Odyssey with Innersound ESL 300

[mirage98]

I have the Odysseys powered by an Innersound ESL 300 MKI and a SqueezeBox3. I like loud listening levels and most of the time I'm sending full signal from my squeezebox straight into the amp. Should I worry about overpowering these speakers? The Odyssey's power handling is @ 250 watts where my ESL 300 can push 600 @ 4 ohms. My thoughts is that the ESL 300 is powering the Panels & Woofers that it shouldn't be a problem. Am I just asking for trouble turning my system up like this?

 

[mdl]

I have the Odysseys powered by an Innersound ESL 300 MKI and a SqueezeBox3. I like loud listening levels and most of the time I'm sending full signal from my squeezebox straight into the amp. Should I worry about overpowering these speakers? The Odyssey's power handling is @ 250 watts where my ESL 300 can push 600 @ 4 ohms. My thoughts is that the ESL 300 is powering the Panels & Woofers that it shouldn't be a problem. Am I just asking for trouble turning my system up like this?

Well, you have the right amp for the job How loud is it? Have you measured? Anything over 95db on peaks I think you are asking for trouble. I also find volume is used for compensation for other things being lacking (kinda like sports cars .

I think you need to determine output voltage of the squeezebox factored by the 26db gain of the ESL300... and then add in real world amp requirements (I do not think the ESL 300 is seeing a flat 4 ohm load... but rather that funky ML impedance curve). That aside, I think I am worried about your ears more than the speakers (you can always replace the speakers).

I was going to buy an ESL 300 until I discovered the balanced inputs were for show only.

 

[Craig]

I don't know what the output gain is on the squeezebox but I don't think it is that high. I also have an SB3 and when played directly into an amp with the volume all the way up it is not as loud as the preamps I've used. Nevertheless, I don't recommend playing any system at full volume even if the speakers can take it.