RawB8figure, hopes this is of some help. I have the Hawthornes and use them with a 20 watt Scott 222c, and a 50 watt gainclone that has a volume control. The 20 watt Scott has near perfect amount of power (for me in my 300 ft2 room) as it allows good use of volume control. 9-11:00 for background, 12:00 mark is full and room filling but not overbearing, 1-3:00 is cranking, (no chance of hearing phone or door knocks, YES!). FWIW I'm not shy with the volume as I like to bathe in dynamic music. It's a tube rollers dream/nightmare with 11 tubes, easily could spend far more than the amp on tubes
. Wonderful midrange, but not quite as good on bass and treble, of course imo. If i was wealthier I'd keep it forever but will sell it in a month or two and try something else (a bit risky behavior as my budget is also ~ $500 and down).
The 50 watt gc is huge power for these speakers, and some folks use much more. Can only use up to 9-10:00 on volume control before it is in loud range, so it's a pain to dial in varying listening levels. This is a backup amp and if it was a main amp I would build or have built a preamp with low gain. Last year I used it with a Decware zsla-1 (0 gain) and a Minimax pre and both were good mates (adjusted gc volume control to suit the pre being used).
So imo 10-30 watts for an integrated for the Hawthornes is a good range. If seperate pre and amp a much wider range. Some people are using a Spud amp listed on the Hawthorne site (maybe you've seen it) that is 2-3 watts.
Don
