How much power (wpc) is more than enough for most speakers and systems?

bluegrassphile said:
Back in March of this year, after being out of high end audio for 40+ years I decided to return to the hobby I got so much enjoyment from in the '60s, '70s, and '80s. I initially thought I'd be spending maybe $5000 max. Man, was I naive?
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While a different generation, I thought I could spend the same amount and would be good to go - I became Naive and Addicted!


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bluegrassphile said:
Back in March of this year, after being out of high end audio for 40+ years I decided to return to the hobby I got so much enjoyment from in the '60s, '70s, and '80s. I initially thought I'd be spending maybe $5000 max. Man, was I naive?
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Tell me about it. I did a very similar thing a few years ago. Back in the day it was all about the turntable, the Nakamichi deck, etc. I even had VPI's first record cleaning machine. Talk about people thinking I was nuts :).

With raising a family, building a career, etc., I got out of this hobby. I jumped back in a few years ago. Man was there a lot to learn; so many changes. Digital was the thing... I had gotten rid of my albums long ago so I thought I could simply rip my CDs and I would be good. Then I discovered high rez downloads and various DACs.

I also quickly learned that this crazy hobby could get astronomically expensive and out of control very quickly. I never could imagine how expensive the high end had gotten. I believe that I am doing fairly well, but the price tags shocked me. But, I also found that there are giant killers out there, diamond in the roof if you will.

The Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE Stage 2 pre-amplifier is a great example. I know people who have compared it against some of the top brands, top models and prefer the Wyred, even at 8-9 times less in pricing. There are others out there. I guess that is part of the fun. To learn your preference, to discover what does it for you. To find your diamond :D. Enjoy!
 
mep said:
Yes, you were. You thought you were going to dive right into the deep end of the high end pool, but you found that you had to walk into the wading pool.
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Yup, mep, the changes in high end home audio in that 40+ year span have been truly incredible. Digital alone directly or indirectly accounts for a huge portion of those changes. Add the influence of computers on home audio and you're just starting to scratch the surface.
 
Randy Myers said:
For the averaged person (and average audiophile for that matter), $10k-$16k for an amplifier is quite high. If you consider $16,000 as reasonably price then the more power to you. I consider that rather high priced for a single audio component.
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That price range would pretty much squeeze all the juice out of my budget, at least for an amp. I'd really have to keep the spending for anything else at a minimum.
 
The question to me is how are you out of this hobby for 40 years? I was hooked when I got my big pioneer set at the age of 16 and never really out of it.
 
Al M. said:
I like overkill. My main speakers are 92 dB sensitive 2-way monitors at 8 Ohm impedance, and I use an amp of 100W/ch into 8 Ohms (130 W/ch into 4 Ohms). The monitors can easily be driven with great dynamics by a 15 W/ch amp (have tried it). But with my current amp dynamics are even better.

My JL Audio subs each have an internal amp of 1800 W.

I would agree though with what has been pointed out, that high power does not guarantee great transient performance. Larger amps sometimes are more sluggish, so it all depends. Better judging with your ears rather than a rulebook.
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I like overkill as well. I have 1000w/ch mono blocks going to my speakers.


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"[...I also quickly learned that this crazy hobby could get astronomically expensive and out of control very quickly....]"


You're talkin' to me, right? :rolleyes: Out of control, indeed. Pretty much says it all.
 
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