More power for moderate listening levels?

brianbiehs OP6 posts11-03-2020 10:51am
"...."At the SAME volume, will a higher powered amp improve the sound quality?"

Always nice to have extra power (headroom) on tap to handle the dynamics and the INT-250 @ 250wpc would certainly do the job, as Pass indicated. The INT-25 @ 25wpc, however, is Class A vs INT-250's Class A/B, and the sound quality at moderate power levels may be better on the smaller amp. The only way to find out is to A/B the two in your system.

turnbowm 

Thanks for answering my question 

There have been several threads of late on amps to drive Harbeths.  Short summary: there is no easy answer.  Take a look.  That being said, you would probably have been better off with the 30.8 for a bit more oomph.

Hello brianbiehs,

     You didn't mention which main speakers you're utilizing but, based on your user profile thread participation details, it seems like you're using Harbeth super HL5+ main speakers.  If this is correct, these are very high quality 6 ohm speakers that are 86 db/@ 1 watt/1 meter efficient with no large impedance dips, which a low powered class A amp should have no problem driving to moderate volume levels. 
     I just read a 6 Moons review of your speakers, linked to below, in which the reviewer was very impressed by these speakers, stating "the Super works well with tube, solid-state class A/B or class D amplification, whether it puts out 8 or 800 watts".  

http://6moons.com/audioreviews2/harbeth/1.html

     If the reviewer can drive your speakers well using an 8 wpc Coincident Dynamo SET tube amp, it suggests to me that your issue may be better explained by a poor preamp to amp impedance match rather than just your amp.
    Exactly which brand and model preamp and amp are you using?  For optimum performance, the rated input impedance of your amp should ideally be about 10X the rated output impedance of your preamp.
     I suggest you start by gathering the facts on your gear, you can either do it yourself or give me the details on your amp and preamp brand/models and I could check it out for you.

 Tim       

Thanks for the replies and Tim, thanks for the offer. My amp is an integrated so no preamp issues here. sorry for the confusion, I'm not reporting a problem so much as wondering whether there could be an improvement on already good sound. Many folks pair their Harbeths with lower power amps and yes, good results can be had. An amp with significantly more power than my Int-25 would certainly drive my speakers to higher volumes with less distortion depending on the amp. Another way to ask the question is: Is this the only benefit?

Aside from helping the dynamic range as turnbown suggested, are there any other attributes associated with extra power in reserve that would augment medium level listening?