First, I'm not talking about clipping here- at all. I am well aware of the significance of the woofer in the box!Atmasphere, clipping power is precisely what this thread, and "doubling-down" is all about. What I'm confused about is why you seem to be discussing clipping-power specifications and output-impedance specifications as if they're interchangable . . . or at least a common debate. They're not.
What is important to note here is the word paradigm. If you are operating solely within a paradigm, anything outside that paradigm can be construed as blasphemy.Blasphemy is for the dogmatic, and I think it's best not to look at audio this way :). A typical high-quality conventional solid-state amplifier is pretty damn close to a pure voltage source. There's no reason why one couldn't build one that was almost a perfect constant-current source as well (except that it would severely alter the frequency response of the attached loudspeaker). But if it's a perfect "power source" you want, then you simply need to build a passive network that inversely approximates the impedance of the speaker, and use it in series with an amplifier that has a low output impedance.
The Power Paradigm amplifier is a 'power source', i.e. it will make constant power into any load. That is the voltage and current will both vary. I don't know of an amp that does this but that is the ideal, just as there are no true 'constant voltage' amplifiers out there either- that is the ideal. Does this clarify things?
Before the Voltage paradigm was proposed (MacIntosh and EV were two proponents in the 50s and 60s) the Power paradigm was the only game in town. I have had to create the terms 'Voltage Paradigm' and 'Power Paradigm' simply because the industry is mum on this subject in general- its inconvenient.I think the industry is mum because these Paradigms only really exist on the Atmasphere website. Exactly who proposed this 'Voltage Paradigm'? Can you cite it as a bibliographical source, like one should in a proper scholarly paper?
I know we've been down this road before . . . but if you actually measure the output impedance of most hi-fi amplifiers from the 1950s and 1960s (McIntosh, Marantz, Scott, Dyna, Fisher, Quad, Leek, Citation, Eico, etc. etc.), they have a reasonably low output impedance . . . low enough to keep the impedance-related response variation of even a modern loudspeaker within +/- a dB or so. Did these manufacturers jump the gun on the Voltage Paradigm, not realizing it shouldn't be in effect until . . er . . Thiele and Small had ratified it? Of course not.
Atmasphere, I understand and respect that you design your products (and analyze their measured performance) in a way that meets your specific technical goals and personal preferences. But as for these "white papers" that you present on your website and promote on these forums . . . they simply don't pass muster in terms of technical or historical accuracy, or good scholarly form . . . the Grand Conspiracy overtones being particularly tiresome.