2. amps-preamps
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Final verdict with amplifier

Hey all,
I recently posted how my Parasound amp wasn't providing much of an improvement on my Klipsch WF-34 speakers, which are rated at 125W RMS, and 300W peak, and my amp being 205W per channel. Most of the responses that I got was that I needed a decent preamp to integrate into my system. Well recently a buddy gave me his old Carver TFM 55 amplifier, rated at 380 Watts per channel 600 Watts mono, so I decided to give it a whirl. I know that I have to be careful cuz that much power could blow the fecal matter out of my speakers. Well I hooked it up BOTH WAYS. It was slightly better on stereo, and mono was a big difference, but even cranked it didn't harm my speakers. why is that? And how is a preamp supposed to help any of that?
kornkat2020
hifihvn
943 posts
 
After further thought, on reading the "it didn't harm my speakers" statement, there is a possibility a little harm could have been done, if you drove them past their design limits. When speakers voice coils get to warm, the varnish insulator breaks down. Also this can damage the copper coil wire itself too. This also could cause a short between the wires, but not easily noticeable, because they may still sound fine, if they're not totally shorted. Also, if done more often, that can further damage the voice coil causing an earlier than normal failure, that may never happen if they're not driven as hard. They can fail in the future with less power do to this. IOW, your taking a risk. Hopefully, no damage was done. Being easier on them should give them a longer life, so can can keep enjoying them.
wilsynet's avatar
wilsynet
264 posts
 
You keep getting not very good amplifiers with tons of power, way more than your easy to drive speakers need and expect a big difference.

I disagree that preamps are more important than amps. I think they're both important. Although to what degree depends on the components and the rest of the system.

With your fairly easy to drive speakers, you should be looking for quality not power. I'd guess that a good but cheap integrated, perhaps even a lowly Trends T-amplifier, perhaps something from Virtue, a Virtue One would slay anything you've tried so far.
wilsynet's avatar
wilsynet
264 posts
 
There is a Dayens Ampino asking $450 and a Sansui integrated asking $350 in Solid State Integrated Amplifiers right now. The latter you should ask regarding current restoration status, if the system has been re-capped etc. But both are likely to be clearly superior to your current system (and probably your friends too).
csontos
1,311 posts
 
The amp is the heart of your system. No matter what you upgrade or change otherwise, you will always end up listening to your amp, again. I can't believe that Son of Ampzilla is still for sale in the classifieds, recently rebuilt by none other than Mike Bettinger. This amp is 30 years old and will go toe to toe with anything on the planet, current or otherwise
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