2. amps-preamps
  3. 184731-5819

Hooked up an old realistic power meter

Not sure if anyone remembers the Realistic APM-300 and I've  had one from years ago and decided to hook it back up for fun. According to it, for most music and volume I listen to, it says I'm using barely a watt.

My speakers are 87db for one watt, amp pushes 225. My sounds level meter confirms the approx. 88 decibels I listen to and I did crank it up to around 90+ decibels and was still only using a few watts.

For some reason I though I would be using way more power than that and wonder why if everything is correct, why I need such a big amp?

norton
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 

@norton

Your findings aren’t that surprising to me. I do believe that the often stated need for reasonable amplifier “headroom “ is logical but can be overstated. I find myself generally in the same camp as @carlsbad2 . If possible borrow a high quality modest power rated amplifier (Tube or transistor) and compare with your current amplifiers. Could be a case of quality amplifier wins out versus the quantity of available/stated watts.

Charles

raysmtb1's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
raysmtb1
802 posts
 

I was always amazed when I got my Macintosh amps $100,000 and I could watch the meters. Most times I am listening at half of watt. When I really wanna listen it’s pushing 6 W the biggest transient I’ve ever seen made the meter go up to approximately 600 W. I also asked myself the same question.

knotscott's avatar
knotscott
965 posts
 

Totally believable and consistent with my experience.  I've gone from 255 wpc to 12wpc, and get much better sound from a better sounding amp.  If that first 1/4 watt is good, the system should sound good.

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 

@knotscott 

Totally believable and consistent with my experience.  I've gone from 255 wpc to 12wpc, and get much better sound from a better sounding amp. 

That must have been quite the revelation for you. Granted, it won’t be the outcome in every scenario. Some speaker designs will demand/require more amplifier power/current. I suspect that the 12 watt amplifier is very high quality with a well thought out power supply.

Charles

knotscott's avatar
knotscott
965 posts
 

@knotscott

Totally believable and consistent with my experience. I’ve gone from 255 wpc to 12wpc, and get much better sound from a better sounding amp.

That must have been quite the revelation for you. Granted, it won’t be the outcome in every scenario. Some speaker designs will demand/require more amplifier power/current. I suspect that the 12 watt amplifier is very high quality with a well thought out power supply.

Charles

That’s true on all accounts. The 255 wpc was a Hafler DH-500. The 12 wpc amp is a pair of modified Dyna 70s being used as monoblocks, each with a pair of Gold Lion KT-66 output tubes...certainly not a "holy grail" amplifier, but a very nice sounding setup that’s been optimized to my liking.

More to discover