Does more power = better sound?

[justin240]

My father and I both own Klipsch setups. He has RB 81 speakers, RW10d sub, Marantz "PM7001 Integrated Amplifier" http://us.marantz.com/Products/1647.asp, and a Marantz cd player. I own RF62's, RW12D, Harman Kardon avr340 http://www.harmankardon.com/product_detail.aspx?Region=USA&Country=CA&Language=ENG&cat=REC∏=AVR%20340&sType=C, and a Pioneer DVD player. Now today I listened to both systems and I notice that my dads system does sound better (CD music comparisons), and the volume only needs to be 1/4 of the way up for the same volume as i'm getting 3/4 of the way up. I know the Marantz has 70w/channel and my hk has 55/channel. Now do you think his speakers are superior, or his amp, should I maybe look to upgrade my hk avr 340 for my setup. (Just want to win in this father son competition []

thanks

[jacksonbart]

I would express it this way; clipping = lousy sound.

[pauln]

Paul Klipsch based his speaker engineering on the idea that more power means more distortion.

[BigStewMan]

not saying i disagree; but, would tim the toolman taylor agree with us?

more power...arrrrrgggghhhh

[justin240]

well i usually listen to music at around -15, do you think my hk avr 340 is underpowering my rf 62's? Should i maybe stay with hk but just upgrade to a more powerful receiver?

[TBrennan]

Justin---The difference in power between the receivers is very small and not enough to account for the differences you hear. Something else is at work, I don't know what but I'm fairly certain it's not amplifier power.

[kelA]

Could very well be the room that is attributing to the better sound or lack thereof.

[Jay481985]

could be the fact the marantz has a linear volume knob while the hk uses logorithmic.

[justin240]

I would say that we both have very similiar listening environments, both hardwood floors and both very little sound absorption (if thats the right term) he even has a ping pong table set up in front of the speakers

How would volume control affect the sound quality?

Has anybody used the same make of receiver and just moved up in model and noticed a big difference in SQ?

[Jay481985]

linear means the volume moves in a normal movement.

logorithmic means that it moves exponential so the first say 70% of the dial is very small increments and then at the end it gets big

[ben.]

ITS THE PING PONG TABLE YO GO GET ONE OF THE SAME PING PONG TABLES SOME FOLKS CALLS IT TABLE TENNIS BUT I CALLS IT PING PONG

AS ROS RITCHIE SAYS ITS ALL ABOUT THE EARLY REFLECTIONS YO

[oldbuckster]

15 watts should not make a difference....................try some Heritage speakers.........you have enough power........Every one says HK's are under rated anyway, they put out more power than they are rated for.................

[consistent]

Hi, the 'first watt' is the most crutial. If distortion is there at low power then it will become worse or entice tampering by the builder by the time it reaches listening levels in any set up

cheers

[DrWho]

When it comes to amplifiers, more power does not equate to better
sound provided the amp with less power isn't clipping. And for what
it's worth, position of the volume knob mean absolutely nothing.

I didn't delve too much into the specs, but being an integrated
amplifier I think the Marantz has the advantage over your HK - simply
because it doesn't have as much circuitry and bells and whistles to
dirty up the sound. You should notice significant improvement by moving
to better amplification - I might recommend seperates, but that might
be a bit extreme considering the cost of your speakers.

If you really wanted to impress your dad, then you should try upgrading to the heritage series...[]

And
one last comment...you might try playing around with speaker position
and your subwoofer settings. You can introduce huge differences on the
sound by moving the speakers as little as a few inches...sames goes for
the sub.

What do you like more about your dad's setup than yours?

[Deang]

I'm with Ben, must be one special ping pong table.

[anarchist]

How much you have to turn up the volume control knob from receiver to receiver means little to nothing. Its like debating whether your car can go 200MPH because you only have the accelerator pushed down 1/4 at 55MPH. The question is at a specified volume (measured by a meter) how does your system sound compared to his? That qualitative analysis will lead you to improvements in either system. You should realize that we hear "better" sound automatically when comparing two systems if one is louder than the other - provided we haven't pushed the system past its limits.

[Fish]

The Marantz is a dedicated music player,the HK is multi purpose.I'd expect the Marantz to sound better on music with the same speakers.My experience has been avr's do a lot but don't excell at music,although certain models are better than others.The HK's are one of my favorite avr's for music(and for cheap) but can be inconsistant from one unit to the next.

[mark1101]

Swap amps with your dad for a few days and then see who's sytem sounds better. I agree with the above posts that the power ratings are too close to matter.

[JBryan]

All good advise so far ('cept I can't figure the 'Ping Pong' reference) ... you may also want to switch sources as your Pioneer may have an impedance mismatch with the HK. You dad's rig is all-Marantz so his are most likely better matched in that area. Also, check your connections and clean them if you haven't recently - it does make a difference. 

How about your cables and wires? I know, I know... to some, "wire is wire" but bad wires sound bad and such things as capacitance and impedance can have a noticeable effect on the signal. Geortz, Heartland, Bluejean and a dozen other companies offer very reasonably-priced (<$100) ICs and wires  - most with the specs listed so you can match them to your system. 

To answer your original question - No, more power doesn't necessarily sound better. Conversely, less power may not sound better either but GOOD, clean power almost always sounds good.

[Jay481985]

I'm with Ben, must be one special ping pong table.

maybe its that new three player pingpong table?