Thasp Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 I had thought a tube amp would be a bit out of my budget. I saw a Jolida and another brand with monoblocks(both 20 watts a channel). Anything higher was a lot more money than I'd consider spending. With the Klipschorns and other heritage series speakers, people seem to be happy with watt ratings way lower with this. Since the efficiency on these speakers is about 105 dB/1 watt Would the 99 dB/1 watt efficiency of the RF-5 work with 20 watts per channel in a moderately sized room? Would I get a decent bass with this before I get a sub? 99% of the music is heavy metal(Alice In Chains, Iron Maiden). I listen to almost everything, but it has to be able to play this well with authority since it's what I listen to most. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Thasp, You won't have any trouble driving your RF-5s with either of those amps. As a matter of fact you should be able to get kicked out of the house or arrested if you want to play them that loud!! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thasp Posted May 22, 2004 Author Share Posted May 22, 2004 Good, thanks. I was looking at a NAD refurbished 150 watt amp that was in my budget yet when I considered the efficiency of the speakers, I couldn't help thinking "what a waste, if I'm using so few watts they'd better be quality ones" so this seemed like a good way to go. I just had to make sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 O.K., you're talking my game here. Tell me exactly how big your room is, and how far you sit from the speakers. How much are you willing to spend on the amp? If you get the right amp, you won't need a sub -- just some good corners to slide them into. I would take that sub money and put it towards the best amp/preamp you can afford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thasp Posted May 22, 2004 Author Share Posted May 22, 2004 They'd be maybe six feet apart. The room is about 10x11, with a 2x6 closet in it that's always closed. I'm not buying just yet. The amp budget is about... um, $520 or so. It'd be connected to an M-Audio Audiophile USB external soundcard's RCA outputs. Link - http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.main&ID=41cf7347b20eff77b69588578a74aa58 I'm _pretty_ sure it has enough power to drive a normal power amp and its own preamp, yet if it doesn't I'll just go with an integrated tube amp. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Don't waste your money on solid state at that price point -- with that music and the RF-5's -- it'll peel your ears off. I have K-horns now, but I did a long run with RF-7's and about a half dozen different amps. I still do a lot of Classic Rock, but have been dabbling in Korn, Mudvayne, Chevelle, and some other hard driving stuff. My son bought my RF-7s, has a room a bit smaller than yours, and uses some M-60 Quicksilver monoblocks. These use the EL-34 output tube with 60 wpc. He listens to stuff like ICP. He wants more volume. I think you need at least 40wpc for what you want to do. If you can find a good price on a Jolida 302B, or better yet -- a 502B -- go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thasp Posted May 22, 2004 Author Share Posted May 22, 2004 40 watts more, smaller room, and 3 dB more efficient, and still not enough volume? Uhm... I can't find a tube amp with that much power for this price, so I doubt tubing would be good idea for me now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Thasp, You want buy USED. You should be able to land a mint 302B for $500. Most of us shop here: www.audiogon.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 20 wpc (or less) will blow you out of that room. No need to go higher if you can't afford it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 No Gary, it won't. He will have to use the 4 ohm taps, which will make the RF-5s four ohm, 96db/w speakers. Some of you have a strange understanding of what "blow you out of the room" means. I used to run RB-5s with a 200 wpc Luxman M117 power amp and Boston PV1000 sub. The living room was small, about 12 by 17 -- and I had no trouble emptying that amp out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thasp Posted May 22, 2004 Author Share Posted May 22, 2004 http://www.klipsch.com/assets/soundpressurechart.jpg According to this, 16 watts into RF-5 will be the same as about 128 watts into Paradigm Monitor or Studio speakers. Since I doubt 128 watts into those paradigms is so bad, I don't think 20 into the Klipschs would be either... Could I get it refurbished anywhere opposed to used? I guess I'd just feel better with fixed and repackaged gear with the parts replaced than just straight out used.. but I'll look into it. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Any Jolida you would buy off of Audiogon would only be a year or two old at the best -- what would there be to refurbish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 ---------------- On 5/22/2004 10:30:59 PM DeanG wrote: No Gary, it won't. He will have to use the 4 ohm taps, which will make the RF-5s four ohm, 96db/w speakers. Some of you have a strange understanding of what "blow you out of the room" means. I used to run RB-5s with a 200 wpc Luxman M117 power amp and Boston PV1000 sub. The living room was small, about 12 by 17 -- and I had no trouble emptying that amp out. ---------------- In a 10x11 room????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 "Some of you have a strange understanding of what "blow you out of the room" means. I used to run RB-5s with a 200 wpc Luxman M117 power amp and Boston PV1000 sub. The living room was small, about 12 by 17 -- and I had no trouble emptying that amp out." Gary, I think it's genetic,,,,,, and hopeless for old Deano. Dean says he's going to start wearing a condom over his head when he listens to Mudvane at 115Dbs. That way he won't get hearing aids!!! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 I'm a headroom kind of guy myself but can't believe 20 wpc isn't enough in a 10x11 room with 96db efficient speakers. Maybe I'm getting old and my idea of loud ain't what it used to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Well, like I said. That room is about the same size as my son's room -- and he's using RF-7s with 60 wpc. I go over there, and he takes the volume control knob on the AE-3 to the 12 o'clock position. It's loud all right -- but it sounds great. We're not talking Heritage here, or even RF-7s -- but RF-5s. Most of the power is used as headroom to cover dynamic peaks, and for whatever reason -- it's impossible to convince anyone here how fast something like 60 wpc can vanish covering bass transients. People need to quit thinking in terms of continuous power, because it has nothing to do with how amplifiers handle music. The same applies with those charts showing power and SPL -- they are somewhat misleading. At any rate, a 3 watt amp and a 30 watt amp can both reach ridiculously loud levels with our horns -- but the 30 watter will sound cleaner, more dynamic, livelier, and 'real' at most volume levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thasp Posted May 22, 2004 Author Share Posted May 22, 2004 ---------------- On 5/22/2004 10:30:59 PM DeanG wrote: I used to run RB-5s with a 200 wpc .. and I had no trouble emptying that amp out. ---------------- RB-5's POWER HANDLING: 150 watts maximum continuous (400 watts peak) For some reason, I doubt one can run 96 dB/watt efficient speakers at 50 watts over their continuous power handling rating in a small room and still not have enough volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 I listen at around 95 db most of the time -- unclipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thasp Posted May 22, 2004 Author Share Posted May 22, 2004 The Jolida stuff at audiogon is $120 above my price limit anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMcGoo Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 Dean has it right. You can listen at 1 watt, but then a 20 db transient in the bass frequencies comes along. The 20 db peak requires 100 times the power, i.e., 100 watts. Audio amplifiers are all about headroom. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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