Speaker power handling

Thanks again for the replies. Another speaker in my current home theatre setup that I have dragged into my 2 channel system on occasion is an older pair of Paradigm Studio 100 v2 speakers that just crank and sound fantastic for the first 10 minutes. Then listening fatigue sets in with too much of a forward sound and harsh HF.

My Classe amp drove them with ease. If I could find similar performance with smoothness my search would be over.

"...peaks around 95+db." I wouldn't recommend you go overboard with that classe on the Dyna's.

Ok, "peaks" normally last for milliseconds & don't usually kill speakers, but about 100W is more that what many drivers can take for any amount of time -- and that doesn't get you your 95dB...!

I think a bigger speaker (i.e. in size) is indicated. Try the ATCs recommended above. They're pretty rugged (but not bullet proof!:)).

My Classe amp drove them with ease. If I could find similar performance with smoothness my search would be over.

The Paradigm's tilt upwards in the treble - if you turn the treble down then they may work better for you. If they sound harsh then you may have trouble driving them (they are like a 2 ohm load in the bass and may cause amp clipping/IMD distortion making the mids and treble harsh). Great speakers but not a smooth load.

Rrog,
Please explain your position...

I will stand behind mine that i have never encountered a speaker that did not sound better on a bigger amplifier. I'm also not from the school of small amp sounds better than a big un ! never experienced that before after trying many, many over the years ...

i guess first we need to define what is considered a small amplifier..

regards,

These ATC speakers look interesting. Is there a dealer that carries them in the U.S. or Canada?
Vandersteen 2ci's since sold, were in my system for over 15 years. I'm not if the newer signature versions are more alive sounding as my 2ci's were a touch boring but polite.