2. amps-preamps
  3. 1260904595

Can someone give me an explaination re: power amp.

So, I own a simaudio i-5 driving paradigm studio 60 v.3, and I am not happy with the sound at low volume. turn it up everything is great, but low volume has muffled sound. Everyone says the paradigms are efficient, but i go out looking for more efficient speakers, and happen to come home with a loaner power amp- a simaudio w-3 (125 wpc), and the sound at low volume sounds markedly better with the power amp. this is contrary to everything i have convinced myself to believe. i have convinced myself that a good integrated is all i need, but I cannot deny the sound. so instead of asking the age old separates vs. integrated question, i'm just going to ask- why does my system sound so much better at LOW volume with the power amp. Maybe the speakers aren't as efficient as I thought? Maybe the 70 wpc simaudio i-5 isn't as great a machine as i thought? maybe there's a technical explaination? Please enlighten me! and thanks, and merry christmas to all you audiophiles out there! (oh, and the reason I didn't come home with speakers is that i really love the full range of sound from the towers, and i couldn't find any highly efficient speaker that had the range I enjoy. not that it dosen't exist, but i just couldn't find it. I live in portland, oregon).
blazerfan
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
You just discovered one of the virtues of having a high-current amp, welcome to the club!

-RW-
darkmoebius
900 posts
 
Agreed
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Blazerfan - You posted your question twice so I'm posting here as well (just in case):

There is nothing wrong with Paradigm Studio/60. I had the same speakers v.2 It performed decent with integrated Cambridge amp but got much better at low volume with class D Icepower amp (Rowland 102). I found later review where they mentioned good performance of Icepower at low levels. Now I use different speakers (Hyperion 938) but low volume sound is still very good (lows, highs, clarity, dynamics, imaging). Actually, imaging is better at low volume. I have too much reverberation in my room and at low volume I get less audible reflections (echo dies faster). At high volume room brightens the sound a little more than it normally would be. Hyperion speakers are exceptional!!!
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blazerfan OP
32 posts
 
okay. so it's an current/amps thing (at least in this particular situation). The thing is, I have a decent sized room, and i can handle full range speakers. for example, i listened to the ProAc Response 2.5 the other day, and I really really (i mean really) liked them. and regardless of where I go with this hobby, it's starting to look like a good high current amp is going to give me the flexibility to audition a wide(er) variety of speakers over the next few years. I think I can still get there with an integrated Kijanki, but starting to think a separate high quality amp is going to provide the most "room to move" over the next few years. I mean, lets face it, no matter what I tell myself, i'm going to be purchasing different items, micro-analyzing my system to death, for a long while- i just can't help it anymore. i give up. :)
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