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Why do you need so much power?

I have a basic question.  I have a set of Tannoys with 93dB sensitivity. I’m told that a 25 Wpc amp like the First Watt J2 can power it just fine. (I don’t crank it to 11.). Someone also suggested an Emotiva amp with 500W RMS. 

So my question. Assuming you have a good set of speakers that are efficient (>90) and you don’t crank it till it’s clipping, then do you ever need such power as the Emotiva?  Thanks!
ssmaudio
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,123 posts
 
@smrex13
The Tannoys are really quite efficient; the 89, 91, 93, and 96dB models I’ve heard of theirs all seem true to their rating when compared to other brands. You’ll especially notice this if you have a tube preamp without a dead-quiet noise floor. I know that some other brands have more "liberal" with their ratings, or do the 4 ohms / 2 Watts "trick" to add 3dB to the visible spec. Or sacrifice LF extension to goose the efficiency.
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,123 posts
 
@kijanki
The old "only sounds 2x louder" thing is very subjective, and there are 2 versions of it: +6dB (8 Watts to 32 Watts) and +10dB (8 Watts to 80). All these rules of thumb, including 1dB being the smallest "perceptible" unit, are targeted for non-audiophiles, non-critical listeners. When I get in the sweet spot of my system and start listening, even 1dB is quite significant and readily noticed (or missed). 3dB is a lot, 6dB is a LOT, and 10dB is a HELL OF A LOT. So yes, personally I do appreciate these differences quite a bit.
cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
It is always good to have a much more powerful amplifier than your speakers can handle for being able to handle highly dynamic music passages.  This will usually not happen with vinyl but will very likely happen with digital sources and home theater.

It is better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

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