New Chorus Owner - Question on Aplification

[Wuchak]

THE QUESTION

My 25 wpc tube amp drives the Chorus to hearing damaging levels at under 1/2 power. I have an Aragon 4004 amp that I picked up a few weeks ago of CL at the shop for repair. I was going to look for a pair of Maggies to run with it but the pair of Chorus popped up and I snagged them. Given the incredible sensitivity of the Chorus would an amp like the Aragon that delivers 200 WPC at 8 OHMS be serious overkill for the Chorus or would there be some benefit to that extra power on tap even though I could never really use more than 15 watts in my room?

BACKGROUND

Yesterday I brought home a pair of Chorus speakers that were on my local for Craigslist for $200. I just happened to check CL right after they were posted and was first to respond. When I got there to pick them up an hour later the seller said her inbox was filling up with responses. All drivers work, the grill cloth is in excellent shape although one of the Klipsch emblems is missing, the surrounds are in good condition. The veneer is very dry as they have been sitting for a long time unused but repeated application of lemon oil over the next few weeks should bring back a nice glow (and it makes the room smell nice). The veneer along the base has come loose and split in a few places but it's all there so some wood glue should take care of that. Someone used one of the speakers as a plant stand and there are some rings and some bubbling on top of that one. Once it's properly oiled again and pliable I will try flattening it using an iron and instructions I found on a woodworking site. It also appears as though the particle board under the veneer has swelled so there will probably always be a bulge there but getting the veneer to lay back down will make it less noticable and prevent it from being peeled off.

I have wanted to try a pair of the classic Klipsch speakers since my Dad bought a set of Forte II's and some McIntosh gear to power them six months ago. He lives 1/2 way across the country so I haven't heard them in person but he loves them and this might sound strange, but they sound amazing through the phone.: )

I have only had them hooked up for an hour so I will refrain from making any premature comments about the sound. Once I live with them for a month then I will be comfortable commenting their performance.

GEAR

-Anthem Integrated 1 25 watts per channel tube amp with NOS tubes

-Music Hall A25.2 50 watts per channel solid state

-Sony Playstation SCPH-1001

-Sony HD radio XDR-F1HD

-Laptop running ASIO4ALL, Foobar 2000

-Firestone Audio Fubar II DAC with Supplier power supply

-2 amp to 1 set of speaker switch box from Niles

-REL Quake sub (not currently hooked up)

ROOM

-The basement office/library is 15' long x 10' wide with the 1/2 open stairs along the right wall extending back another 3'. The ceiling is 6'6" high on one side and 6' on the other where the heat ducts are boxed in by sheetrock. These ducts make the room very lively when it comes to bass. It can quickly become boomy in here with too much bass

-entire length of front wall is covered by 5'high 18" deep book shelves filled to overflowing with books

-futon along back wall placed 1' from wall

SPEAKER PLACEMENT

-55" apart from inside edge to inside edge

-7' from from front of futon.

-36" from front of bookshelves

-41" from bookshelves on front wall

-18" from side walls

-toed in 1/4"

[Ironsave]

Wuchak,

Welcome to the Forum.

First off.... Welcome to the madness!!!! Nice score for $200.

I am not qualified to answer your specific amp question exactly; but I have used double or more rated amps on given speakers.

(for example; 120 wpc amp on 50wpc speakers).

As long as you are not driving the speakers into distortion; you should not damage the speakers.

Others will chime in with answers to your specific amp model/ etc......

Good Luck!

[BigCliff]

They should sound great with it. I power Chorus II's with an old Kenwood Basic M2A old school rated at 220 wpc, and they make beautiful music together. Chorus love power and you give it to them they will, puff out their chest, and impress you everytime. I have never got the volume control past 1 o'clock, that was loud enough, my guess would be close to 120db.

[vnzbd]

I originally was driving my Chorus IIs with a Marantz avr rated at 125w per ch and then upgraded the power to an Emotiva XPA-5 rated at 200 per ch and according to Emotiva closer to 250 per ch when operating in 2 ch. I can say that the extra power does make an improvment from top to bottom especially at increased volumes. My only issue is the want for greater bass at a lower volume and am currently working on that issue.

[BigCliff]

I originally was driving my Chorus IIs with a Marantz avr rated at 125w per ch and then upgraded the power to an Emotiva XPA-5 rated at 200 per ch and according to Emotiva closer to 250 per ch when operating in 2 ch. I can say that the extra power does make an improvment from top to bottom especially at increased volumes. My only issue is the want for greater bass at a lower volume and am currently working on that issue.

Get a good equalizer. You can get some good old EQs on craigslist if you keep an eye out for one. What about a sub that would also help out.

[vnzbd]

I have a thread started in the 2 ch,"more bass at low volumes". Some interesting ideas/opinions. I have thought about the eq route as well as other sound processing devices that should enhance the bass. I did used to run a sub when I was in a single family house but I am know in a town house and fear that it will just be too much. Thanks for the advise.

[Wuchak]

Thanks for the help! I'll give it a try once the Aragon is back. Between my amps the Chorus definately prefer the Anthem. The sounds is, well, amazing. What I've heard about tubes and Klipsch is true. The Music Hall sounds nice, just not as alive. The speakers are "waking up". They have been stored for years without being used. I can hear them loosing up and coming back to life.

[Chris A]

Given the incredible sensitivity of the Chorus would an amp like the Aragon that delivers 200 WPC at 8 OHMS be serious overkill for the Chorus or would there be some benefit to that extra power on tap even though I could never really use more than 15 watts in my room?

I'd say 15W input to the Chorus's on a regular basis will result in hearing loss if you stay in the room.

Now on to the subject of power: I'd bet that you are using maybe 1/100W per channel typically. In light of this observation, there are a few items to point out:

1) Low power THD: What will sound better is an amp that has lower distortion figures when plugged into impedance loads like the Chorus. If the Aragon is a typical amp design ("A/AB"), it is probably operating only in Class A mode for your low-power-demand speakers. This will likely sound better. Amps that have 0.025% THD or less at 1/100W output should sound great on the Chorii.

2) Slew rate: Some amps are "governed down" in terms of their slew rate in order to assure absolute stability when connected to weird impedance loads without going unstable. Amps with higher slew rate will sound "crisper". Go look at the Crown D-45 thread that Mark Deneen wrote on. This was an interesting read, and I am currently in process of updating my D-75As with the same goodies. I'll let you know when I get them together and have a listen. Typically, higher power/channel amps will have higher slew rates, but not necessarily.

3) Noise floor: This is the "hiss" that you hear when you turn up the volume control. Higher power amps usually have higher corresponding noise floors (but not necessarily...). This is usually the downside of higher power amps.

Chris [8-|]