@mulveling I think that's an interesting observation. I find many/most systems don't seem to perform until they reach a certain DB.. now you're right about the exponential cost of loudness, but if you get the bass right (2 subs) it seems to be more than satisfying..
Too much power?
I have a wonderful system with a great amplifier, and yet auditioned a more powerful version of the same amp. It indeed seemed to have more punch and drive, but at the expense of playing it a bit too loud. As my current system I rarely play over 70 db, since it’s perfect at low levels. I wonder other than bragging rights, what does more power get you? Since we aren’t here for PA style sound, is there a reasonable limit to how much you will benefit from higher power/ more expensive and? Especially since tire just using one watt most of the time?
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I understand, but thought it worth raising the point given the speakers. I went through something similar with my difficult to drive LS50's, starting with a 75 watt amp and ending up with 150 watts. I listen in the 70-80 db range as well and found the higher powered amps gave me a richer sound and fuller bass. Different vendors though, so some of that could be house sound. |
@dain There’s definitely some gear that falls apart at lower volumes, for whatever reason (non-linearities such as class AB crossover distortion, etc). But I think the bigger issue is our human hearing response curves, and how it heavily favors midrange frequencies as the volume level drops low (this is how speech maintains intelligibility even at a whisper). This means that systems which boost the bass and treble frequencies will sound more "whole" at lower volumes. Conversely, systems with a truly flat response may need to be throttled to "come alive". This was the whole premise between "loudness" buttons on stereo gear of the past. |
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