[wildfire99]

What's the max input power for the 1801's? Would they be toasted at 300W (peak)? I have some amps for other SPL monster speakers that I would like to share with the 1801's for the time being.

Also, is there a box plan for building them sealed? Is there any real benefit to this? I assume the 1801F designates a floor-standing cabinet.

I tore down the boxes for the 5 I have (for HT.. woo) due to a move and need to rebuild them, but I enjoyed having the sub handle the low stuff, from 80hz down. I'd really love to see the add-on sub units that were discussed earlier. This model is already crazy detailed, if only it went low, there wouldn't be anything else to own.

[skrivis]

What's the max input power for the 1801's? Would they be toasted at 300W (peak)? I have some amps for other SPL monster speakers that I would like to share with the 1801's for the time being.

Unless you make a mistake like pulling an input cable out without powering the amp off first, large amps are better in some ways for your speakers.

What tends to do in a speaker the quickest is the amp clipping as it runs out of power. That'll fry a tweeter pretty quickly. Clipping can happen more than you would think with really dynamic music.

Average power is something else, and the average amount your amp puts out is usually pretty small.

I would say that your big amps are fine, but just be careful.

[rmihai0]

My mearuments showed that 177W average with 250W peaks is MAXIMUM that Ellis 1801b speakers can get.

If you want to power them with a 300W amp you might put them in danger.

[rmihai0]

And, to continue talking about power, some other measurements proved that you can easily drive Ellis 1801b with an average 35W and that will give you an average SPL of 100db. And, believe it - that is very loud. Ussual listening is at maximum 85db, and for that, you amplifier will use ONLY 3 WATTS!!! So, what you really need is that the 4W to be gorgeous. Those first 4W are important!!!

[skrivis]

My mearuments showed that 177W average with 250W peaks is MAXIMUM that Ellis 1801b speakers can get.

If you want to power them with a 300W amp you might put them in danger.

But probably not as much as if you had a small amp driven solidly into clipping.

Small amps really do kill more speakers than big ones.

The only disadvantages to big amps are that they tend to be more expensive, and there can be increased circuit complexity to 250W/ch+.

[WEEZ]

I agree with skrivis that you're likely to damage speakers with too little power than too much. At the same time, however, power requirements vary with room size and volume levels required.

Dave has repeatedly said that 35wpc (tubed) of 60wpc (ss) is sufficient for his speakers in most rooms at sane volume levels. He has also stated that his sensitivity rating is 'real'- compared to some speakers claiming maybe 87db@2.83v while measuring 84 or 85.

If your room is huge- or you are risking your hearing by listening at levels over 92db- you probably don't NEED more than 100wpc.

I use 87db speakers with 40wpc in a 26x16 room and could use another 3db, or so (75-80wpc) to really listen loud- but I got over the really loud stuff years ago. Quality power over quantity power is my recommendation.

As far as sealed vs. ported; I believe that the 1801 is available in either configuration (as well as floorstanding). You might check with Dave on the sealed version. The sealed version would use a slightly smaller cabinet and would roll off differently in the bass.

WEEZ

[WEEZ]

By the way- I have no idea how the 87db thing got entered as a link

Ignore it PLEASE

WEEZ

[wildfire99]

Well, as I sort of alluded to I use the 1801's mostly for home theater duty (yes, I know, that's like giving the dog a fine filet mignon... but I like high quality for everything I do).

I don't generally find it necessary to play them that loud for music, and for HT I probably end up with the volume around 80-85 average with a group (or whatever the volume is where you have to shout at the guy sitting next to you while the action is going on), it's those huge transient spikes of power and volume that concern me. I guess from the responses though, throwing 250+ watts at it for a moment while someone gets eaten by the bad guy isn't going to make them lose their magic smoke.

I haven't really noticed any problem playing them with any amp I have for normal music listening though, no efficiency problems here. As my main theater grows in size however (now 25'x40'!), I am finding the need to push more and more watts through whatever speakers of the day I am using, to get the volume up to appropriate levels, hence the need for big amps.

I haven't beaten on my 1801's in this way yet, but I want to swap them into the big theater system for a bit while I work on the next few upgrades. Next up is a pair of sealed Avalanche 18s, in some rather largish boxes. That ought to tighten up the low end pretty good over the old 15" Tempest I was using. Do you think I take this stuff too seriously?

[skrivis]

Well, as I sort of alluded to I use the 1801's mostly for home theater duty (yes, I know, that's like giving the dog a fine filet mignon... but I like high quality for everything I do).

I don't generally find it necessary to play them that loud for music, and for HT I probably end up with the volume around 80-85 average with a group (or whatever the volume is where you have to shout at the guy sitting next to you while the action is going on), it's those huge transient spikes of power and volume that con ...

Actually, I think there is a lot of room in HT for good equipment. You're going for a different kind of illusion than with stereo, but you still want to accurately reproduce what is on the recorded media.

There does seem to be a tendency to go for a "spectacular" sound with HT, and what I would consider excessive bass. Perhaps a HT system constructed more on the lines of a multi-channel high-end system would be more acceptable to me.

Personally, if you have to shout at the guy next to you, that's too loud. I've always worn earplugs at rock concerts and even some sporting events. I wore earplugs a few weeks ago when I went to see "A Chorus Line" because the house sound system was a bit too much. (JBL 4560 cabs, for lots of boom and plenty of nasal midrange horn honk. Topped off with 40 deg radial horns to cut the top of your head off.)

I use a 125W/ch AVA amp, and it's plenty of power for anything I'd want to do. I do use fuses to protect my speakers though...

[David Ellis]

I have been busy, and missed this one since returning from vacation.  

The input above is extremely solid.  

The only thing I might add is that HT amps are rated at 1 channel being driven. This comes per Dennis Murphy Ph.D. (et. al) who is the audio kingpin in Washington D.C. .  Hence, a 300wpc HT amp is equivalent to a 150wpc Stereo amp.  This is true with VERY few exceptions.  

If you are crossing the 1801s at 80hz, you could easily build them sealed.  The cabinets will be smaller.

Dave