Quite often I get asked, so what are you listening to at the moment?
Well here’s an answer to that question, well kind of, the list is much longer in reality…
I hope you enjoy these wonderfully talented artists, some of whom will never be heard by many amongst the masses of commercial pop on the air waves.
So what are you listening to?
There has been plenty of best of lists going around the ‘interweb’ in the past few weeks… this got me thinking, what is my top 9 of 09?
Here it is:
#9 Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
This album definitely took a few listens and for me its not one where I sit down and make it through the whole thing.. but there are great moments and My Girls is epic!
I’ve only had this album a week or two and heard many friends raving about it, in fairness I need to give it more time and if I had it could well have made it higher up this list. A great debut, watch out for what these guys do next.
Noble Beast was my first introduction to singer songwriter Andrew Bird, I found myself listening to this album over and over, its a great recording and collection of songs and Bird’s voice is wonderful.
“A very modern mixture of prayers, love letters and personal record keeping” is how lead singer Finn Andrews described The Veils finest offering to date, outstanding song writing. Check out this nice little short film about the band and the album. Made in NZ. Love it.
The much hyped and anticipated Wilco album, I must admit I didn’t use to be a Wilco fan but after seeing Jeff Tweedy and the boys live at the seven worlds concert I was converted. I still find ‘Sky Blue Sky’ boring but this album is great, some fun catchy tunes and Tweedy’s voice has never sounded better.
#4 Lady of the Sunshine – Smoking Gun
Angus Stone steps out into a side project with fantastic results, a great album that I’ve thrashed. If you’re a fan of Angus & Julia Stone, grab this, if you’re not do it anyway.
#3 Dimmer – Degrees of Existence
Shayne Carter has been working hard and the results have paid off. One of my favourite NZ artists and another solid album. I wasn’t sure on the single ‘Degrees of Existence’ at first so if this is all you’ve heard, listen to the rest of it. ‘Too far gone to care’ is genius.
Black Keys front man Auerbach steps out on his own and delivers a great album, making the #1 spot for Amazon’s best of 09. A great raw sound and his musical talent shines through.
#1 Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadues Phoenix
Wow. Ok I’ve always been a Phoenix fan but this album blew me away, especially after their last mediocre effort. ‘1901′ has to be my favourite track of the year. Its not the longest album around but its solid. It works as an album start to finish, you listen to the whole thing each time you put it on. Its fun, its recorded well and my subwoofer loves it 
In terms of singles of the year, Moth Wings by Passion Pit and Sweetest Disposition by The Temper Trap are worthy of a mention as is My Girls by Animal Collective… but as mentioned above 1901 by Phoenix gets my vote.
Well there you have it, what are your picks?
Last night was a great night out and everyone including the boys from Pearl Jam was having a great time. It is evident the band has moved on from its angsty days and the performance and set list reflected this. Vs is quite an angst filled (but brilliant) album and there wasn’t too many songs off this album that made it into the set list. There were quite a few songs off backspacer and these live had more energy and were great – it might make me enjoy the album more after seeing them live! Highlights for me were Black, Given to Fly, Yellow Ledbetter and Rocking in the Free World – all of which would be on the set list if I had picked it… No Alive, no Go, and missing some other big hits, some might be disapointed but not this punter, definitely got my moneys worth. ‘Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a small town’ was for “anyone from Te Awamutu” and Vedder’s voice had never sounded better, singing “its been 11 years” (since they last played in NZ) saw a cheer from the crowd.
Ben Harper joined the stage to play slide guitar on Red Mosquito, here’s some of it shot from my phone.. so err excuse the quality:
At the beginning of the second encore, Vedder invite up “Uncle Neil” and son Liam and the played a Not Given Lightly by Chris Knox. This was a special treat for everyone with Neil prefacing the song “He’s still here, we are all blessed for that, lead us off son” referring to Knox’s recent stroke – support Chris by buying Stroke – Songs for Chris Knox.
In terms of the sound of the show, it was pretty good. I was sitting off to the side in the lower stand and quite an angle and there you got a little too much guitar but Eddie’s vocals were powering through and could be heard clearly over the band. My only complaint would be the bass could be a little louder, as could the drums – at least the Kick Drum. Oh and my ears are still ringing the next morning… ear plugs next time.
Brendan is right: (This blog is off to a good start – Brendan) Some audiophiles buy certain CD’s because it makes their system sound good. I am one of those but I have an excuse, I am in the business, so I need those type of CD’s to demo the systems to clients in the best possible way.
There is another positive to this, in hunting down these special recorded CD’s I sometimes come across amazing new material that I would never know existed because is not popular main stream music. Discovering these artist opens up doors into other worlds of music experiences.
OK, my 10, Hmm only 10 albums that is very tough! There are so many choices? Where do I begin? Ok right let’s start from the begining where it all started in the early 70’s..
In no particular order of quality:
Pink Floyd – Dark side of the moon (1973)
Favourite songs: Us and Them, actually, the whole album, a masterpiece of recording engineering and music that still stood the test of time 36 years later!
Yello - Stella (1985)
Favourite songs: Vicious games, Oh Yeah. Clinically clean recordings with very tight and super fast punchy bass
Dire Straits – Brothers in arms (1985)
Favourite songs: Everything on this album. One of the great male voices of our time. This can test the richness of your system’s midrange with crystal clear guitar notes to test your tweeters to the limit… a favourite demo CD of Hifi shops for many moons and even today.
Leonard Cohen – Essentials
Songs of his whole amazing career from early 70’s to his resent 2009 tour. Too many favourite songs, his unique deep voice test the realism of any system.
Toni Childs – Keep the faith (2008)
Favourite songs: Dream That we Dream of and When it’s All Said and Done. To me one of the most unique female voices. This can paint a 3d picture of her in your room, definitely goose bump stuff.
Jacques Loussier - Plays Bach (2006) ,,
Favourite songs: All the tracks. A must for classical Jazz demos. The kick drum, piano and bass guitar work is the most realistic sounding on any CD I have heard. It’s like you are there.
Stanley Clarke – The Toys of Men (2007)
Favourite Songs: Jerusalem, most delicate clear treble you can find. All Over Again, bass guitar work that will stun you.
Fourplay – The Best of Fourplay
Favorite songs: Chant, Bali Run and Between The Sheets. A combo CD of the great hits of the famous four Jazz players; Bob James on Keyboards, Piano, Lee Ritenour guitars, Nathan East bass guitarist and Harvey Mason drums. Excellent detail recordings that will test the whole frequency range of your system, from the deepest bass to rich midrange and crystal clear top end.
Air – Pocket Symphony (2007) (Brilliant Choice Tiens, I’m jealous I didn’t have it on my list – Brendan)
Favourite songs: Photograph, One hell of a party. Crystal clear recording with very accurate bass lines.
Tiesto – Elements of life (2007)
Favourite songs: Do you feel me? fast punchy bass. Elements of life, fast punchy bass very complex rhythms to test the speed and control of your system.
So again, what is your Top 10? We’d love to hear from you and maybe you can introduce us into some new music.
There’s two types of audiophiles in this world. People that like music to make their system sound good and people who like a system that makes their music sound good.
I definitely fall heavily into the second category. If the music I’m listening too is rubbish, I don’t care if the treble extends beyond what I can hear and the imaging sounds out of this world. Ok songs like these a great for showing off, but do you ever sit down and listen to the entire album (or even get through one track!) when listening to this type of music??
Ok enough about that, you get it, for me its music first, reproduction second, well kind of, you can’t have one without the other.
So what about the other group, the music lovers who want their music to move them, to transform them out of their living room and feel like their getting their own private performance by Ryan Adams. This is what its about for me.
So after saying all that here’s a list that will keep people in both groups happy. These are all amazing albums in their own way, some quite different from each other (so if you like one artist here don’t assume you will like them all!) but I consider these to be my current Top 10 ‘Audiophile’ Albums. I’ll get Tiens to put his list together as well, although I think he will struggle even more than I did to keep it to 10 albums.
In no particular order:
Sun Kil Moon – Tiny Cities
Favourite Songs: Tiny Cities Made of Ashes, Four Fingered Fisherman, Ocean Breathes Salty
Ryan Agams – Love is Hell
Favourite Songs: Political Scientist, Please Do Not Let Me Go, The Shadowlands, World War 24
Radiohead - Kid A
Favourite Songs: Everything in its Right Place, Kid A, In Limbo
Josh Rouse – Home
Favourite Songs: Laughter, Marvin Gaye, 100m Backstroke
Angus & Julia Stone – Chocolate & Cigarette’s
Favourite Songs: Mango Tree, Paper Aeroplane, Babylon
Ben Harper – Welcome to the Cruel World
Favourite Songs: Whipping Boy, Forever, How Many Miles Must We March
SJD - Southern Lights – Pic ‘n’ Mix Edition
Favourite Songs: The Place is Surrounded, The Witness (Phelps & Munro Remix), Track (James Duncan Remix)
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Favourite Songs: Listomania, 1901, Rome
Sigur Ros – Takk
Favourite Songs: Hoppipolla, Saeglopur, Se Lest
Dave Matthews – Some Devil
Favourite Songs: Dodo, Trouble, Stay or Leave
What do you think? Do I have bad taste in music? Do I need new ears because these sound rubbish compared with real “Audiophile” music? What is your Top 10?
A new model that builds on the same principles 
used on all the other MJ Acoustics subs. Enter the Pro 55 Mk1 Subwoofer.
MJ Acoustics is world famous for their small miracle musical subs, but the Home Theatre (HT) guys wanted more “Bang” so MJ Acoustics was faced with the dilemma of how to build a HT sub that can still sounds musical as well. This is not and easy task because you need a different approach for each and this is not generally understood by the ‘man in the street’ or even by “reviewers” in Hifi magazines. It is understandable that some of these reviewers have a personal view of what products are good and what are bad. Many people also believe that this is driven by how much a company is prepared to spend on advertising in the magazine. Beware of these types of magazines. You can spot them easily; they do not back their reviews with scientific measurements and proof.
The problem is the uninformed ‘man in the street’ relies on these “experts” for guidance. A bad review can rob them from the opportunity to experience the products for themselves. A few years back we use to go and listen to the products ourselves and compare that to others in the market. Not any more, it’s much easier to just “surf the net” for info. There in lies the danger: you rely on others (with their own personal taste) to make the decisions for you which can leave you unhappy.
A good example is the case of the new MJ Acoustic Pro 55 Mk1 Subwoofer: below is my first notes that I wrote for the importer and I later found a review in a British Hifi magazine “The world’s No 1 home entertainment magazine” (their slogan not mine). They reported some aspects completely different to what I have experienced. There were no scientific measurements unlike some of the better known British and USA magazines. So I was very surprised how is this possible?
The debate of honest and unbiased reviews are as old as Hifi itself and it stuns me sometimes that cheaply made horrible sounding units get 5 stars and other well made units that use scientifically proven methods only get a few stars. Makes you wonder what value these reviews have other than trying to boost a cheaply made product of a big company with a huge advertising budget. Compared to well made honest products of small companies that try to make the best product they can for your money and using the advertising money to actually build a much better product.
Its scary how we rely too much on advertising rather than our own judgement, not only in what we buy, but also in what we do everyday – what we eat, even what we think. I am from the old school and do not buy into this. I use mostly commonsense and then further study aspects of these senses to help me in making informed decisions on what is important for me and what is not. The end result is far more enjoyable than just having something that another guy told you to have. So let us revisit the commonsense and scientific principles of what is important in choosing a sub for music and/or home theatre? This is covered in our Subwoofer FAQ’s, but I thought I’d repeat it here as it seems appropriate.
To get the best advice in life you have to go to a specialist. If you are feeling ill you go to a doctor but if you are really sick, or need an operation, you have to go to specialist. A specialist is just that: a specialist in his area of expertise. So is it with everything in life, if you need the best bed you go to a bed specialist store. If you need the best sub you must go for a specialist sub builder. There are only a handful of these companies in the world today that can be called a sub building specialist, MJ Acoustics is one of them.
The following 6 principles can guide you in making a choice for the right sub for your needs.
1. Build Quality: The best subwoofers are the ones that are designed and manufactured in their home country, ideally in their own factories, with their own dedicated staff, not in a far off country were they pay the poor workers peanuts and expect them to be proud of their work, it will not happen… ever.
2. Brand Pedigree: The brand must also have a “pedigree”, that is it must stood the test of time.
3. Driver Size: The simple key to produce more bass is” The bigger the driver the better and the quality go hand in hand with the weight of the sub. The basic physics of bass sound is to move air at low frequencies. The more air you want to move (for good bass) the bigger the driver you need. To design a good small sub is a very challenging engineering job and a hot topic nowadays, but its not easy and its expensive.
4. Design Principles: There are basically 3 types of sub designs:
5. Driver Placement: Another important factor is the placement of the driver. These are very heavy units with huge magnets and it makes sense to fit them in a down-firing way to support themselves. This also has the added advantage of using nature own force, the gravitational force, to help pull the driver down on the start and damp it on the backward movement. This is Ideal for a fast tight bass without the dreaded overhang. It also remove the necessity to turn your big driver (on front firing subs) every few years at 180 degrees to compensate for the dragging force on the driver’s rubber surround and voice coil. The driver also fires at right angles to the main speaker’s drivers making correct phasing and placement in the room less critical.
Now let us see how the MJ Acoustics PRO 55 MK1 sub fits against the above principles.
So, it ticks all the boxes… the question then “Is the MJ Acoustics Pro 55 Mk1 a ‘Best of both worlds’ sub suitable for Music and HT?”
This is my notes I wrote the John, the NZ importer of MJ Acoustics subs, when I first auditioned this sub.
Hi John,
I now had the opportunity to listen to this new model. What and interesting and very enjoyable day! My immediate thought was – this is good stuff!
I listened to the new Pro 50 Mk1 first as a musical sub with my ProAc Reference 8 small bookshelf speakers, again I heard the same unmistakably unique MJ Acoustic characteristic sound that underpins all MJ Acoustics subs this really separates all of them from the rest of the subs from other brands… clean, tight, fast bass with slam and bass weight, yet still able to reproduce subtlety and detail. The Pro 55 mk1 has heaps more of everything! even at low volumes. As the volume is turned up, the Pro 55 mk1 continues to shine… it just keeps getting louder, yet the sound still remains tight, detailed and controlled, even at very loud levels…fantastic! Why do you need big floor-stander speakers and big amps at huge cost to drive them if you can get the same, no better! With this combo at a 1/10 of the price?
“But wait there is more!” I took the Pro 55 Mk1 down to the home theatre room and invited my wife to come and listen as well (we love to listen to live recorded musical DVD’s). I set it up basically using the same settings as for music and we started the show… we looked at each other and I could see the disbelief in her eyes, we were shocked! We know that track so well, yet we were hearing bass detail that we have never heard before. I turned its volume up another notch and the power and massiveness of the bass thumped at our chests… we heard things like double bass… different types of bass… different types of slam… totally separate of one another… not a single rumble of all instruments stuffed together like with most subs. I turned up the main volume of my AVR and we sat back and listened track after track, we could not stop; we did not want to turn the volume down because it was all sheer enjoyment and when it all stopped, we felt a bit disappointed and a few seconds later I realised what it was… we wanted an encore!
I only ever heard this quality of bass with my $4000 Jamo D6, $5500 Paradigm Servo 15 (both 15″ bass drivers at many times the power) & the bigger MJ models… The MJ Acoustics Pro 55 Mk1 must be the best bargain in Subwoofer History! Suitable for both Music and Home Theatre… how does the saying go? “Yes MJ.. Has done it again”.
1. WOW the boxes are small, but wait… its heavy that is a good sign… it means proper drivers with proper magnets, a solid cabinet of solid built and heavy duty terminals.
2. Open the first box, Ah hah!! New packaging… I like that, much simpler to repack one day when you move. Wow the speaker looks stunning, the size is spot on, the finish is some of the best I have seen apart from Paradigm’s signature series and yes everything looks and feels solid. I like the real wood cherry finish, real wood finish is very rare now a days. Yes this looks very classy… even the detail on the back with speaker’s terminals, class and more class… mmmm… much shallower than the previous studio 60 model. I am a bit worried though, is it going to sound thin?
3. Took one grill off and look at the drivers…nice. Nice solid aluminum mounting plates, yes quality. The new midrange driver, I touch it with the back of my hand… yes it’s an aluminum driver… aaagh no!! A dummy phase plug on the mid driver… WHY? will come back to that in a minute.
4. Hook them up – both grills off (I always do that with testing, the more naked and clear the speakers stand from any surroundings, the least they can hide something) – I am always nervous when testing a new speaker with my favorite testing track Toni Childs’ track “when all is said and done” from her new album “Keep the Faith“ I saw here live in Auckland recently and thus know how her voice sound in real life. The richness and clarity of her unique strong voice is a true test for any midrange and if that is not right in a speaker then no matter how good the rest is, its never going to impress me. This time I decided to play it first because that dummy phase plug worries me! I insert the CD and set the amp to my normal listening level (not too loud because then you will mask the problems of a speaker) I know this track so well on so many speakers of so many price brackets and? a sigh of relief… I sit back and listen… I seldom smile when listening… but I could not help myself… yes Tiens you jump to conclusions too fast, her voice sounds rich and clear, close to my $25K reference speakers just not at the same scale but that is to be expected. Yes I like that, no longer am I thinking about the dummy phase plug I will never see it again!
5. Something else caught my attention, their is an air around her voice and her guitar sounds crystal clear. I hardly noticed this before it must be the aluminum G-Pal tweeter I think, concentrating on that confirmed that that was indeed the case. Now I am hooked, this tweeter extends the top end to unheard of heights and instruments sounded a little more free in air and distinct not the squeezed in and ringing of most other metal dome tweeters from other rival speakers.
6. Ok, I can’t wait to test the bass, that slim line shallow cabinet has got my teeth on each other… sheeesh.. I wonder? Ok I know it’s not ‘run in’ but what the heck I am going to do it, out comes TIESTO’s “Elements of Life” a mixture of electronic dance music with fast tight slam bass and deep rumble bass now and then and with incredible complex fast passages of treble and mids. A true test of speed and attack and bass in all its forms, first track YES! third track YES! I skip to the last two tracks where everything happens in all their glory, YES and YES… I LIKE THESE SPEAKERS A LOT!
I think I got myself a new favorite speaker under $4000! The first time in 10 years that I made that decision in ONE day… gee whizz… I hope I was not dreaming when I will play these incredible speakers tomorrow! SOUND, LOOKS, SIZE and PRICE its all there!
- Tiens
PS: On this last CD I noticed the mid driver can move a lot unusually so… I checked the web of Paradigm for any clues. This is a totally new driver made by them for the new Studio 60 and the new entry level Studio 10 speaker (the smallest speaker ever in the Reference Studio range) At the back of the driver there is a 1.5″ (more than 3cm) voice coil! basically unheard off for a mid driver – so 1cm movement to the front and 1cm movement to the back of that driver is an easy feat! They use this driver to help with the bass as well in a 2 1/2 way design rather than a 3 way, clever… that is why I was so surprised by the amount of bass coming from these slim line Studio 60 speakers. The other two speakers in the studio range, the Studio 20 and Studio 100 use the original 7″ drivers from the previous models (with a real phase plug), just in the new superb rounded cabinets finished in real wood. The size of the cabinets is about the same size as the previous models. The Studio 10 and Studio 60 are completely new models, much smaller, more minimalist style, with a huge WAF!! (Wife acceptance factor) In fact I think it is the most beautifully designed and finished speakers at their price points in the market today and with sound to boot as well… it can only be a winner. See the full details and images of each model in the new studio range below.
PPS: Can’t wait to get our hands on the Studio 10 and 20’s, partner these with a Musical Subwoofer and that will be something special.
We were always fans of the 640 Series from Cambridge Audio, and it seems Cambridge Audio has created another range which is sure to gain 5 Star reviews across the world. The 650 series have already been awarded 5 Stars by What Hifi and we are sure there will be many more to come.
The new 550 and 650 series feature a new style for Cambridge Audio, Brushed Alumium rather than the previous anodised coatings. The new range looks stunning and takes the famous Cambridge sound to another level while maintaining a competitive price point. The new range is made up of the following:
Azur 650a Integrated Amplifier
Azur 650c CD Player
Azur 550a Integrated Amplifier
Azur 550c CD Player
Azur 550t Tuner
Our pick would be the 650c with either amp depending on the size of your speakers with the matching 550t tuner if required.
Contact us for an audition, bring your current speakers and the new Cambridge series will let them shine.
**Updated**
Here’s a nice product video from Cambridge Audio
You don’t often hear people talking about old music. Its always “have you heard the latest…” or “I just got the new…. album”, which don’t get me wrong is a great thing. Discovering new albums and hearing bands progress over time compliments what music is about. But not this post. I was in Real Groovy this week and as well as some new music I picked up some great old stuff for next to nothing.
It got me thinking about classis albums that I would never trade…. (I should probably never say never but….)
Here’s what I thought were classic albums from my collection, classic for a number of reasons, a lot of the time it was the artists break through album, sometimes their debut, other times just a dam fine collection of songs.
Badly Drawn Boy – About a Boy
Band of Horses – Everything All The Time
Basement Jaxx – Remedy
Beastie Boys – Ill Communication
Beck – Odelay
Ben Harper – Welcome to the Cruel World
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Howl
Blur – Parklife
Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
Coldplay – Rush of Blood to the Head
Counting Crows – August and Everything After
Damien Rice – O
David Gray – White Ladder
Death Cab for Cutie – Plans
Dimmer – You’ve Got to Hear the Music
Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms
Doves – Lost Souls
Elbow – Asleep in the Back
Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape
Groove Armada – Vertigo
Ian Pooley – Since Then
Jeff Buckley – Grace
John Coltrane – Blue Train
Josh Rouse – Home
Jurassic 5 – Quality Control
Killers – Hot Fuss
Kings of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak
Lemon Jelly – Lost Horizons
Massive Attack – Blue Lines
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
Moby – Play
Nightmares on Wax – Carboot Soul
Norah Jones – Come Away with me
Oasis – What’s the Story Morning Glory
Pearl Jam – Ten
Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon
Portishead – Dummy
Powderfinger – Oydessey Number Five
Prince – Diamonds & Pearls
Prodigy – Fat of the Land
Pulp – Different Class
REM – Automatic for the People
Radiohead – The Bends
Red hot Chilli Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Ryan Adams – Love is Hell
SJD – Southern Lights
Shihad – The General Electric
Sigur Ros – Agaetis Byrjun
Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
Sola Rosa – Solarized
Soundgarden – Super Unknown
St Germain – Tourist
Sun Kil Moon – Ghosts of the Great Highway
Supergrass – In It For The Money
Supergroove – Traction
The Black Seeds – On the Sun
The Chemical Brothers – Dig your own hole
The Strokes – Is this it
The Verve – Urban Hymns
The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
Thievery Corporation – Mirror Conspiracy
Travis – The Man Who
Turin Brakes – The Optimist
U2 – The Joshua Tree
Zero 7 – Simple Things
Ok so there is a bit of a mix there and will have missed some classics without a doubt….
What is in your collection that you consider to be a classic?
I want to double my listening level so I need an amp of double my amp’s power, right?
Wrong, you are in for a disappointment when you upgrade your 100w amp to a 200w amp… you will only hear a small increase in output level! You need about 10x the power to double the sound level, so in fact you need a 1000w amp! And 1000w amps are unheard off in the domestic market! Luckily these sort of sound levels are seldom important for quality music listening but it can be important if you want the ‘real’ cinema experience in your dedicated Home Theatre (HT) room.
The problem is the relationship between POWER and SOUND OUTPUT LEVEL (loudness) is not linear that means if you double the power you will not get double the loudness.
Power is measured in watts (a unit of energy) and Loudness is measured in decibels (dB). A “deci”-”bel” means 1/10 of a bel (a unit of sound named after the inventor of the telephone Graham Bell). The human ear can hear an amazing wide range of sound levels so wide that in fact you have to describe it in terms of a logarithmic scale. On this scale 0dB means complete silence and 140 dB means the threshold of ear pain. For instance a whisper is about 20db where background noise in an office is about 60db, a full orchestra can go up to 100 db and a live rock concert up to 120dB. A jet engine flying over your head is about 140dB. The human ear can pick up changes of about 1dB and an increase of about 10dB is about twice as loud. So it’s interesting to note that a 200w amp can only produce about 3dB more loudness than a 100w amp and that is not much more than the 1dB possible difference detectable by your ears. So its not a surprise that you hardly hear much more sound output when you change your 100w amp for a 200w amp!! ..so if your local sales person tells you this 120w amp will go much louder than your existing 100w amp, ignore that you will hardly hear any difference.
It is interesting to note that this 3dB increase is only a drop in the ocean compared to the 0 dB to 120db you can get at a live rock concert this is why it is basically impossible to reproduce the “live sound experience” in your HT room!
So what should I do if I need more sound output level and cannot afford a 1000w amp?
Fortunately there are two other options here that you can consider:
1. You can go for 4 ohm speakers but make sure your amp can handle this. You roughly need twice the power to drive an 8 ohm speaker to the same sound level as a 4 ohm speaker of the same sensitivity. So with a 100w amp you will get the same sound level output from a 4 ohm speaker as a 200w amp out of a 8 ohm speaker.
2. The second option is to go for more sensitive speakers. The sensitivity of normal speakers today varies between 86 db and 92 db (horn loaded speakers can typically go to 100 db or more). It’s generally the norm that for each 3 db increase in sound level output you have to double the amp’s power. Say your amp is 100 w and your speaker’s sensitivity is 87 db. If you change the speakers to 90db sensitive speakers (not expensive to get) you will get the same output level as a 200w (very expensive) amp into your old 87db speakers. 200w amps are basically non existing in the HT market except at the very high-end of $10000! So it’s a huge cost saving by going for the 90db sensitive speakers.
So the moral of the story is: if you are looking for HT gear for loud output levels look at a HT receiver than can drive 4 ohms speakers and go for speakers of high sensitivity of at least 90 db. Luckily these come only at a small premium in price. Avoid cheap speakers as they are generally not of high sensitivity and cheap amps cannot drive 4 ohms speakers.
This is not the place to warn you about these models. Just scan the internet forums for these issues and you will be shocked to learn that most popular brands you see in your local shops are just that… not suitable for even the average HT setup. Sadly once you part with your money…their is no return. I have seen so many clients burning their fingers on these popular mass market products because they are “a bargain” and “look so good on paper”. That is the reason why you will not see those Brands on our site. Spend a little bit more and you will be satisfied.
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