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How much power for Merlin VSM speakers?

I bought a pair of Merlin VSM-MMs and am driving them with a Cary SS amp. While it sounds pretty good I am thinking of switching to a tube amp. I am familiar with the usual OTL suspects most people use like the Berning and Joule. I was wondering if there is anyone out there driving these speaker with a less powerful SET amp. How powerful does the amp have to be in order to not clip? Is the speaker efficient enough and its impedence curve benign enough for low powered amps? Is 30 watts enough? Am I asking the right questions?
abrahavt
bluebull
269 posts
 
Tab
Use it between the pre and power or source and pre.Degradation ? What degradation ? (Take that as an answer)
Chris
bobbyapalkovic
729 posts
 
how many sources howard?
b
tabl10s's avatar
tabl10s
1,076 posts
 
Just one.
abrahavt OP
101 posts
 
I have read some threads about the BAM possibly stressing low powered set amps. Is there any truth to it?
bobbyapalkovic
729 posts
 
abrahavt,
a 5 db energy boost at 35 hz can bother all low power sets but i think this is more an issue of pilot error than a problem with the bam. generally out of band energy (below the fs of the woofer, 28 hz) is as big a power drain as the boost at 35. therefore i have found that it is a wash and the only time it becomes an issue is when an individual tries to get more out of the amp than its wattage would suggest and when the bottom end of a particular recording is over produced.
you don't buy low powered sets to blast large scale orchestral pieces, you buy them for their liquid finessed sound. i use a 12 watt amp at home with the bam and the sound is much much better with the bam in the system than without it. never forget that the bam is also a dual out of band filter and in most cases not having the filter will affect the sound in a more adverse manner than the boost used incorrectly.
and howard, use the bam between your cd and the pre, not between the pre and power amp. use the line output stage of you pre to buffer the output of the bam.
b
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