2. amps-preamps
  3. 1019518343

SS amps. Why so much power?

I though that there was so much tube amp talk on this page lately, I'd put up a SS thread. Why do so many people buy the big SS amps that have 200,300,500 watts of power? Is it because the speaker you want is inefficient and you need lots of power, or do you need to play real loud? Or is it a status thing, like my amp's bigger than your amp, or what? Do you buy a big amp first, and then look for a speaker with high power handling? Or do you pick a low efficiency speaker you like and then look for a big amp to drive it? Do you subscribe to the idea that if you have alot of watts, the amp will sound better at lower volumes? I've noticed that the majority of AudiogoNers go with high power SS amps and low efficiency speakers. What gives?
twl
sean
6,231 posts
 
Jtinn, NO amps really "like" low impedance loads. While it is true that SS amps typically deal with low impedances in a more linear fashion than tube amps do ( and high impedances vice-versa ), they ALL suffer from reduced damping factor, increased heat and thermal losses, increased distortion by-products, etc... This typically results in poorer sound quality overall. I'm sure that there are exceptions to this "rule", but they would be far and few between. Sean
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zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
Good God, Sean, what must your hearing loss be like these days?
jdwek
84 posts
 
Sean Nice post and very polite.
I will make a useful analogy.
If I am in shape and I bicycle 50 miles on a sunday it is an enjoyable exercise.....I sweat but I am in my groove and moving well. When I am not in such good shape that sam trip is not enjoyable at all. I might even wobble on the road as I huff and puff up hill and then are forced to coast downhill. (I live in san diego and I do alot of cycling.)Power amplifiers are very similar. To be able to appropriately recreate a human singing voice belting out an aria from traviata or tracy chapman it takes alot of power, alot of reserve and alot of headroom. The less powerful amp will do it but less beautifully.
jd
jtinn
1,124 posts
 
Sean: So are you saying that a fairly average 100 watt solid state amplifier would prefer to drive an 8 ohm load to that of a 2 ohm load?
sean
6,231 posts
 
Well, i know that i can still very easily hear 15 KHz at about the same amplitude that i can hear 1 KHz ( give or take ). 17 KHz is there, but not as strong. I should probably go in for a hearing test sometime soon. I know that i had some slight irregularities in the upper mids / lower treble from ear to ear.

Other than that, i can pretty easily detect amplitude changes well under .5 dB at 1KHz, as i have to do so on a daily basis at work. I typically tune communications receivers by ear but have a Sinad meter ( signal to noise ratio ) there to confirm what my ears tell me.

In terms of hearing acuity and localization, a salesmen told me that i was the only one out of hundreds that was able to point out where a subwoofer was hidden during a Stereophile show. My brother, who is 12 years younger and standing right beside me, did not know where it was coming from and picked another section of the room. Obviously, i'm not anywhere near being deaf. Sean
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PS... I apologize for the small explosion above. It just pisses me off when "open minded" people can't see other people's point of view. Especially when it comes to something that is so obviously subjective and personal as musical preferences and system selection.
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