More Power = Better Sound?

RJMELKON

Has anyone with the LSI 15's upgraded
their amp to the level of say 300 wpc at
4 ohms and noticed a real difference in sound quality given the same volume levels?I have read posts that say these speakers get noticeably better at these power ratings.

polkatese

Rjmelkon,
I have my LSi15 driven by B&K 125.7 (rated 185 watts per channel @ 4 ohms) for almost a year now. I had look into B&K reference 200.7 rated 300 watts/ch @ 4 ohms) and have to say that I can hear no difference at moderate/typical (loud) sound level. Moderate in this case is -20 dB on B&K level. Dynamics and bass level is as strong on both at this level. Hope it helps.

Steve@3dai

I don't think it's really a matter of power though, it's how much current is actually fed to the speaker and if the amp can keep that current at the same level through any frequency.

Plus, my friend and I were doing some calculations the other days about Ohm rating and how much power was REALLY getting to the speakers. Interestingly enough, with 50w per channel, only about 12.5w was actually driving the speaker

brettw22

If I understand your question correctly, the answer is no. That depends on the circumstances though.

If you take for instance Polkatese's B&K 125.7 and exchanged that with the 200.7, the power would be significantly greater. The sonic characteristics of the amps though, would be similar enough to where the sound itself should be virtually the same. The ability of one amp to driver the other speakers is going to be better than the other based on the added headroom allowed by a bigger amp, but the sound would remain the same.

If you try to compare though the 125.7 and an Adcom amp that has almost 300 wpc @ 4 ohm, there are definitely going to be differences in sound between the two. It's a matter of preference, but that doesn't in any way mean that the 125.7 sounds in any way worse than the amp that puts out 50% more power.

It's always going to be better to have MORE power than less so that you don't risk the damage of clipping your amp and killing your speakers. The benefit to having the additional power is that the amp will drive the speakers with more ease, putting less pressure on it.

The first thing that you have to do though is to find an amp whose sonic characteristics you like, and then address the power ratings after that. You could find that the 300wpc Adcom sounds like **** compared to the 125.7 B&K (just using them as examples).

polkatese

Excellent point, Brett! Sonic charateristics, to me, should be the primary selection criteria, followed by amp design characteristics (i.e. high current) as it relates to the speakers.

John K.

RJ, since you specified "the same volume levels", the answer would have to be no unless the lower powered amp was audibly distorting at that level. The audibility of distortion varies somewhat with the type of music being played, but typically it has to be higher than 1% to be audible. Even if the second amp had 10 times the maximum power it wouldn't make an audible difference at the same volume level because the extra power wasn't being used.

dave shepard

Originally posted by brettw22

The sonic characteristics of the amps though, would be similar enough to where the sound itself should be virtually the same. The ability of one amp to driver the other speakers is going to be better than the other based on the added headroom allowed by a bigger amp, but the sound would remain the same.

If you try to compare though the 125.7 and an Adcom amp that has almost 300 wpc @ 4 ohm, there are definitely going to be differences in sound between the two. It's a matter of preference, but that doesn't in any way mean that the 125.7 sounds in any way worse than the amp that puts out 50% more power.

The first thing that you have to do though is to find an amp whose sonic characteristics you like, and then address the power ratings after that. You could find that the 300wpc Adcom sounds like **** compared to the 125.7 B&K (just using them as examples).

I had the same question in a previous post and understood that a seperate amp wouldn't have any effect on the sound (brighter, milder, muddy), that it would just play louder. So if I'm reading this right an amp does have an effect on the overall sound? If I use my 3803 as a pre pro and add an outside amp will the sound quality change? and will it be differant from one amp to another say, Adcom, B&K, Sherbourn?
The post says two things the sound will be the same but also says will change the sonic characteristics .

Dave

dave shepard

Originally posted by John K.
Even if the second amp had 10 times the maximum power it wouldn't make an audible difference at the same volume level because the extra power wasn't being used.

Wouldn't it play louder at the same volume leavel with a larger amp because of the extra power? I would think that the volume level would have to be turned down giving you the extra head room because the reciever or pre-pro will not compinsate the volume control because of the extra power.

Dave

brettw22

Originally posted by dave shepard
I had the same question in a previous post and understood that a seperate amp wouldn't have any effect on the sound (brighter, milder, muddy), that it would just play louder. So if I'm reading this right an amp does have an effect on the overall sound? If I use my 3803 as a pre pro and add an outside amp will the sound quality change? and will it be differant from one amp to another say, Adcom, B&K, Sherbourn?
The post says two things the sound will be the same but also says will change the sonic characteristics .

Dave,

Ideally, an amp shouldn't color or affect the sound of the music that you're playing. That being said though, if all amps did the exact same thing and all sounded alike, there wouldn't be so many of them out on the market. Some will have more emphasis on the bass, some on the treble, some have a shallow soundstage and some have impressive depth and imaging to the music you listen to. Is it possible to say that "The B&K sounds perfect with my music, and will automatically sound just as good with your system." No, because the speakers/equipment will vary between each person and room characteristics can play a part in what the sound is going to be.

Amps do sound different, which is why it's important primarily to find an amp whose sound you like. Will a B&K, Sherbourn, or Adcom sound amp sound different than a Denon receiver? Yes, and each of them will have their own individual characteristics that vary from the other. Ideally, you should have all of your speakers running on the same amp or type of amps (be it a 7 channel massive amp, or all individual monoblocks of the same line). You WILL hear a difference in your system if you run the mains on an external amp and the center and the surrounds on the receiver. I personally wouldn't do that because the front soundstage would be out of balance in it's tonal qualities.

My comment about the sound being the same wasn't to say that a B&K will sound like an Adcom, but to say that within lines (comparing an Adcom to and Adcom) the sound should be relatively similar between the models with no glaring differences in the sound. The emphasis on buying anything audio related should primarily be DO YOU LIKE THE WAY YOUR MUSIC SOUNDS through the components. If the answer is yes to B&K, then at that point you should look at more power for the handling of whatever speakers that you have.

I don't mean to make it sound like one is going to be blaringly worse than the other. I'm just saying that there are differences, and I think that a lot of people are under the impression that you can go get 3 or 4 different amp lines and make them all sound identical. It's just more of a pain in the **** to do that with than staying within the same manufacturer.....

Make sense?

dave shepard

I get it now. The first time I had asked I got the impression that an external amp would have no effect on the sound except to let it play louder.

Thanks

Dave