A7 plus Amp. Power/Headroom

**mah** · August 17th, 2017, 09:07 PM

Alt-Audio

**valhallax** · August 17th, 2017, 11:33 PM

yes.. one watt is loud on my 210's..but no where near loud enough. I rarely have the time or patience to 'just sit there' and listen to music. and my speakers are just as loud anywhere in the house, and usually half way down the block. I cant imagine flea power having enough ass to generate the spl's I need. decibels up close in your 'lazy' boy may be fine, but get up and do anything, forget it . they call them loudspeakers for a reason.. let alone if you fill a room with people. sound reinforcement cant be done with one watt..lets get real here. and while 'built for studio' is good for some things, in the real world, a church auditorium full of folks needs more, and it needs to sound good

**magnarc** · August 18th, 2017, 05:39 AM

Thank you old guy for bringing logic and clarity to this discussion. Amp and speaker matching can be crucial!

**bowtie427ss** · August 18th, 2017, 10:53 AM

Thank you old guy for bringing logic and clarity to this discussion.

And dynamic scale back to reality.

There's a line in one of the worst movies ever made(Roadhouse) that expresses my occasional listening preferences very well.

Ben Gazzara to Jeff Healy "Play something with balls!" They actually use it in a spot on one of my area radio stations.

I don't think he was speaking of tennis or golf.

**LowOhms** · August 18th, 2017, 12:14 PM

You who post seem to not have any experience listening to either a Spectral DMA-200 or a Serious Stereo 2A3 ( 3 Watt ) amp. For the record, I have NO experience myself, with a Spectral BTW, but I know its great from reports I get, from people I respect.

A 3 Watt SET amp, such as THE one I am discussing, will TROUNCE any 100-400 Watt sold state amp on well wired ALTEC Speakers. It will easily outperform all other amps in its ability to do dynamics, and dynamic contrasting, IN TIME with the music. You just don't understand that, and, worst of all, you have never heard it.

Old Guy want facts. Fact is, the amp ( and a GPA 604 - demo ) I refer to, got a rave review at RMAF 2006 by Stephaen Harrell ( Six Moons ) and last year, was named as a " favorite room / demo at RMAF " by the highly unknown Stereophile Magazine, and the relative audio-new-comer to this scene, Herb Reichert.

The difference between Reichert and most of you Forum members was that Reichert was THERE to HEAR it, whereas most likely ALL of you guys .....are just guessing. Zilch for your listening experience.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Amps, not ALTEC speakers, are the weakest point.

Many posting in this thread should broaden their direct audio experience - and get better educated !! Come hear it, and audio-educate yourself. Its really NO CONTEST folks !!

I am potentially doing you a big favor, by telling you about such things, in clear, straight-forward terms. Some....will get it !!

This is much like what Todd White wrote, about this " educated " audio / speaker buyer, who ignored what he heard, after hearing it, and preferred JBL and its INability to do " S's" .... Except, its MUCH worse in this thread, the potential buyer at least had the chance to LISTEN, most of you are just guessing, with no listening. See my point??

A big amp, typically doesn't throttle down well on Altecs, and its always playing in the time of its negative feedback loops, and NOT in the time of the music. Its audible. If you are happy, satisfied with that, fine, good for you !!

Not me. Far better, more natural reproduction exists.

Jeff Medwin ..................( see , I sign my real name ).

**Old Guy** · August 18th, 2017, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by LowOhms

You guys who post seem to not have any experience listening to either a Spectral DMA-200 or a Serious Stereo 2A3 ( 3 Watt ) amp. For the record, I have NO experience myself, with a Spectral BTW, but I know its great from reports I get, from people I respect.

A 3 Watt SET amp, such as THE one I am discussing, will TROUNCE any 100-400 Watt sold state amp on well wired ALTEC Speakers. It will easily outperform all other amps in its ability to do dynamics, and dynamic contrasting, IN TIME with the music. You just don't understand that, and, worst of all, you have never heard it.

Old Guy want facts. Fact is, the amp ( and a GPA 604 - demo ) I refer to got a rave review at RMAF 2006 by Stephaen Harrell ( Six Moons ) and last year, was named as a " favorite room / demo at RMAF 2016 " by the highly unknown Stereophile Magazine, and the relative audio-new-comer to this scene, Herb Reichert.

The difference between Reichert and most of you Forum members was that Reichert was THERE to HEAR it, whereas most likely ALL of you guys are just guessing. Zilch for your listening experience.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Amps, not ALTEC speakers, are the weakest point.

Many posting in this thread need to broaden their direct audio experience - and get better educated !! Come hear it, and audio-educate yourself. Its really NO CONTEST folks !!

I am potentially doing you a big favor, by telling you about such things, in clear, straight-forward terms. Some....will get it !!

This is much like what Todd White wrote, about this " educated " audio / speaker buyer, who ignored what he heard, after hearing it, and preferred JBL and its INability to do " S's" .... Except, its MUCH worse in this thread, the potential buyer at least had the chance to LISTEN, most of you are just guessing, with no listening. See my point??

A big amp, typically doesn't throttle down well on Altecs, and its always playing in the time of its negative feedback loops, and NOT in the time of the music. Its audible. If you are happy, satisfied with that, fine, good for you !!

Not me. Far better, more natural reproduction exists.

Jeff Medwin ..................( see , I sign my real name ).

Jeff we have the experience it is you who does not. Open your tiny little closed mind.

You do nothing but insult anyone who disagrees with you. And you wonder why forums kick you out. I's obvious.

And I am tired of hearing you post misinformation while claiming to do a big favor. You are clueless.

**Elitopus1** · August 18th, 2017, 01:09 PM

I am not talking about what sounds best. That is 100% opinion. I am talking specifically about reproducing a snare drum at 130db. Can your speaker/amp combo do that?

Imagine a drumset in a room. Then the VOTT speakers next to the set. Someone pops a rimshot on the snare. Can the speakers reproduce that same sound level? A lot of it is amp dependent. The speakers can do it with enough power behind them.

**LowOhms** · August 18th, 2017, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Elitopus1

I am not talking about what sounds best. That is 100% opinion. I am talking specifically about reproducing a snare drum at 130db. Can your speaker/amp combo do that?

Imagine a drumset in a room. Then the VOTT speakers next to the set. Someone pops a rimshot on the snare. Can the speakers reproduce that same sound level? A lot of it is amp dependent. The speakers can do it with enough power behind them.

I see what you are asking me. Don, I honestly don't know if a 3 to 5 Watt Watt amp can do that. Be fun to try out.

I am sure, it doesn't matter to me IF the amp sounds artificial to my ears, playing back ALL of the remaining 99.99 percent of the program material.

My point is, the BEST sounding amps on ALTEC VOTTs and 604s will be low powered, have no out-of-time negative feedback loops, and operate with " centered " LINEAR voltage swings, under NORMAL listening conditions. Most of the time, we listen at 1/10th to 1/12th a Watt, and large solid state amps do very poorly when asked to deliver 1 Watt or less, they are out of THEIR " centered and linear " voltage swing operating points ", especially and particularly on 101 to 104 dB speakers, well wired.

Jeff

**LOUDER** · August 18th, 2017, 04:39 PM

Jeffrey go to your room and put 200 watts to your A-7 system ! As I respectfully requested you do in my last post to you. We don't "throttle down" with our Altecs. We make it larger than life or "LOUDER". You don't even have a set of big drivers and are making outlandish claims. Bi-amp those puppys just once and you'll see what the rest of us have experienced in life. Mahogany Rush @ Chippewa Lake "76 three 210's with 15 cells and ten cells per side. S.N.A.F.U. in Lodi Ohio '77 three 210's 15 cells 311-90-311-60 per side. '77 two 288-g's on a 10 cell, two 515 g in a 815 cabinet with a 421-lf per side showing off for the Altec rep. Your little pee-pee amp doe's not compare in any way, shape, or form. Get with the Altec formula and be a real contributor to this thread. Bi-amp them or bi-wire them. Then and only then will you have the real "Altec Experience" ! (Bad Jefferey !)

**bowtie427ss** · August 18th, 2017, 05:08 PM

I honestly don't know if a 3 to 5 Watt Watt amp can do that.

On a 288 or 291 high pass filtered at 400-500hz with an appropriate acoustic load in front of it, 3 to 5 watts can take you a good ways down that road, certainly you should be able to expect clean ~120db peaks. That's nothing to sneeze at.

Much of the magic is happening above that kneepoint anyway.

For me, hifi and most aspects of audio in general are a giant balancing act of compromise at nearly all levels. "Perfect" only exists in the associated personalities.