[95Dyna]

I posed this question nine months or so ago.  Thinking their might be more experience out there since then thought I'd throw it out there again.  I replaced my difficult load speakers for which I bought the 7's eight years ago with much easier to drive Focal Sopra 2's (91db sensitivity, 8 ohm nominal and 3.6 ohm minimum). In this scenario would I realize the improved sonic benefits of the cubed series over the squared series amps without any compromise from the power decrease?

Thanks in advance for any input.

[CanadianMaestro]

^  I'm of the mindset that more power is better, especially as I like peace of mind as far as possible speaker/room upgrades go.

Audition the 4B3 if possible. Then decide.

p.s. there are always those brief moments in many recordings when I'm glad I have my 14B2 with oodles of reserve power. (My speakers are 6-ohms nominal, 90 dB sens., but I know they still need that push when challenged with some types of music). Many underestimate their speakers based on specs.

[bud1451]

I did order a 4b3 to replace my 14bst, should arrive within the next few weeks. The amp will be powering my Model T speakers....hopefully I made the right decision 

[Rod_S]

My take on it is unless there was a design flaw with the SST2's in a blind test you couldn't hear a difference between a Cubed and SST2 so my preference would always be more power. Plus since you already have the 7's it doesn't cost you anything. I'm not sure price wise if you would come out ahead or behind financially if you sold the 7's for a 4. The 3 practical upsides I see is one 4 takes up less space then 2 7's, it'll consume less power thus cheaper to operate and since there is only one output less heat into the room.

[CanadianMaestro]

^ Do the 7B's heat up that much?

My 14B2 never gets hot -- just comfortably warm, even at high dB levels.
Now my BHA-1 headphone output, OTH....

[Rod_S]

No I don't think I ever encountered my 7's actually hot, definitely warm though which still contributes to heating up the room. Now my 28's, that's a different story, they have gotten very warm to hot and they aren't even racked but out beside my speaker. Granted I have one sitting on top of the other do to space limitations and length of cable so that contributes to the heat build up. What I started doing some time ago was I always have a fan blowing air over them and now they run cool to ever so slightly warm.

[CanadianMaestro]

^ I trust your fan is a silent one -- I hate the slightest hum or noise when listening to music. I had a slightly creaky pocket drive (attached to BDP-1) that occasionally creaked when loading files during playback. It annoyed me but I replaced it with a newer drive that's now silent running off a powered hub.

[turnovertherecord]

I posed this question nine months or so ago.  Thinking their might be more experience out there since then thought I'd throw it out there again.  I replaced my difficult load speakers for which I bought the 7's eight years ago with much easier to drive Focal Sopra 2's (91db sensitivity, 8 ohm nominal and 3.6 ohm minimum). In this scenario would I realize the improved sonic benefits of the cubed series over the squared series amps without any compromise from the power decrease?

Thanks in advance for any input.

I was using 2 3bsst`s to drive 2 FS-788 speakers in bridge and bi amp
Sold amps
Now using the 4B3,,spec. out at 332 amps into 8 ohms as per sheet

I am very pleased with results

[tie_breaker]

Before I sold my SST2 amps, I owned both the cubed and SST2 amps.  So I was able to compare them.  There is definitely improvement in sound with the cubed series.  For me they are better especially in mids and highs, overall more airy, more 3D, and more natural sound.  Although I agree that more power has advantages, I think that cubed series sound better overall.