Watts what exactly is the sound quality difference?

[Geoffcin]

What Geoffcin says is correct. I have a 70 watt per channel Adcom amplifier that sounds better at moderate to higher volumes than my 85 watt per channel home theater receiver.. And it goes louder! Figure that out!!!

There are some advantages to having more power. Bass frequencies are generally power hungry, musical spikes have more headroom, and there can be less distortion at louder volumes (but not necessarily). If an amp is well built and well designed though, watts won't necessarily make anything sound better.

As far as sound quality goes, well, some of the nicest sounding amps out there have less than 20 watts per channel, some less than 10 wpc even!!! And their plenty loud enough!

You're asking the right questions!

While I enjoy the sound of a low powered SET amp, they do have some caviates about using them, and with which speakers. On the other hand, if it's well made, even a 50 watt SS amp can change your idea about how much power you need to drive your speakers. With that being said, I have heard rumors about how good your speakers can sound when you hook them up to amps like the Musical Fidelity KW series. Of course no many of us have 100k to spend on amps, but you can see where I'm getting at; All things being equal MORE power is better!

What we really should be talking about is; What makes an amp "good" regardless of power, and where does the law of diminshing returns take hold.

[kexodusc]

Good point Geoffcin...I wasn't implying that less power is better, certainly not the case, I was trying suggest that the difference between a good 50 watt amp, and a good 100 watt amp isn't necessarily as much as you'd think...definitely NOT double the sound quality. Not even double the volume.

In fact, I'd probably take a 40 watt Arcam integrated amplifier over a 125 watt Marantz or Yamaha stereo receiver anyday.

[Geoffcin]

Good point Geoffcin...I wasn't implying that less power is better, certainly not the case, I was trying suggest that the difference between a good 50 watt amp, and a good 100 watt amp isn't necessarily as much as you'd think...definitely NOT double the sound quality. Not even double the volume.

In fact, I'd probably take a 40 watt Arcam integrated amplifier over a 125 watt Marantz or Yamaha stereo receiver anyday.

Yes, it's almost scary to compare a reciever with an intergrated, or seperate amp, of the same or even LOWER power. It leads you to think that the specs are useless to discribe sound quality, or even POWER?! Which in my view they are. This is at the heart of the posted question, and there's no easy answer for him.

[Smokey]

At typical average listening levels, speaker is probably demanding between 1-5 watts of RMS power (depending on the sensitivity of speakers). So even 10 watt amplifier seem to get as loud as 100 watt amplifier.

What set these two amplifiers apart is not how loud can they get, but rather how can they deliver momentary musics "peak" passages (that can reach up to 200 watt) at low distortion levels (i.e, THD%, S/N). So the more [reserve*] power your amplifier have, then it is better equipped to handle music power bursts.

*Reserve power is sometimes refer to as Dynamic Headroom of amplifier. So an amplifier with DH of 3 dB can [momentary] deliver twice its continuos [RMS] power.

[hershon]

I appreciate most of the responses here but most of them such as yours are not in plain simple English, nothing personal. What exactly will I hear in my ears differently if I'm playing a CD by a classic rock band like the who that feature guitar, bass, drums, lead vocals & backing vocals? Will there be more warmth, more clarity in the sound, more seperation, etc. - what exactly will I hear differently on a 600 watt system then a 200 watts system. Terms like peak passage low distortion level,lower db's, don't mean anything to me. I'm talking about hearing human differences not mathmatical technical differences.

Again I'm playing stuff at a loud but not too loud comfortable level in a normal size living room in an apartment. I don't hear any distortion at the level I play stuff at my 200 watts system. I would be playing the volume at the same loudness if I had a 600 watts system.

Thanks, I'm not trying to be mean or sarcastic as I do appreciate feedback but most of what I'm getting is not helpful as its not in plain simple English.

[vivisimonvi]

What exactly will I hear in my ears differently if I'm playing a CD by a classic rock band like the who that feature guitar, bass, drums, lead vocals & backing vocals? Will there be more warmth, more clarity in the sound, more seperation, etc. - what exactly will I hear differently on a 600 watt system then a 200 watts system. Terms like peak passage low distortion level,lower db's, don't mean anything to me. I'm talking about hearing human differences not mathmatical technical differences.

Sometimes technical explanations are necessary, when many people's perception of hearing are quite different from one another (what sounds one way to someone sounds completely different to another)... I'll admit I'm having trouble of defining something in "human" terms without the technical ones.

From your point of view, I will say there's too much technicality involved trying to explain how a 600 watt system sounds different to a 200 watt one, you MUST consider the other factors plain and simple... Perhaps you could visit an audio dealer and listen for yourself. You'll get REAL results, not what someone might tell you.

Although, my ears do LOVE the sound of tubes if that helps any (fuller, warmer, and sound better with bass [bass compression is it? ahh, too technical])... It could be a mental thing, how your mind perceives the way you hear things perhaps, and have nothing to do with the equipment whatsoever!! Too psychological for me...