does this make sense

ronnie
ronnie Posts: 150
edited April 2007 in Electronics
i paid 400 for my adcom used. 200 watts per channel into 8 ohms....nice...now look at this http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=306-102 ...748.80 for 7 watts into 2 channels. what is all that about. i know nothing about tube amps but this sounds CRAZY...anybody have any input, cause sounds like a real waste of money.
Yamaha RX-V2600
Adcom GFA555 x 2 :D
Yamaha CD685 cd changer
Yamaha Dvd c950 dvd changer
Polk RTi12 mains
Polk CSi3 center
Polk psw303
Polk RTi6 (surround and surround back)
Acoustic Research 12in 200 watt sub(8 years old and still hits hard:D)
WindyWillys cooling fan (works great)
Mitsubishi 52in big screen
blue jeans cables
AR interconnects
Post edited by ronnie on
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Comments

  • dudeinaroom
    dudeinaroom Posts: 3,609
    edited April 2007
    That's tubes for ya. You could most likely find a better tube amp at a better price. From what I've seen parts express is a little overpriced on their items.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,020
    edited April 2007
    Highly efficiant speakers don't need alot of watts.Flea power amps have there place in audio and some are worth every penny.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • ronnie
    ronnie Posts: 150
    edited April 2007
    7 watts.....what speaker can prosper from 7 watts. im just lost from the price versus watts
    Yamaha RX-V2600
    Adcom GFA555 x 2 :D
    Yamaha CD685 cd changer
    Yamaha Dvd c950 dvd changer
    Polk RTi12 mains
    Polk CSi3 center
    Polk psw303
    Polk RTi6 (surround and surround back)
    Acoustic Research 12in 200 watt sub(8 years old and still hits hard:D)
    WindyWillys cooling fan (works great)
    Mitsubishi 52in big screen
    blue jeans cables
    AR interconnects
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited April 2007
    It only requires 1 watt to drive a speaker to its sensitivity rating at 1 meter.

    For example, you have speakers with a 90db sensitivity rating and you feed them 1 watt of power from your amplifier. At 1 meter away from the speakers you are getting 90db of SPL, which is quite a lot! Even if you sit further away, room gain plays a role in the equation, so it doesn't require lots of power to produce good sound.

    Not all watts are created equal...
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • ronnie
    ronnie Posts: 150
    edited April 2007
    and it weighs as much as my adcom........its just weird to me
    Yamaha RX-V2600
    Adcom GFA555 x 2 :D
    Yamaha CD685 cd changer
    Yamaha Dvd c950 dvd changer
    Polk RTi12 mains
    Polk CSi3 center
    Polk psw303
    Polk RTi6 (surround and surround back)
    Acoustic Research 12in 200 watt sub(8 years old and still hits hard:D)
    WindyWillys cooling fan (works great)
    Mitsubishi 52in big screen
    blue jeans cables
    AR interconnects
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  • LuSh
    LuSh Posts: 887
    edited April 2007
    Power doesn't always mean sound quality...depending on system configuration.

    If you thought that was crazy here are other examples

    http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1182265433

    7w per channel.

    Kondo amplifer's are much beefer...at 50w you step up in terms of power. As you notice the price is increase as well.

    http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1179919443
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited April 2007
    As it's already been pointed out, you only need a couple watts for the average listener. I demod a 3 watt tube amp that cost about that and it was pretty impressive. It did lack that extra bit of headroom and on certain speakers it lacked the volume to really get involved in the music, but when mated with the right speaker it was an amazing combo.
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited April 2007
    It funny how you can pay $3,000 for an amp and get either 8w or 800w and both have their place. I love America...
    Jake
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  • Paramount Polk
    Paramount Polk Posts: 38
    edited April 2007
    I posted about that same tube amp with the same question on the PE board... i cant find it...
    Receiver- Onkyo TX-SR304S
    Speakers- Front-Polk Rti4
    Rear- Bose 161
    Center- Bose Cubes
    Subwoofer- composed of
    -PIONEER TS-W251R 10" SUBWOOFER
    -Dayton 1.0 CU FT SUBWOOFER CABINET
    -DAYTON SA240-B 240W Sub Plate Amp
    Desktop
    -AMD Athlon 3000+ 1.8Ghz
    - Geforce 6600
    - 512mb Ram upgrading soon...
    - 80 Gig HD 160 Gig Slave HD
    - ECS Nforce-A939 Motherboard
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  • Fireman32
    Fireman32 Posts: 4,845
    edited April 2007
    My system is only running 8w and it sounds awsome!
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  • engtaz
    engtaz Posts: 7,664
    edited April 2007
    Do low watts Tube amps require efficent speakers?
    engtaz

    I love how music can brighten up a bad day.
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  • Paramount Polk
    Paramount Polk Posts: 38
    edited April 2007
    im purrrty sure they do yes or else things'll get floppy
    Receiver- Onkyo TX-SR304S
    Speakers- Front-Polk Rti4
    Rear- Bose 161
    Center- Bose Cubes
    Subwoofer- composed of
    -PIONEER TS-W251R 10" SUBWOOFER
    -Dayton 1.0 CU FT SUBWOOFER CABINET
    -DAYTON SA240-B 240W Sub Plate Amp
    Desktop
    -AMD Athlon 3000+ 1.8Ghz
    - Geforce 6600
    - 512mb Ram upgrading soon...
    - 80 Gig HD 160 Gig Slave HD
    - ECS Nforce-A939 Motherboard
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  • ohskigod
    ohskigod Posts: 6,502
    edited April 2007
    engtaz wrote: »
    Do low watts Tube amps require efficent speakers?

    more efficient the better, the Radii that Fireman32 runs is a sweet little amp. I should know, I sold it to him. Made my Bozak Symphonies sing, not as detailed as the Sophia Electric baby amp I had, but it was a little smoother.

    That Radii is fine for speakers rated above 90db/watt, but did ok on my little B&W bookies at 87ish too. The Big Bozaks were 94db I think, so they went surprisingly loud on 8 watts. Tube watts and solid state watts are shockingly different, while I went back to big solid state amps for my AR9's, I still dig light tube power, which is why I will be piecing together a smaller tube rig just for kicks. which will consist of

    Dodd ELP Pre
    Anthem Amp 1 (40 watts per channel tube amp)
    CAL DX-1 CD player
    Rogers LS-6 monitors
    Living Room 2 Channel -
    Schiit SYS Passive Pre. Jolida CD player. Songbird streamer. California Audio Labs Sigma II DAC, DIY 300as1/a1 Ice modules Class D amp. LSi15 with MM842 woofer upgrade, Nordost Blue Heaven and Unity interconnects.

    Upstairs 2 Channel Rig -
    Prometheus Ref. TVC passive pre, SAE A-205 Amp, Wiim pro streamer and Topping E50 DAC, California Audio Labs DX1 CD player, Von Schweikert VR3.5 speakers.

    Studio Rig - Scarlett 18i20(Gen3) DAW, Mac Mini, Aiyma A07 Max (BridgedX2), Totem Mites
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  • ronnie
    ronnie Posts: 150
    edited April 2007
    still 7 watts for almost 800 bucks just sounds crazy. im very happy with my adcoms and paid for both of them for the same price. ..........400 watts or 7 watts... not a hard choice for me..
    Yamaha RX-V2600
    Adcom GFA555 x 2 :D
    Yamaha CD685 cd changer
    Yamaha Dvd c950 dvd changer
    Polk RTi12 mains
    Polk CSi3 center
    Polk psw303
    Polk RTi6 (surround and surround back)
    Acoustic Research 12in 200 watt sub(8 years old and still hits hard:D)
    WindyWillys cooling fan (works great)
    Mitsubishi 52in big screen
    blue jeans cables
    AR interconnects
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited April 2007
    The best way to appreciate those 7 watts is if you hear them in action. Try and demo some tubed gear and see if it tickles your fancy. Specs are only a small part of the equation when it comes to audio gear.
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