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More power for moderate listening levels?

Hi,

I can't seem to find good information regarding the effect of relatively high powered amps on low to moderate listening levels. I have a low powered class A amp that sounds wonderful at moderate volumes but not surprisingly shows signs of strain when cranked up. I am contemplating an upgrade that would bring much more power to solve this problem. However, since I don't play music really loud that often I'm wondering if the upgrade is really all that necessary. It would be worth it if the reserve power of the new amplifier improved sound quality at all levels.     

Thanks for your help,

Brian
brianbiehs
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
@ieales, it would not be polite to tell you what I think of Tekton loudspeakers. 
I am pretty sure most speakers are destroyed not by raw power but by clipping. Certainly you could just plain overpower a driver but most people do not have that kind of power. 
I am not an electronics engineer but my JC 1's biased for 25 watts class A get hot enough that you can not keep a hand on the heat sink. That has got to be a lot more than a few mV bias. 
Who in their right mind would put a class A amp in a rack? Even millercarbon would not do that:)
brianbiehs OP
23 posts
 
The "transition" for my lack of a better term for class A to B operation is really interesting. Certainly, the class A watts do not "go away" but get "added to" as more power is needed. Curious how the output device can operate in both modes. Am I thinking about this right?
ieales's avatar
ieales
1,201 posts
 
Curious how the output device can operate in both modes.
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/amplifier/amplifier-classes.html
ieales's avatar
ieales
1,201 posts
 
That has got to be a lot more than a few mV bias.
The JC1 has 9 pairs of output transistors.
25W ≈ 22mV across 18x 1.3Ω emitter resistors
musicfx
63 posts
 
My amp puts out 500 watts into my 4 Ohm speakers. Sounds great. I added a T+A power supply that adds 1800 watts. I rarely play music over 84 decibels, generally in the 64 to 78 range at my listening chair.  With the extra 1800 watts I found listening at low levels to be more enjoyable & where the biggest difference was. You can actually feel the music at low volume levels, incredible dynamics also. 
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