Is there such a thing as too much power?

Okay,

One does need a lot of power to get to power levels so high as to melt binding posts.  If that is the requirement for a suitable listening level, get a very high-powered amp, because power is relatively cheap to attain, while high quality in other aspects is not so cheap.

I  don't listen at that kind of level and I don't include as a priority the capability to play at extreme levels; I insist on the system sounding dynamic and lively at modest listening levels.  It hardly matter what level the cannon shot in the 1812 Overture should be reproduced at--the dynamic range of the recording limits how loud it will be when the volume level of the rest of the piece is played at realistic levels.  

I found that interesting since I had read the output current of other brands of amplifiers. Not sure what to make of the lack of response.

Amplifier current ratings are among the most useless and misleading of specs, IMO. What they usually represent is how much current can be provided into a dead short (zero ohms) for some unspecified miniscule fraction of a second. And in some or many cases they represent what the amp’s power supply can provide for that miniscule fraction of a second, rather than what the amp’s outputs can provide.

See this thread: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/current-limit-onset-definition?sort_order=asc

Regards,
-- Al

I learned my lesson long time ago, there is absolutely no substitute for having the headroom needed when you need it!

when you push the volume at times, you will need the power and headroom as to not send distortion to speakers, from overdriving a low watt amplifier into distortion.

been through more warranty situations anyone should go through, from lower watt amps.
When I hit my first high powered amp, no more blown tweeters/mids/woofers.

I don’t have the Telarc 1812 Overture, but I would expect it to be exceedingly rare for any recording of music to have a wider dynamic range than Stravinsky’s "Firebird Suite" on Telarc (Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony) and Prokofiev’s "Romeo and Juliet" on Sheffield Lab (Erich Leinsdorf conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic).

I have observed the waveforms of those recordings on a computer, using a professional audio editing program, and found them to have a dynamic range (the difference in volume between the loudest notes and softest notes) of about 55 db, which is simply incredible. Correspondingly, at my 12 foot listening distance the softest notes are reproduced at SPL’s of about 50 db, and the loudest notes at about 105 db. My little Pass XA25, which after leaving class A can probably provide around 100 watts into the 6 ohm impedance of my speakers, has no trouble at all accomplishing that with zero evident distortion.  And likewise in the case of the 70 watt VAC Renaissance 70/70 MkIII I used previously.

My speakers are rated at 97.5 db/2.83 volts/1 meter/6 ohms. As with many such specs that rating might be a bit optimistic.

Regards,
-- Al

Atmasphere, Is there a way to determine an amplifier's lowest point of distortion apriori or is an empirical issue?

If the specs are published, its easy, if not, a distortion analyzer is handy.


But as I mentioned, with most amplifiers this is about 5-7% of full power. Having unlimited power is great, but the practical issues around that are profound. If you need that power because you have inefficient speakers, thermal compression will prevent you from ever playing the system all that loud and getting the dynamic contrasts right. One problem that is epidemic with higher powered amps is poor application of loop negative feedback, owing largely to inadequate Gain Bandwidth Product. This causes such amps to sound harsh due to higher ordered harmonic distortion.


This is why efficiency is important in loudspeakers, and there is no reason why a speaker has to trade off anything if resolution is a higher goal. The speakers I'm running at home are 97.5dB, the first breakup of the midrange driver is at 35KHz. So its very fast and smooth. On such speakers you can use lower powered amps and still achieve sound pressures well over 100dB.

Can you ever have too much money , sex and stereo equipment ?