Do amps have a sweet spot?


What I mean by this is do amps have an output range at which they sound better? The reason that I'm asking is that I'm now running some very small speakers (Minuet Supreme Plus) and they're probably the least demanding speakers I've had; but I've found that my setup sounds better when I have the volume turned up.

Out of curiosity, I took my Minuets to my local shop and hooked them up to an NAD C326BEE. I thought it sounded pretty darned good at "normal" listening levels. I almost bought it, but then I decided to start cranking it up to what I would call "rockin" levels and the amp started to clip. If it could have played louder, I would have bought it.

So...is it usual for an amp not to open up until you start pushing it?

My current amp is an Aragon 2004.
tonyangel
No. SPL's have nothing to do with it. Like I said, they all exhibit the same behavior regardless of power rating. Obviously, SPL's are going to change accordingly. But just because it's louder doesn't mean the same things aren't going to happen. Characteristically, they are the same.
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My pre amp brings a typical ss amp to rated output at about 6-7 on the dial. SPLs are obviously going to vary among different amps with different power ratings. Measured distortion is not necessarily an indicator of performance as Al pointed out.
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I stand corrected, I suppose. I also stand by my initial statement. What I meant by 'cookin', is nominally what an amp can stand without driving it into clipping which will vary depending on the dynamic range of the recording.