How close to the real thing?

Frank, do you think lower power versions of the same basic amp circuits tend to have inherently less distortion than more power? I don't have super sensitive speakers (89db), listen acoustic jazz (trio to octets) 90% of the time, and I suppose I just don't listen to music that loud (I don't think)and there just seems to be something to the notion of using the lowest power amp that is sufficient to drive your speakers will sound better, not louder, than a higher powered version of the same basic amp (think Pass XA60 versus XA100)- and they key being "sufficient" power has to factor in speakers, room, and average volume levels. It is why I asked about the high power amp / high efficiency paradigm mentioned - it might very well do the macrodynamic thing well, but I somehow something would be lost going that route, at least to the way I listen to music - I suppose the fact that I have a smallish two-way (Merlin VSMs) and don't listen to alot of orchestral music on large multi-driver speakers also has alot to do with it. I find my 60 watt Atma-spehre M60s to play as loud as I could ever want, with huge space and purity, and microdynamics as described, and somehow feel a 1000 watt amps might destroy all that. That approach might be closer to the real thing in some ways, but not in others.

Ohhh, sorry guys , almost forgot, you also need a big listening room, you won't be fooling anyone in a small listening space.

THE ROOM IS UBER IMPORTANT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Pubul57,

Your speaker would be the limiting factor in producing the sound we are alluding to, that aside i do believe your system would benefit tremendously from an increase in power...

Maybe one day Ralph will allow you an in home demo of a pr of MA3, just before he delivers them to the Prince of Persia, you will for sure hear the difference between a "likkle" one and an Atmasphere Big 'un...

:)

Regards,

Shadorne, your Sheffield labs drum track test would be a very good one, but as regards the sound meter reading you refer to a "SUSTAINED 108 to 112 db" value, which would not be the same as the the actual peak dB reading. From Wikipedia: "'Peak sound pressure level' should not be confused with 'MAX sound pressure level'. 'Max sound pressure level' is simply the highest RMS reading a conventional sound level meter gives over a stated period for a given time-weighting (S, F, or I) and can be many decibel less than the peak value".

I would suggest that that the peak dB level in the test you describing would be well over 120dB at 1 meter -- I don't want to destroy the bass driver's suspension!!

Frank

Weseixas, I'm sorry but my figures correlate very closely with Atmasphere, 96 versus 98 sensitivity, 120 versus 140 good watts, my sound level of 117dB at 1m, his of 110 at 3m. Check out a text book, you lose 6db per doubling of distance -- from 1m to 2m down 6dB, from 2m to 4m (a doubling) down another 6dB, total 12dB. Remember, a 3dB difference is only just detectable by ear.

I also pointed out previously that the 10 to 20 times power is completely unnecessary IF the system is not distorting. I thus agree, that if the system is poorly engineered then you would need a very large "safety" margin, to compensate for the inadequacies of the setup.

Finally, the room size has nothing to do with it. Having personally experienced what is possible with a nominally mediocre setup, which has been tweaked in every which way, in a very nondescript normal room, I say that with total confidence.

Frank