[Paullb]

Hello everyone,

checking out passives and this is my first post . I searched but couldn't find this particular question. How important is amplifier input sensitivity, by that I mean volts input needed to reach rated output. The technical specs on the system seem good except that the amplifier I have in mind is 2 volts RMS to reach rated output rather than say 1.0. How much of a difference does this make? Thanks.

[tortugaranger]

Hello everyone,

checking out passives and this is my first post . I searched but couldn't find this particular question. How important is amplifier input sensitivity, by that I mean volts input needed to reach rated output. The technical specs on the system seem good except that the amplifier I have in mind is 2 volts RMS to reach rated output rather than say 1.0. How much of a difference does this make? Thanks.

I can recall only one instance where a customer could not make the Tortuga passive work with his system for reasons related to your question. He had a low wattage tube amp (3-5 watts as I recall) running into low-medium efficiency speakers. I do not recall what his primary source was but it had nominal line stage output voltage. The bottom line was he needed additional gain to get sufficient volume so his only option was an active preamp with gain....or a new amp...or high efficiency speakers.

With nominal line stage output of 1.5-2.0 V and typical amp sensitivities where the amp has say 20 watts or more power you won't have any problem with our passives. Plenty of head room. Even with tube amps like a 300B with 8 watts output you won't have any problem assuming you run into reasonably high efficiency speakers.

[Paullb]

Thanks. I didn't think it would be as much of a problem as impedance issues or simply not having enough gain. The amplifier has 23 db of gain and a stout 60 Watts. It has any effect at all, I imagine it would be to make the amplifier marginally less powerful but that's not an issue with my speakers and listening habits.

Paul

PS: why would somebody try to drive medium sensitivity speakers with a 5 W amplifier and a passive pre?

[tortugaranger]

Thanks. I didn't think it would be as much of a problem as impedance issues or simply not having enough gain.

For all the discussion around impedance issues (mismatch etc.) it's been very rare for any of our customers to have a genuine impedance problem with our passives.

PS: why would somebody try to drive medium sensitivity speakers with a 5 W amplifier and a passive pre?

Everyone starts somewhere and we learn from there...hopefully! The one thing about audio for me is the more I learn the less I know I know.