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What about power for Vandersteen 2 speakers?

I have three amps I can use, 50w YBA, 100w Krell and 200 wpc Rotel. I listen to jazz in a small room and as long as I don't get silly with the volume the smallest amp sounds the best. I know Vandersteen rates the speaker between 40-160w but it works fine with the 50w YBA amp. Is it better to use more power or should I stick with the better sounding YBA?
128x128digepix
brf
1,715 posts
 
Those are three different sounding amplifiers. No doubt you will find one that suites your taste better than the others. There is no short cut other than try all three amps and pick your favorite.
unsound
7,318 posts
 
Use what sounds best to you. As for me, I think the Vandy's benefit from some extra power, but I'm not listening to your rig.
bondmanp
1,792 posts
 
Ditto everyone else, with the caveat that if you find you are pushing the volume setting up very high on the lower-powered YBA, be careful you are not clipping the amp, which is what Richard was warning about.
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
50 watts does fall between the 40-160 watt range Vsndersteen recommends.

If you like the YBA best, keep using it IMO. It's stupid to let others tell you something's better. If you want more power and the YBA sound, and you've got extra money to burn, buy a more powerful YBA.
digepix's avatar
digepix OP
121 posts
 
Actually it's 50 wpc so I'm within the Vandersteen guidelines. I would love to sell my YBA and Krell and buy a YBA 2 HCDT amp. They rate it at 70 wpcbut it's high current and sounds better than my YBA 3 on the Vandersteens.
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