Kirk, i think that you and a few others bring up a very valid point. Since many folks that are looking at Adcom, NAD, B&K and other like products are probably not very well versed in gear, they are still pretty reliant on product specs. This is not to say that specs are completely meaningless or that these are bad products, but that one should NOT rely on "advertising claims" that manufacturers provide you with.
As such, anyone that has played around with a half dozen different amps can tell you that Brand X watts are not the same as Brand Z's watts ( even though they are supposedly measured the same way ). It is not so much how "powerful" an amplifier is, it is really how well it interacts with the rest of the electronics and the speakers. I am talking about both the ability to drive the load AND sound good doing it at a wide volume range.
With that in mind, most of us have all run into "smaller" amps that seemed to perform with a LOT more "gusto" than other "big" or supposedly "beefier" amps. Since Classe' was also mentioned, i'll use them as an example. At one point in time, I had a Classe' 70 ( 75 wpc @ 8, 150 wpc @ 4, 300 wpc @ 2 and 3 dB's of headroom ). While i did not particularly care for the tonal balance of this particular amp, it actually drove some low impedance / low sensitivity speakers that i had better than a "much bigger" Bryston 4B ( 250 wpc @ 8 / 400 wpc @ 4 ). Not only did the "little" Classe amp sound cleaner, clearer and less strained at volume, it cost less money. If the sonics would have matched what i was looking for, it surely would have ranked ( in my book ) as a "giant killer" given its' low power rating and reasonable cost. Since others have different systems and different preferences, it very well MIGHT be a giant killer and a bargain to them. Sean
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As such, anyone that has played around with a half dozen different amps can tell you that Brand X watts are not the same as Brand Z's watts ( even though they are supposedly measured the same way ). It is not so much how "powerful" an amplifier is, it is really how well it interacts with the rest of the electronics and the speakers. I am talking about both the ability to drive the load AND sound good doing it at a wide volume range.
With that in mind, most of us have all run into "smaller" amps that seemed to perform with a LOT more "gusto" than other "big" or supposedly "beefier" amps. Since Classe' was also mentioned, i'll use them as an example. At one point in time, I had a Classe' 70 ( 75 wpc @ 8, 150 wpc @ 4, 300 wpc @ 2 and 3 dB's of headroom ). While i did not particularly care for the tonal balance of this particular amp, it actually drove some low impedance / low sensitivity speakers that i had better than a "much bigger" Bryston 4B ( 250 wpc @ 8 / 400 wpc @ 4 ). Not only did the "little" Classe amp sound cleaner, clearer and less strained at volume, it cost less money. If the sonics would have matched what i was looking for, it surely would have ranked ( in my book ) as a "giant killer" given its' low power rating and reasonable cost. Since others have different systems and different preferences, it very well MIGHT be a giant killer and a bargain to them. Sean
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