Tekton Pendragons - looking for low watt SET amp

Glen, don't forget about dynamic range.  I have many classical symphonic recordings in my collection that have been engineered with minimal or no dynamic compression, and can reach brief (1 or 2 second) peaks of about 105 db at my listening position, while having average volumes of perhaps 75 db.

To the OP -- It can be calculated that 8 watts into a pair of 95 db/1 watt/1 meter speakers will get you to just about 100 db at a listening distance of about 10 feet in an average sized room.  Having no experience with the Dynamo, however, I can't say if from a sonic standpoint it would be in its comfort zone in doing so.  Also, this assumes that the relevant specs are accurate.

Good luck.  Regards,
-- Al
 

Do you know how loud 8 watts is?  Back in the day, an elderly audio store owner in Philly used to have a watt meter hooked up for when us 20 somethings came in to hear music.  The music would be blasting from a 100 wpc amp into some 88 db speakers and when we looked at the watt meter, we were only listening to 1-1.5 watts of power.

Again, though, Lou, the dynamic range of the recordings that are listened to is a big variable. Most pop and rock recordings are compressed to very minimal dynamic ranges, often less than 10 db (which is a power ratio of 10:1 between the loudest notes and the softest notes). While some of the classical symphonic recordings I referred to above have a dynamic range of more than 50 db (a power ratio of 100,000:1 between the loudest notes and the softest notes, and that is not a typo).

When that kind of pop or rock recording is played at an average level of say 85 db at a typical listening distance, which would require very little power with 88 db speakers, it will sound much louder than the classical recordings I referred to above, that can reach brief peaks of 105 db and require 100 times as much power. (A 20 db increase corresponds to a power difference of 100x).  Our hearing mechanisms tend to judge loudness based on average volume, not on the volume of occasional brief peaks.

Also, without having specific technical data about the wattmeter that was used I would not by any means assume it was fast enough to fully capture the amplitude of brief dynamic peaks.

Regards,
-- Al

Before I opened this post I was going to suggest the Art Audio Carissa. I was pleasantly surprised to see that jcarcopo had beat me to an Art Audio recommendation. I lived with the Carissa for about two years. It was astounding. It is the only piece of gear that I regret selling.

I completely concur with everything jcarcopo said about Art Audio amps. My Carissa was used with a speaker that had a 12" woofer and 12" passive radiator with a 3.2ohm low in the bass. That woofer handled everything from 700hz down and the Carissa pulled all the music from it and showed it who was boss. Besides driving the speaker correctly it was also one of the sweetest sounding amps I've heard. Unbelievable tone, detail, resolution and dynamic.

I don't usually gush about gear I have owned but any chance I get I'll sing the praises of Art Audio amps. If I had the means there would be a new Art Audio Carissa in my system tomorrow.

Cheers,

Scott