Minimum Power Needed to Drive Klipsch Cornwall IVs? - Considering Erhard_Audio Ray

For 102 dB sensistive speakers, one watt will give you 102 dB of volume at one meter in front of the speaker. The volume at your listening position further back is a bit trickier since that depends on the size of the room and how it is furnished. Using two speakers (stereo) to the equation will add a couple more dB to what you hear.

Question -- have you bothered to buy a sound level meter or add a sound level app to your phone?  One's person's "loud" is another's "medium" volume, so its a lot better to get a meter and find out for yourself just how loud you like to listen.  These days I find 85 dB in my room about as loud as I want to listen so I'd find 4 watts with a 102 dB sensitive speaker way more than enough. Still plenty of power left for peaks.

@katokaelin 4 Watts won't be enough to really fill that space.

Here's another problem: if you want to really hear what an SET does, you really don't want to drive it past 20-25% of full power, else distortion causes the amplifier to sound 'dynamic' due to how our ears interpret that distortion. That distortion (higher ordered harmonics) also causes the SET to sound louder than it really is- the mark of a really good system is that it won't sound loud when it really is.

So that means with 4 Watts you really only have 1 good one. For this reason and the size of your space, I'd consider a lower powered PP amp since 15-20 Watts probably will be enough, and most PP tube amps have at least 90% usable power rather than only 20-25%.

Going with a higher powered SET really isn't practical. Above about 7 Watts total output, bandwidth really starts to be a problem because that's the Achilles heel of output transformers for SETs, plus the price goes up exponentially and we're talking about a 45 Watt SET to keep up with a 15 Watt PP amp (again, if you really want to hear the best of the SET).

You might not be able to play your system at very high volume levels, but, for the VAST majority of the time, 4 watts will be plenty.  Most of the time you will not be playing above a quarter to half a watt, and even if you occasionally push toward the 4 watt level, this would probably be only on peaks, and if there is some distortion or compression, that is just one of the compromises one makes with ANY component choice; none are absolutely the best under all circumstances and conditions. 

I personally like the sound of 6L6 tubes, although I have never heard them used as a single ended triode tubes.  Given the low price of the amp, it would not be easy to find other higher power alternatives to recommend.  I have not heard the amp you are considering so I don't know how it would compare with your Cronus amp.

Even if you have little skills at building gear, you could probably build an Elekit 300B amp; the kit comes with very good instructions and you can learn basic assembly skills on Youtube.  The amp would cost a bit more than $3,000 once you add in the price of the 300B tubes (the kit comes without tubes), but, I've heard that amp and it is pretty good, and puts out a little bit more power than the amp you are considering.

Wow. Thanks for all the responses.

@skids - my experience with the Cronus has been great so I intend on sticking with tubes. That ARC75se looks sweet!

@tomic601 - First I’m hearing of Toolshed Amps - very cool stuff.

@mofojo - I like the Cronus with the Cornwalls. I would describe the sound as warm, but it is highly influenced by the center driver tube. Tube rolling has made the Cronus very fun to own. And as far as power goes, I like my music on the loud side and have never had the dial past 11 o’clock. I was considering sending it in to have it upgraded to the latest Dark version, but then started wondering what else my money could get me, if there was a more interesting pairing for the Cornwalls... I will likely keep the amp for my living room at home, that how much I like it. And, I’ve had a number of conversations with the guys at Rogue Audio. Their customer service is top notch.

@corelli - It’s nice to hear feedback from someone that has direct experience with the Ray. There isn’t a lot of info online about the amp. I’ve been in touch with Holger, who builds the amps in Montana, and he has been really nice to work with. I’m looking forward to giving him my business. I like your "color saturation" analogy!

@mlsstl - I just downloaded a db meter for my phone. It looks like my typical volume is between 65-85db at 20’ and between 70-90db at 3’. If I’m understanding you correctly it sounds like the 4W should be enough.

@atmasphere - Very interesting. If I decide to pass on the Ray I’ll likely go for Erhard-Audio’s Saturn, which is a 15W PP...

Very interesting. If I decide to pass on the Ray I’ll likely go for Erhard-Audio’s Saturn, which is a 15W PP...

@katokaelin Too bad there's not more information on their site- that amps sounds interesting!

The cleaner the amp is, the more you'll turn up the volume control without really thinking about it. That's because an amp with less distortion won't sound as loud and so you'll naturally use the power.