RTA 12 power needs

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wantRTA12's
wantRTA12's Posts: 13
edited August 2006 in Vintage Speakers
Just purchased a mint condition set of RTA 12C's and have a new NAD C320Bee amp with a conservatively rated 50 wpc. I believe that the RTA12C's require 30-500 wpc, so I'm only feeding them just above the speaker's minimum daily requirement. The speakers sound great, but I'm wondering if I'll REALLY NOTICE an improvement in sound quality if I up the wattage. I'd love to read your comments and advice. Thanks!
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  • garcianc2003
    garcianc2003 Posts: 20
    edited July 2006
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    I have had a pair of RTA 12s for about 20 years. They have been exclusively driven by a CARVER m1.5t amp (350 wpc into 8ohms) since day 1. Except for this one time... When trying to determine if a noise was coming from my speakers or the amp, I powered them with my other CARVER amp - an AV-505 (100 wpc). Although the sound was pure, I just felt like I was not getting everything I knew the speakers could give. The experiment lasted for 10 painful days while my m1.5t was being serviced to fix the distortion problem. I was never happier than the day that amp came back from the shop.
    My experience was that I did notice a remarkable improvement. Could it have been from 20 years of listening to the same amp? Possibly.
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,576
    edited July 2006
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    You can never have too much power and my experience is that all speakers open up and bloom with more of it. 500wpc? That would be plain silly, but I would suggest setting a benchmark of 200wpc, which is enough to run almost anything.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited July 2006
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    +1 on what Doro said!!! Welcome to the Club WantRTA!
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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  • wantRTA12's
    wantRTA12's Posts: 13
    edited August 2006
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    Thanks very much for the advice. I'll probably have to continue feeding them 50 wpc as my audio budget is used up for a while. Might try to sell the NAD on ebay and then point the coin toward something beefier. Any recommendations for a guy who needs more power, but who doesn't have much money?
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited August 2006
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    Look for something used on Audiogon & keep your eyes open here as well. Some terrific deals come up all the time! As for amps look for 200wpc Rotel, Parasound, Outlaw etc.
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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