[Outlier]

I have a pair of MBL 121 speakers on the way. They have 4ohm impedence and operate at 82 db/w/m, so are quite inefficient. Do you think my Red Wine 30.2 will do the trick? Am guessing I may need to be reaslistic and get something with a lot more power. Anyway, let me know what you think. I'm especially interested from folks who are using teh 30.2 with success on inefficient speakers.

Thanks!

[Tubo]

I do not have the RWA 30.2, but I have the RWA Teac, which is about 30 w/ch. I have used it successfully with my two pairs of LS3/5A's which are 82.5 db sensitivity. However, my LS3/5A's are 11 and 15 ohm impedance, respectively. In spite of their lowish sensitivity, they are easy to drive speakers.

I think there is a misconception that low sensitivity speakers require powerful amps. Right now, my Rogers LS3/5A's are playing in the bedroom driven by a Nuforce Icon (12 w/ch) and my Spendor LS3/5A's are playing in the living room driven by an ASL 300B single-ended triode amp (8 w/ch). I have to attenuate the gain. Otherwise, the neighbors will complain!

More important than sensitivity, I think, is wild impedance swings, and low impedance. In that sense, your 4 ohm impedance might be the real sticking point. Why don't you just try the RWA 30.2 with your speakers? You might be pleasantly surprised!

[onemug]

"do the trick", Well it depends on the trick. I think it will, up to a certain volume. How loud do you like to play your music?

The 30.2 puts out around 45 watts into 4 ohms and it can deal with 4 ohms. It would be better still if the MBL's don't dip or swing impedance like Tubo mentioned.

As for experience, I have used the 30.2 on my Maggie 3.6's (4 ohm, 85db) with success. They have a very flat impedance curve.  I've also heard 200 watt amps strain in playing them, so wpc is not the where all/be all of musical bliss. Usually current is the key. Think how much current it takes to start a car with a 12 volt battery, so we have that taken care of, so it will come down to how loud YOU want to take it.

I would caution you on this:  Turn up the volume real slow and listen for any distress. Clipping is NOT GOOD for amps or speakers.

Good luck and let us know how it works.

[Outlier]

Thanks Guys. It will be a week or so before I get delivery of the speakers. I'll let you know how things go with the amp/speaker combo. Fingers crossed.

[6rs]

Hi
I own a Sig 30.2 that dirves an ATC SCM20. Sensitivity is 81.5dB/W (flat impedance around 6 Ohms), therefore comparable to your speakers. I was very sceptical whether the Sig 30.2 may be able to drive it. Actually, it does so well, at least as good as my Spectral DMA50 that is rated 80W. Of course, it cannot produce continuosly very loud levels of which the ATC would be capable of (105 dB continously).
But at normal listening levels, even with big orchestra, there is no impression of missing power.
Distance from loudspeaker is 5 feet, room size is about 12x25 feet.
Good luck, B

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Outlier and 6rs,

Welcome to Audiocircle and the RWA forum!

"do the trick", Well it depends on the trick. I think it will, up to a certain volume. How loud do you like to play your music?

I have to agree with onemug... a clean 30 watts RMS per channel will certainly power inefficient speakers, but up to a point.  You may never want to go louder than what the 30.2 can provide in terms of output, so in this case you'll be all set.  Some prefer to listen at moderate levels and not at live concert levels, especially if you are in a smallish room that can't handle too much volume (i.e., the room distorts from all the reflections, standing waves, etc.). 

I am curious to hear Outlier's impressions when he gets a chance to listen. 

Thanks to Tubo, onemug, and 6rs for sharing your experiences with this topic!

Vinnie

[sabes]

Hi
I own a Sig 30.2 that dirves an ATC SCM20. Sensitivity is 81.5dB/W (flat impedance around 6 Ohms), therefore comparable to your speakers. I was very sceptical whether the Sig 30.2 may be able to drive it. Actually, it does so well, at least as good as my Spectral DMA50 that is rated 80W. Of course, it cannot produce continuosly very loud levels of which the ATC would be capable of (105 dB continously).
But at normal listening levels, even with big orchestra, there is no impression of missing power.
Distance from loudspeaker is 5 feet, room size is about 12x25 feet.
Good luck, B

if the 30.2's are driving the atc's, they should be good to drive just about anything! i have the atc scm12's in a second system, and they are a bear to drive. this speaks very very well of the sig's cojones! (p.s. i'm getting ready to try my 70.2's on the atc's to see how they go. i'm currently using an atc sia2-150 integrated).

[Vinnie R.]

if the 30.2's are driving the atc's, they should be good to drive just about anything! i have the atc scm12's in a second system, and they are a bear to drive. this speaks very very well of the sig's cojones! (p.s. i'm getting ready to try my 70.2's on the atc's to see how they go. i'm currently using an atc sia2-150 integrated).

Hi Sabes,

Please keep us posted! 

Vinnie