Question re: high sensitivity speakers and low powered amps

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Early B.
Early B. Posts: 7,900
edited June 2006 in 2 Channel Audio
My friend has a pair of Omega Grande 6 speakers which is a full range speaker with something like a 94 dB sensitivity. He is powering them with a 50 watt ASL tube amp, and he uses a subwoofer to handle the low frequencies.

Would he get a "better" sound by powering them with a SET amp or a low powered amp? Or does it matter?

The reason I ask is because most audiophiles buy high sensitivity speakers and power them with low powered amps. Just wondering if my friend is capturing all the magic out of his Omegas as he should be.

Thanks.
HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

"God grooves with tubes."
Post edited by Early B. on
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited June 2006
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    I'll bet he is missing all the magic but I'm not an expert on this subject. What I do know is that he is not realizing as good of a signal to noise ratio as he could be. The amount of noise present in the higher power amplifier, although good in its own class, would not be considered good in a low powered amplifier. Also, it is probably not being operated in triode mode as a flea powered amp normally is and that would be a degregation of sound.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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