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Basic question about power/watts

Hi everyone - I have a question that I can't seem to wrap my head around.  

I purchased a pair of Magnepans a few months back. Honestly, I do not like them. They have their moments but overall, pffft.

So, related to this, I keep reading from various Maggie owners you need TONS of power to make these things sing rather than squawk. I bought a new amp that is rated at 80 wpc at 4ohms. This, I realize, is low power when I see these guys saying they are running some crazy amount like 600 watts per channel. Here is my actual question:

When you are listening to your speakers at a normal volume, the wattage you are using is not near the POSSIBLE output, correct? My 80 wpc is unbearable with the volume at the 11 o'clock position. Why does a person need or want 600 watts? I suspect I am missing something here. Maybe this has to do with why I dislike my Magnepans. Somebody take a moment to set me straight?

Thanks! 

timintexas
jasonbourne52's avatar
jasonbourne52
2,863 posts
 

A Crown XLS1502 would be a better match. 

jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 

More INFO needed.

Which Maggies?

What  amp are you using?

What size room? 

What is it that you don't like about your Maggies?

ditto @mesch

details matter

cey's avatar
cey
275 posts
 

high current at low impedence

for some speakers it requires a lot of power to run seriously deep base

audition__audio
1,494 posts
 

Power doubling from 8 to 4 ohms means very little. The simple fact is that low impedance speakers or speakers with a really spastic impedance curve give most amplifiers a really hard load for them to drive. Sometimes this cant be avoided, but when it can and the designer still chooses to make the speaker low impedance it is really a design flaw and shows a lack of amplifier understanding or shows that this designer is catering to the false belief, created by this industry, that double the power trumps all other considerations. I dont think that the weird impedance of Maggies can be avoided.

 

ditusa's avatar
ditusa
1,887 posts
 

Basic question about power/watts

To answer the OPs question I think it has to do with the first watt of the amplifier. FWIW: All amplifiers that run near impedances below an 8Ohm load will produce higher heat and distortion. See article below:

Mike

https://www.firstwatt.com/index.html

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