Hey Tsrart,
I agree, it is the amp that's coming up short. The Rotel RB-981 (130w @ 8ohms) is a fine amp but, most truly muscular amps will double their power at 4 ohms. You are only getting an additional 70wpc at 4 ohms, that's not enough. I had a similar situation when I owned a Krell KAV-500 and a pair of Revel M-20. The Krell, in its time, was considered a brawny amp at 100 wpc and a substantial toroidal transformer. The Revels are, as Warrenh mentioned above, a rather power hungry speaker, 86 db at 4 ohms. At moderate levels the sound was fine but, if I tried to crank it, the soundstage would begin to muddle and then collapse completely. I upgraded to a Plinius SA-250MkIV, a bit of overkill, but I did not want to have to upgrade my amp again and I believe, with this amp, I have accomplished my goal. For you, this may be a little more then you will want to get into but there are other excellent sounding amps with the power to handle your situation. It's also important to understand that not all 130 wpc amps are created equal. As I mentioned above, there are amps that will double down a 4 ohms. So you may want to look for an amp in that power range that will double down, that will should do the trick. I think you would be headed in the right direction if you were to consider an amp upgrade and it might not be as expensive as you might think. Good luck and happy hunting......John
I agree, it is the amp that's coming up short. The Rotel RB-981 (130w @ 8ohms) is a fine amp but, most truly muscular amps will double their power at 4 ohms. You are only getting an additional 70wpc at 4 ohms, that's not enough. I had a similar situation when I owned a Krell KAV-500 and a pair of Revel M-20. The Krell, in its time, was considered a brawny amp at 100 wpc and a substantial toroidal transformer. The Revels are, as Warrenh mentioned above, a rather power hungry speaker, 86 db at 4 ohms. At moderate levels the sound was fine but, if I tried to crank it, the soundstage would begin to muddle and then collapse completely. I upgraded to a Plinius SA-250MkIV, a bit of overkill, but I did not want to have to upgrade my amp again and I believe, with this amp, I have accomplished my goal. For you, this may be a little more then you will want to get into but there are other excellent sounding amps with the power to handle your situation. It's also important to understand that not all 130 wpc amps are created equal. As I mentioned above, there are amps that will double down a 4 ohms. So you may want to look for an amp in that power range that will double down, that will should do the trick. I think you would be headed in the right direction if you were to consider an amp upgrade and it might not be as expensive as you might think. Good luck and happy hunting......John