this effect the sound...
Home Amplifiers are given ratings normal at 8 ohm ( or maybe 4 or 6ohm for A/V gear) - let assume 50w x 2 at 8ohm. a good amplifier will have good enough components that it will follow rules of physics so that at 4 ohm ( half of 8ohms) it will double in power - so 100w. Lets say our speakers drop to 4ohm load from 8 ohm nominal at 50hz. so just when some nice bass kicks in.
lets say the cheaper amp which is rated at 60w x 2 at 8 ohms isn't built with such good components and cant follow amplifier ideals of doubling power output with a drop from 8 ohms to 4 ohms. lets say it only manages 1.5 times instead - so 60w will become 90w. less than our 'less' powerful previous amp.
hope that clears up a bit rather than confuses!
Soldato
My Krell can probably drive an oil tanker if rigged up right
Perhaps I did not explain it too well, James made a rather better job I think. If you want outright 'loud' though, then stick with beefy transistor amps, that is what transistors are good at.
come on now thats just being silly
....you'll need at least two of them
![A[L]C](/styles/overclockers/avatars/7.png){kind=avatar}
Soldato
where did you get the tv unit?My home Cine setup:
Onkyo TX-SR606 AV Reciever
KEF KHT3005 Speakers
Samsung LE46a656 TV
Xbox 360 Elite
Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive
N64
Soldato
Only
Krell kills most of its rivals in its price range stone dead! Wish I had that kind of dosh to spend on a 2 channel amp.
Soldato
Panasonic TH65PX600
Denon AVC A1XVA
Denon DVD A1XVA
Denon TU1000DAB
REL Studio II Sub
Panny behind - Pioneer 50" front
where did you get the tv unit and does it come in oak?
After seeing everyones wicked setup's, I though i'd post my attempt.
It's not the best, but I like it as well as the rest of the family
I have asked before to convert the loft, but there's to many thing's/structural obstacles in the way
- plus we're trying to move >.<
It's not the best, but I like it as well as the rest of the family
I have asked before to convert the loft, but there's to many thing's/structural obstacles in the way
- plus we're trying to move >.<
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Soldato
That seat looks pretty close to the projector there mate
Only
Well I bought it used about 4-5 years ago now, it was about 7 years old when I bought it aswell. Although it works perfectly of course, time means nothing to a weapons syst... I mean amplifier like this
. It was a hell of a used buy, and because of this it wasn't that expensive, I paid a little over £1k for it, something like £1050. The original retail price in this country was somewhere in the region of £2700 iirc.
And what you said is certainly true according to my ears, it will kill anything I have heard at more than twice the price let alone £1k price point that I actualy bought it for. I still think it's quite possibly the best intergrated amp ever made to date. I prefer it's sound to the newer Krell KAV 400xi, couldn't tell you why exactly but I do, I guess the best way I can put it is to say it sounds more like the big krell pre/power combos than the newer 400 does ...and that's a very good thing.
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nice unit, where did you get it from?
Soldato
Thats some rack. Looks really tall. Your TV is going to be up in the air
It's quite tall yeah, but i've calculated all the heights etc. It's probably taller than most common setups, but they eye-level still works out at about 1/2 the screen height
Soldato
It's quite tall yeah, but i've calculated all the heights etc. It's probably taller than most common setups, but they eye-level still works out at about 1/2 the screen height
Really? What size screen you putting on it? If i'd put my 50" on that it, it would 1/3 away from the ceiling.
Its nice though. I like it. Looks very stylish and designer
Thanks. Oh and my TV is 50" Kuro :0