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Same watts at 8 and 4 ohms?

I'm in the market for an integrated amp and trying to sort through tech specs. My understanding of the tech aspects of hi-fi gear is limited. Looking for some clarity in regard to watts-per-channel specs.

It is my understanding that wpc at 4 ohms is typically 1.5x -2x the wpc at 8 ohms.

But I'm seeing a number of respectable mid-fi integrateds with the same wpc for both 8 and 4 ohms. The NAD 388 is one and I think this is true for several of the Cambridge Audio units at a similar price point ($1500-$2000).

The NAD features make a point of saying " 4-ohm stable for use with a wide range of speakers". 

Would appreciate any insight to what these specs mean and what 4 ohm stable really means to me. My speakers are 4 ohm speakers.

Thanks,

George
n80
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Millercarbon, are your Talons for sale?

The Talons went in a heartbeat. Well its hard for people to believe. They look at my system and it doesn’t look all that special. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 In fact most of what’s going on is far from obvious. Even when like Michael came over and I explained everything. Even like the guy who bought the Talons. Warned him before playing anything there is a lot going on they will not sound like this when you get them home. Doesn’t matter. Dude heard one song, he was sold. Never even tried to talk me down. And I had em priced way high to allow for that.

I know this is hard for people to believe but the truth is its the mostly invisible tweaks that make this system punch way above its weight. Way above.

Then on top of that he was so impressed he wound up buying cables and amp, some old gear I had been sitting on forever not even trying to sell. Altogether he darn near paid for the Moabs. Only downside was this all sold so fast I wound up with no music at all for almost two whole months!

Next time I will be waiting for the Raven before selling the Melody!
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
n80 OP
I see the Parasound Halo 2.1 here on Audiogon for around $1700. Will consider it. It isn’t small or compact but no larger than the NAD
.
John Curl design, it’ll be better than the Nad. Has ESS dac in it, also has phono stage if you ever need it, sub outputs and an active xover, HT bypass, it’s the Swiss Army knife of integrateds

TMR Audio, good reputable retailer. They have make an offer, offer $1500?

The legendary Parasound John Curl Halo JC1 monoblocks can drive anything, even Wilson Alexia without breaking a sweat. These JC Halo Hint and Hint 6 integrated, are from the same stable as the JC1 monoblocks.

Cheers George
dsper
663 posts
 
"Put it all together and you blew it once, and are blowing it again. Just not by as much this time"
Well, life is a personal journey....

I will probably get into trouble for asking this, but what I want to know is what one hears with a 17 Hz bass response like the talons?  How is that better than a speaker with a bass of 23 Hz? This is coming from the perspective that there is not that much recorded material able to provide 17 Hz. Maybe I am wrong in assuming that?
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djones51
4,947 posts
 
If you haven't found anything yet TMR has a NAD M10 under $2K smaller sleaker design in their Master series. 
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