Eminent Technology 8b Speakers - Amp/wattage Recommendations
I recently purchased a nearly new pair of 8bs. I am now looking for an amplifier.
My preference is tubes over SS.
The room is 23x15x10 feet dedicated for music.
I like to play music fairly loud at times.
I will likely biamp, meaning whatever tube amp I end up using will receive a high-pass filtered signal and drive only the mid and high freq panel drivers.
I am aware that Bruce T recommends 75-200 watts.
I am considering two options, (a) Quicksilver KT monos with KT150 tubes (100 watts) and (b) another amp by a boutique builder using 4 KT 120 per side and 120 watts.
My preference is option (a), but worry that 100 watts is not sufficient.
I would appreciate any real-world experience on how many watts is practically needed with the 8bs. Are they as power hungry as I think they are, or is 100 watts more than enough?
Does bi-amping make a difference, meaning one can get away with using less watts since you are driving only the mids/high drivers and not the subs?
Any feedback or suggestions from 8b users would be appricated.
Thanks much!
@jwr159 apologize if I misunderstood, originally I thought you planned to bi-amp the LFT8B speakers alone, like this on the rear. Using the QSC amp with separate subs should give you plenty. This is similar to how I run my setup, with custom dual Scanspeak subs. Works great, the QS amps don’t have to work so hard, and low level volume listening is more enjoyable too. 8B:
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@russ69 I would assume that this would concatenate filters affecting not only attenuation, but also the slope dB/octave, unless filters are very far off crossover points to remove, for instance, lowest frequency (high energy) from tube amp. I suspect that this might be OP's objective. Either way it doesn't matter if sound is to his liking. |
The plan is to use: 1. a HP filter between my preamp and the QS amp, which will driver only the mid and high frequency panels. I am not sure of the filter frequency just yet, but probably somewhere in the 50-100Hz range. If I'm not mistaken the mid panel driver plays down to 100Hz. 2. Use the on-board Xover on the 8s to handle the crossover between the mid and high frequency drivers; and 3. the built-in DSP/crossover functionality in the QSC to drive my subs. . With the above arrangement, I believe the low frequency drivers on the 8b's will be eliminated from the equation altogether. I assume if the QS amps does not have to amplify the low frequencies, I am hoping to get more bang out of those 100 watts. This a fair assumption? |
I would think it might be good assumption, but I'm not sure about tube amps. It would be better to ask tube amp experts like atmasphere. |
