[Noob technical question - Amp Power vs Sound quality]

19 hours ago, garyrc said:

 

Yes, at low volume, the two hypothetical amps should sound the same, providing they are equal in other ways.  Amplifier power is not the salient variable at low volume.

 

A conservative guess is that your 95 watts per channel AVR should push your main (right front and left front) speakers to about 107 dB peak at about 12-13 feet away in a typical room.  Since the standard peak of peaks ("full scale") that Dolby, THX, SMPTE, AES, and the other royalty of the cinema world expect you to provide to your main speakers is 105 dB, you are probably O.K. ... BUT, if you have all of your channels, including surrounds, pumping away at full tilt, your AVR probably cannot deliver 95 watts to each of your channels.   Few, if any, manufacturers specify their AVRs with all channels operating, which they really should do.  IMO, though, you should be able to squeak by, since you have a couple of dB to spare.

 

Your canter channel speaker may or may not need more power, because it may or may not be of lower sensitivity.  SVS rates it at a sensitivity of 86 dB/2.83v/1meter in "full space."   AES assumes they rate it 1/2 space (backed against a large flat surface) so I'm guessing that would provide another 3 dB of sensitivity, making it really 89dB/2.83v/1m.  Klipsch rates your main speakers at 98 db/2.83v/1m in a typical listening room, which translates to 94 dB/2.83v/1m in 1/2 space (according to a Klipsch engineer).  That's the figure I used to calculate your available Sound Pressure Level (SPL or volume).  If your listening room is neither dead nor live acoustically, that probably provides you with a fudge factor of 4 dB. 

 

Your subwoofer is another matter -- do you have one?  You really should.  Almost all of them (name brands) are self powered with an appropriate sized amplifier built in.   The overlords of cinema feel that your sub should be able to hit 115 dB SPL.  Run all of your main speakers as "SMALL" to avoid multipath distortion; this will also give you more "headroom" -- spare power from your AVR -- since there won't be a demand put on it for deep bass, which is power hungry.

 

A speaker's "power rating" (in your case, 150 RMS for RF 82 IIs) is not very useful.  The idea that your amp should be more powerful than the "power rating" of your speakers is just a rule of the thumb (not quite as hideous as the origin of that term).  Paul Klipsch was once asked what it meant; he replied, "Probably not much."

 

 

Wow - i am probably going to read this post a couple more times  I do have a subwoofer Klipsch 10i. I have my fronts as Large - so will try changing that tonight to see if that changes anything.

You know one interesting thing to mention is the SVS center seems to run effortlessly than the Klipsch fronts - i expected opposite.

I will come back to this post.

[Noob technical question - Amp Power vs Sound quality]

20 hours ago, billybob said:

What problems are you encountering with the Denon?

How many speakers are hooked to it ?

Have you listened to higher volume and noticed distortion?

Thanks!

Welcome...

Clarity especially mid and high end is the pain point. At mid-high volume i should say that i didnt notice any distortion . I havent made it too high (more than 50% yet) living in an apartment.

I tried all variations - just 2 fronts with and without bi-amp, all 7, and in between. 

[Noob technical question - Amp Power vs Sound quality]

20 hours ago, oldtimer said:

It involves a few concepts, probably better suited for a pm conversation.  I would be glad to explain my limited understanding, but give me a couple of days since I am currently out of pocket.

Will PM you - thanks man! 

[Noob technical question - Amp Power vs Sound quality]

On 1/13/2020 at 2:45 PM, oldtimer said:

It's all about impedance dips.

Please enlighten me - starting with what does that even mean

[Noob technical question - Amp Power vs Sound quality]

13 hours ago, Ceptorman said:

Welcome....at low volume it should be fine, crank it up and the amp might struggle, and that's when distortion creeps in. 100 watts is still plenty of power, especially with efficient speakers like most Klipsch. What speakers and amp combo are you considering?

 

 

 

Have denon 2400h (95w per channel) and Klipsch RF82 II (150 RMS) with SVS prime center (rated for 20-200w). With my receiver, i do feel the sound still lacks clarity.

My question was generic though, that i should be hearing music with the same clarity in low volume with my amp vs another amp with higher amps. I guess I am hearing a yes from you that 'higher wattage amp does not mean better sound clarity at the same lower volume of a lower watt amp' - correct?

[Noob technical question - Amp Power vs Sound quality]

Read various articles on using the right power for your speakers and that power should be preferably higher than rated speakers to get the best sound *that* speaker can produce. My question is, lets say i have a 150 watt speaker run by a lower watt say 100 watt amp - now if i play the music at low volume - Shouldn't I get a clear sound (like a higher watt amp) since the amp can still provide effortlessly the low volume power needed by speaker? 

 

Spare the slack if this is too basic :) but i am struggling to understand why this would happen at low volume - I can however understand if i increase the volume then the amp will be pushed and wont deliver a clear sound. 

 

Any technical explanations?