How much wattage do you use, on average?

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b-rider

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Like many people, when I'm looking for used receivers (applies to amps also), I generally look to get the highest-powered version of what I'm looking for, whether I really need it or not. I think it's natural to do that.

But on my main vintage receiver, it has power meters, and at my normal listening level, thru pretty efficient speakers, I'm using UNDER 10 watts output, actually much less than that.

So how many of you are listening at, or utilizing, 30, 40, 50+ WPC?

And, if we're talking about vintage speakers, where some of the oldie acoustic-suspension variety sacrificed efficiency for low-end performance @ higher power inputs, if they recommend, say, 20w input, what happens when you drive them less than that?

Just trying to come to an understanding about the NEED for high power, vs the DESIRE for high power, vs a sustained "safe", enjoyable listening level.
 
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b-rider said:
Like many people, when I'm looking for used receivers (applies to amps also), I generally look to get the highest-powered version of what I'm looking for, whether I really need it or not. I think it's natural to do that.

But on my main vintage receiver, it has power meters, and at my normal listening level, thru pretty efficient speakers, I'm using UNDER 10 watts output, actually much less than that.

So how many of you are listening at, or utilizing, 30, 40, 50+ WPC?

And, if we're talking about vintage speakers, where some of the oldie acoustic-suspension variety sacrificed efficiency for low-end performance @ higher power inputs, if they recommend, say, 20w input, what happens when you drive them less than that?

Just trying to come to an understanding about the NEED for high power, vs the DESIRE for high power, vs a sustained "safe", enjoyable listening level.
Click to expand...

Many of use get by with single digit WPC that will chase you out of the room.

:beerchug:

Edit: I guess I should of added my speakers are mid 90’s sensitivity. And I do have 140wpc Available
 
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I have three amps the biggest watt wise has those LED lights to signify wattage and with the speakers I have its 2 watts of less for a adequate listening level and I am sitting over 10 ft away. The speakers have a lot to do with what you will use for a set loudness. The speakers are approx 92db . They are on the right the ones on the left are around 86-87db and require more power . Now if your buddies are coming over for a concert 2 watts isn't going to cut it...... hope this helps cheers.20200222_161600.jpg 20181216_132720_resized.jpg
 
For got to mention those watts do matter also ,the amp i am listening to most these days is a diy firstwatt by Nelson Pass the M2x is a pure class A and rated at 25 watts but with 176,000uf of capacitor bank in the power supply it is an eye opener. It is well matched to the big speakers and the clarity is fantastic.cheers 20200404_214017.jpg
 
If I want to avoid meeting my neighbors at my front door, I need to avoid peaks much beyond the mid 90's dB, and that translates into peak power of about 20 watts going into my speaker's lowest impedance point and more like 7 watts into it's 8 ohm region. My amps are 31 watts nominal and I rarely scratch the surface of what they can really do. When I have, it's a chair shaking, chest thumping, cupboard rattling, full body concussive assault on the senses. What need anyone has for a 250 watt amp in a residential setting is beyond my comprehension, unless their living room is actually a small auditorium. I think people think they need way more power than they actually use.
 
I am with the Chief, in my case I doubt that am using more than a watt. Having said that, I am using Klipsch Heresy - an efficient set of speakers with a 20WPC-rated receiver to play music material at around 65dBA measured at a location approximately ten feet away. Normally, I listen at much lower volumes, approximately 55dBA if having fun or less if working/studying.

I have heard that the distortions in higher power amplifiers have larger values at very low power, but cannot tell you if true as I personally have not investigated, just passing along what I have come across to in forum discussions.

There are two other reasons for having a high-powered receiver:

1. To be able to faithfully reproduce the loudest peaks in music material (which require more power for an instant)
2. Bragging rights

I am pretty confident that my twenty watt receiver would reproduce flawlessly all peaks at my listening levels. At higher levels it doesnt matter...to me it would be just painfully loud and will not be able to evaluate.

HTH

Best

Soundork

P.S.
 
I am pushing 775+ watts per channel @ 6ohms. Do I use it all? Never but I regularly am in the 70-80dB average when playing along live with my guitar and Marshall JVM 205H amp. Transient peaks are why having a lot of clean watts on demand is important to me. I never have to worry about distortion causing an issue and blowing drivers. First up to 20 watts are Class A, after that it switches to AB. I guess it all depends how loud you like it and how efficient your speakers are. Rule of thumb to me is at least double the power handling capacity of the speakers used. I use CV D9s which are rated for 400w and 102dB efficiency rating so my amp is overkill but it is safe badass overkill. I am no audio guru, this is just my opinion
 
I think the need for big amps is headroom. I don't have a wattage meter. I'm running a 60wpc Scott R75 into not very efficient AR-2a's. I can't turn this all the way up if SPL is the only measure. The need for wattage comes in with demanding pieces. High complexity classical and choral music takes a lot of power to play without clipping at any reasonable level. For example, this setup cannot play "Coward" from the Interstellar soundtrack at any adequate level. The low organ notes and the piano scales just eat the power. It clips and turns to mush. (Not good for tweeters.) Bigger filter caps help for quick transients, but not for a sustained signal. That requires a transformer and amp circuits that can handle that sustained demand.
 
Bigger is better....

Lots of headroom is a very good thing in my opinion. It's not about "using it all".....it's about having the clean power available for peaks.

I am talking about "normal" class AB amps. Not exotic class A amps with low wattage and a huge reserve in the power supply.
 
This is all about what I suspected, except the talk of transients and clipping kind of goes over my head, especially if I think of a SET volume level on the volume pot. Do these transients that require a lot of power REQUIRE a momentary 100%+ power reserve to be able to reproduce them cleanly?
And does higher WPC usually result in "cleaner" power at lower levels? Maybe I should read a textbook on this.
 
I look at watts like oxygen, money, and horsepower. I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

When I had Maggie 1.6's they sucked an 80 wpc NAD power amp dry and wounld up using a 200 WPC Rotel 991. Now running JBL L-26 Decades with a 30 wpc Marantz 2230 is, for my neds, perfect.
 
I'm pretty happy with my lower watt tube amps and speakers in the 90+db range. Normally I'm only pushing 2 to 3 watts anyway. If I want to get loud I fire up the big 35wpc amplifier. I do have SS power amplifiers, but don't use them much anymore.
 
How many watts on average do I use? Good question. I can't find a way to measure how many watts it takes to keep me going, but I once inadvertently grabbed a couple wires in each hand to complete a 110V AC circuit from an outlet box, and discovered that it was somewhat uncomfortably more than I strictly require for most tasks.
 
I have found that 35-50w of good tube power can drive my 86db 4ohm Thiel to pretty kick ass levels .
That being said , I have a couple ridiculous crest pro amps I modded to class a operation and a big SAE 501.
I can’t take too much over 90db for a long time, gets to be too much , I am pretty close to speakers but not extreme near field .
 
b-rider said:
This is all about what I suspected, except the talk of transients and clipping kind of goes over my head, especially if I think of a SET volume level on the volume pot. Do these transients that require a lot of power REQUIRE a momentary 100%+ power reserve to be able to reproduce them cleanly?
And does higher WPC usually result in "cleaner" power at lower levels? Maybe I should read a textbook on this.
Click to expand...

If you have music with high dynamic range, say 20dB peak above average level, that 20dB peak requires 100x the power of the average level to cleanly reproduce it. If you have a 20wpc amp playing at a average output of 1/2 watt and a 20dB peak comes along, guess what? You'd need at least a 50wpc amp to cover that peak. Now, that said, 20dB peaks are not all that common in contemporary music.

So, yeah, higher WPC may or may not result in cleaner playback at lower levels, it depends on several factors at play. There isn't really a strict yes or no answer that fits every case.
 
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