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funnyhat
04-06-2006, 07:33 PM
I am looking to replace my reciever with an integrated amp for my paradigm studio 20's, and am wondering how much power I need to properly drive them. Would a 40 watter like the Creek 4330 or 50 like the cambridge 540 or music hall 25.2 suffice, or should I look at models like the cambridge 640 and up? Any ideas greatly appreciated!

kexodusc
04-07-2006, 03:49 AM
I am looking to replace my reciever with an integrated amp for my paradigm studio 20's, and am wondering how much power I need to properly drive them. Would a 40 watter like the Creek 4330 or 50 like the cambridge 540 or music hall 25.2 suffice, or should I look at models like the cambridge 640 and up? Any ideas greatly appreciated!

How many watts you need to drive you speakers is really a function of how loud you want to play them in your room.
If you're within 10-12 feet of the speakers, you're probably only using about 1 watt to get the Studio 20's to play fairly loud (83-86 dB's on your speakers).

I used 40 watt NAD integrateds with my Studio 40's and that's plenty of volume for me. No problems getting loud. A good amp will have headroom above that for musical peaks anyway.

Some of the best amps ever made were low powered, less than 10 watts/channel.

Some people subscribe to the idea that more power means better sound. I don't myself, but there are advantages to having more power, and larger amps tend to handle heat much better (which might contribute to sound quality over time?). All things equal though, more power is always nice to have.

Easiest thing to do is try the amp with your speakers and decide for yourself.

funnyhat
04-07-2006, 07:25 PM
Would the cambridge a300 match ok with the paradigms? also, I am hoping to upgrade to the tyler reference monitor in the future, will amps such as the cambridge or the creek 4330 work well enough for those? Thanks for all tips!

kexodusc
04-08-2006, 04:44 AM
Would the cambridge a300 match ok with the paradigms? also, I am hoping to upgrade to the tyler reference monitor in the future, will amps such as the cambridge or the creek 4330 work well enough for those? Thanks for all tips!

I haven't heard the Paradigms with either of those amps, but based on my brief experiences with them and other speakers I feel confident they are far more than enough to drive either speaker you are looking at.

If you're worried about power, why not buy a used amp with more? It'll stretch your dollars a bit further.