How many Watts is enough???

[HK-Steve]

Hi Everyone,
Well with all the Valve Amplifier threads going at the moment,
I have been looking to get a couple to play with.

How many watts should I be looking for??

I have a Rotel RB 991 now which is 200w per channel, driving Quest's
The Valve amplifier I am looking at has 45watts,

I can also get another amplifier that has 30watts, is this enough??
Both sets of amps are Monoblocks.

Is this enough??
As this is my first jump into Valve amps,
I have been trying to learn as much as I can before taking the leap.


I use my Quest for my HT and 2ch Music pretty much every day.



I appreciate any comments
Cheers
Steve

 

[Juppe]

I used to have 500watt IcePower. Just úpgradet to 1000Watt - I think it is enough for Aerius.

 

[DTB300]

Well with all the Valve Amplifier threads going at the moment, I have been looking to get a couple to play with.

How many watts should I be looking for??

HK-Steve...

When I was auditioning them I listened to Tube Amps from 60 up to 150 - as that is all in my area that I could get my hands on before I made my final purchase. Each had their own sound no matter what the wattage. Hard to say how many you need as it also depends on how loud you listen and the type of music.

Afraid it is more of a go out and listen and audition.

Dan

 

[Spike]

Well, it depends on your music taste and what you're looking for. In general, 45 watts of tube power is plenty, unless you're constantly listenning at extremely loud level. Just to give you an idea, I have 50 watt tube monoblocs for my panels and a 300 wpc stereo amplifier for the woofers on my reQuest (system #27).

Spike

 

[DavidG]

Too much?

With ML speakers, there's no such thing as too much. . . . . current.

I find that what matters is the amplifiers abililty to deliver massive current rather than wattage. MLs act like a massive capacitor in many ways (think about the construction of the panels for a moment. . .), and they will just soak up current at an alarming rate.

I use a relatively low powered amp (100wpc), but its' current delivery is massive, so there's never any problems driving the speakers.

Cheers,

David

 

[HK-Steve]

Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate it.

Spike, would you say that you listen at high levels??

Unfortunately I am yet to find a Shop here (Switzerland) that has more than one Valve amp, I am lucky that I have found a shop with Valves as they just aren't something people buy here.

So I am really trying to dip my toe into the Valve world, without being able to audition them first. Not a good way to do this, but this looks like the only way.

If I wanted an "all in one box" with 6 small internal amplifiers (5.1) and small box speakers, well I could buy about 50 of them



Cheers
Steve

 

[garmtz]

Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate it.

Spike, would you say that you listen at high levels??

Unfortunately I am yet to find a Shop here (Switzerland) that has more than one Valve amp, I am lucky that I have found a shop with Valves as they just aren't something people buy here.

So I am really trying to dip my toe into the Valve world, without being able to audition them first. Not a good way to do this, but this looks like the only way.

If I wanted an "all in one box" with 6 small internal amplifiers (5.1) and small box speakers, well I could buy about 50 of them



Cheers
Steve

Maybe look into Goldmund amplifiers as you are living in Switserland... very clean, dynamic and fast sound.

 

[Wardsweb]

I was using a Carver A760x solid state amp for my CLS. (8ohm 380 watts per channel; 4ohm 600 watts per channel; 2ohm 1150 watts per channel) This amp is good down to 1 ohm. I had upgraded from a TFM-35 to a A500x and then to the A760x to get an amp that I couldn't peg the needles on.

I now have them hooked up to a pair of Shanling SP-80 monoblocs (50 watts each into 8 ohms) and prefer the tubes. They came with EL34 tubes that I swapped for 6CA7EH fat bottles. They play louder than you would want to stay in the room and have better bottom end now.

 

[DTB300]

So I am really trying to dip my toe into the Valve world, without being able to audition them first. Not a good way to do this, but this looks like the only way.

I thought about doing the same thing with a new amp for the system particulary with Tube Amps. There were some Tube Amps that were being sold at a great deal. Trouble is no return on them if you ordered them as they are made to order. Others wanted 10% restocking fees - so essentially $200 to try them out plus the shipping costs... Not my idea of equipment evaluation.

So I went out locally to listen to some and bring some home....things you have said are very difficult for you to do in your area. BTW, how far to drive to hear some? Personally I would drive 2-4 hours to hear some stuff. I make arrangements at the stores to be sure they have the item in stock, and are able to demo them and then I drive up and listen to the equipment. My wife just looks at me sometimes and wonders

For the Tube Amps, I just could not bring myself to purchasing something without auditioning them first - or at least getting a recommendation from someone I trust. I have a friend of mine and both of us agree on the sound of equipment that we have heard together either at stores or at shows and this is a person that I would trust on how something would sound. He also knows about my speakers and setup, which also helps.

In the end, I am glad I waited to give a listen to many different brands, and was able to bring a couple of them home. While I was very anxious to make a new purchase (aren't we all when we get that AUDIO BUG), but I was so glad I waited to listen, evaluate and them make my new purchase. BTW, I did not buy a Tube Amp...

I don't know if I said anything here that I did not say previously, but wait and evaluate before your purchase or you might end up regretting it.

With regards to power ratings...they are just that, ratings, marketing hype, etc. and usually do not equal sound quality. Each of us has our own preferences and you need to listen for yourself. Sounds like it is time for a road-trip

Dan

 

[Spike]

My room is 6m x 10m with a sloping ceiling starting at 3m and peaking out at 12m. My system is arranged on the 6m side, with my listening position 4m away. I experimented with the tube monoblocs driving my speakers full-range and was able to register 98db on my sound meter at my listening position. That's plenty loud for me. With (passive) bi-amping, I'm getting around 100db once in a while with (full) bass. For most of my music listening, I hover around the low 90s during the day, and mid (to high) 80s late nights.

Spike

 

[kostas]

...I am lucky that I have found a shop with Valves as they just aren't something people buy here.

So I am really trying to dip my toe into the Valve world, without being able to audition them first. Not a good way to do this, but this looks like the only way...

If it is hard to buy Valves, think how hard it will be to sell them, in case you don't like their sound. So, listen before buy, even if you have to drive a lot, as Dan describes at above post!

As for the watts, I don't think it's the watts you should be looking for, but the current. Remember the Mark Levinson ML2, the "legend"? Only 25 Watts @ 8 ohms, but 400 Watts @ 0,5 ohms. Lots of Amperes, that's the point I think.

 

[Jeff Zaret]

I agree here.

Remember when comparing similar specs, wattage and current, valves do sound different. I think it is by design and also the usuage of different valves for the same function like valves from different companies.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing in your search

Jeff

 

[risabet]

Can't go wrong!

The magic of the tube sound is compelling. I doubt the sound will be an issue, however, the ability to roll tubes to fine tune the sound you get is an added plus. I recently swapped some RCA "Cleartop" 12AU7's for EH 12AX7's for a marked difference in the sound, a definite improvement IMO. 100 watts of tube power may be enough for any but the largest rooms.