30 to 50 watts seems to be all I desire


Weird, but in my small listening room (12x16) no matter the speakers used, to a T they all can be driven quite superbly with amps in the 30 to 50 watt range.  This includes the Maggie 1.7.

I had a few 200 watt amps in rotation but took them out for now because I never got past about 8:00 or at most 9:00 on the preamp, and oftentimes it was around the 7:30 mark.

So I personally don’t buy into the lower efficiency speakers needing gobs of power to sound good.  Caveat:  Listening to mainly Jazz at volumes less than 85db, normally.

Cheers, all.

 

128x128audiodwebe

I own the Magnepan.7’s and l have two amps A VAC PA 100 100 tube amp and a Spectron musical MK lll SS amp As you know Maggie’s love watts/current My VAC sounds magical with the Maggie’s at 100 watts per side But when l use my Spectron with 500watts@8ohm 650@4ohms and 1,200 watts@1ohm and the capability of producing 60 amps for 500 milliseconds, it really makes the Maggie’s come alive with dynamics, inner detail and sound stage

 

Watch "magnepan 7's doing their thing" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/bofnCCYuR48

 

14 wpc [tube] for my Bozaks, 100 wpc [tube] for my JBL’s, 850 wpc [ss] for my Maggie’s. Different tools for different applications. I listen to many genre - mostly old school: jazz, rock, country, blues, R&B, bluegrass - all of it! [and like you, not terribly loud - medium volumes]

 

I agree with the OP…30-50 watts is adequate. I’m running a Pass XA-25 and it has driven everything I’ve wanted beautifully. 300B’s are probably in my future, so less power still. 

there is a difference between a speaker being sufficiently driven versus the same speaker being driven to show all it can do at higher volumes

alot depends on the type of music, how much dynamic range is needed

smaller wattage amps often do the mids and nuances very well, but will sound compressed and/or flabby/unconvincing in the bass when the music become more dynamic

big power amps might not be as highly tactile at lower volumes but will provide a great sense of ease and naturalness as the music becomes more dynamic and complex

the sweet spot in all this depends on the specific case... speakers, taste of listener, type of music listened to, room, and volume levels

Less is more...its the "first watt"....as they say.....my class A 30 watt amp is superior to most.....at least to me ears....and that's all that matters....