Klipsch Cornwall IV

when are people going to learn... volume control position has little to do with when signals overload or amps clip

it is about impedance match and relative sensitivities 

Uh, I do get it. This volume control was an AVC passive. My comment about position on the volume control was figurative, intending simply to illustrate distortion well before max wattage. Apologies for the unclear communication.

kren0006, I am using 4 combinations of amplification.  Luxman c900u/m900u, arc ref6se/ref160s, Line Magnetic lm210ia, and Line Magnetic lm845 Premium. 

wrm57, lm210ia sounds great on these.  But so do the other combinations above.  I have owned several set 300b amps over the years, and these are the FIRST speakers which are fully fed by 8 wpc, even the woofers.  That said, the other combinations mentioned are all a bit more satisfying in comparison.  But only if compared directly.  The 300b experience is worth trying with a speaker like this.  Your room and power requirements are unique to you.

What I continue to enjoy about these is that they do sound really good (better now than ever) with any and all these very different combinations, even though they clearly illuminate the difference in amplification.  They are the kid on the playground that can play with everyone.

I still have yet to have the desire to move the Devore o/93’s back into place, although I have no desire to sell them either.  They are keepers for me, great also, and for pretty much the same reasons.

Thanks, dbarger. Very interesting.You have some nice amps! How would you compare those big Luxman separates to the LM-845 Premium? The latter has been on my radar for a while, though my reduction in racks from 4 to 3 to accommodate the girth of the CWs would make it difficult to find room for two large chassis.

Slightly off topic, do you ever run the LM-845P with an external preamp? If so, what are your thoughts? I've read the preamp circuitry remains involved even when supposedly by-passed, which is off-putting to me, perhaps for no good reason. I'd likely want to run it with my VAC pre, mainly because it has a sweet phono stage.

wrm57, exactly the differences you might expect. The 845 is fuller sounding, the luxman a bit more transparent. The luxmans are the first solid state combo that is a keeper for me. I have mostly tried passlabs, first watt, ayre, parasound, etc. usually listed them or returned them within a week or so of receiving them. The lux’s have all the transparency and detail of the best solid stated but a bit of the naturalness of tubes.
Yes I have used preamps into the premium. The lower end amps (518) benefit greatly from that, but not this, IMO. It is all transformer coupled and pretty well voiced as it comes. I will also say that upgrading the 845’s to elrogs has a much greater impact on the 518 than on this. As supplied it sounds great!
Also, to elaborate a bit more on the satisfaction level with the lm210ia, it is equally satisfying, but in different ways.  It has different cards to play, mostly in directness and nuance.  It is a keeper also.  In fact I did order a pair of western electrics for it today.