wab@reed.UUCP (Baker) (09/26/83)
I adhere to the "spend half on the speakers" theory of system construction. I started out by paying $300 for an old pair of Speakerlab 7's, then spending another $250 for a decent cartridge-turtable-amp combination. It sounds great, but I can't get the volume control past 9 o'clock without shaking the apartment building I live in. When I had this system set up in a place where I could play it loud without fear of complaints, I encountered an odd problem. When played at a sound level above normal but below the point of distortion, the midrange drowned out the bass. The Speakerlab people said that my modest amp (32 watts) just didn't have the power to drive the woofers. I can understand that since these have a 10" and a 12" woofer per cabinet, but I don't understand why. Is there any way I can get decent sound at high volume from my system without paying out the major bucks to buy a big amplifier? If I must, what price range am I looking at for a 200+ watt amp. Is it worth it to pay for the ritzy names like Hafler or Carver, or could I, as someone more interested in monster sound without distortion than precise imaging, survive with less thoroughbred machinery? I haven't seen much in net.audio about the big guns of a stereo rack. Bill Baker !tektronix!reed!wab