Newbie question
deadhead1000, You must be thinking of the great Robert Harley who famously said, "If the first thousand watts aren’t any good just get ten thousand more." At some point it might even become obvious watts and receivers are not the way to go. The way they push receivers on budding young audiophiles on a budget, deluding them with the lie that a receiver can ever sound good (let alone great) borders on the criminal. What you need to know roycerichards, and this is for real now, wire quality matters and separates require more wire and all this quality costs money. Big time money. That you don’t have. What you want is a good quality integrated amp. Tube or ss, that is up to you. With or without a phono stage that is also up to you. Personally I would go tubes and outboard phono but that is just me and you are not me. No matter what though you want an integrated and NOT a receiver. Also you do not need hardly any watts. No matter what anyone tells you, 20 is fine, 50 is plenty, and anything more is overkill. That is because being on a budget you are going to have to be smart with your money and the smartest thing you can do is avoid any and all speakers with less than 92dB sensitivity, or even better consider only 95 dB and up. People hate hearing this. Usually people who screwed up and bought low sensitivity speakers then spent years and thousands trying to find the right amp to drive them. This sets up what psychologists call cognitive dissonance, the inability to accept the fact that you screwed up. If you think really high end audio requires separates, think again. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Now you know how to avoid screwing up: speakers 92dB or greater sensitivity paired up with a good quality tube, er, integrated amp. If you really need a tuner buy a tuner. If you want a vintage look then a good tube integrated combined with a vintage tuner will be hard to beat. https://stereonomono.blogspot.com/2015/04/pioneer-tx-9100.html |
roycerichards, welcome, All of the above is good advice and food for thought. Why buy a vintage receiver and then add a power amp while you can still get new or modern used fine integrateds or even seperates? What are your speakers that demand so much power? Start from there to see exactly what your real needs are and what do you want to achieve. G |
The most important thing I think you should know is the relationship of power to decibels. It takes about 10x the power to sound 2x louder. There's little difference in maximum output between a 120 W and 150W amplifier. Matching an amp to your speaker based on the speaker's minimum impedance is more important than a few watts of difference in rating. Best, Erik |
C’mon guys. It’s a "newbie question. Cut him some slack. There was some good entertainment in the remarks though, it’s only funny to the initiated. @roycerichards There is some good info. IMO, buying vintage is only for those with the technical skills to revive it and keep it going. It was mostly good in it’s day but wore out today. Don’t get caught up in watts. I’ve had 35-350 watt amplifiers. The best were the lower wattage. It comes down to design and parts. Lower watts need higher efficiency speakers than the high power ...... 90db+. This is part of what Eric means when he said, " Matching an amp to your speaker ". Don’t know what your system consists of now or what your budget is, but an integrated amp is your best bet IMO. Hope this helps. BTW, welcome aboard. |
