[roymail]

I've noticed that several different speakers I've used over the years really seem to respond well to amplifiers with a bigger transformer, more capacitance and greater current and power output.

I'm not speaking of high efficiency speakers but just average efficiency in the upper 80's... 86-89db.

30 to 50wpc sounded pretty good, but when you double or triple that with more current and larger power caps, things really get lively! 

Has this been your experience?

[jtwrace]

I'm a fan of headroom!

[JohnR]

Has this been your experience?

Not directly, but active systems get a similar kind of boost.

[Don_S]

I'm a fan of headroom!

I am a fan of Max Headroom.


 
Seriously, I have found more power was very beneficial on several different types of speakers (dynamic driver, planar magnetic, electrostatic). I have become a fan of "maximum headroom".  Serious power--not just an extra 50 watts.

[AJinFLA]

Take a look at this article by Bob Cordell (scroll down to "The Peak Power Demands of Well-recorded Music")   http://www.cordellaudio.com/he2007/show_report.shtml.
Really depends on musical tastes/recording quality.

cheers,

AJ

[jackman]

All things equal, I would take a more powerful amp over a less powerful amp (from the same manufacturer and of equal quality). Of course, I've heard more powerful amps (on paper) sound worse and less dynmic than less powerful amps on paper. I am a fan of class A amps and prefer the sound of a good class A amp over a good class a/b amp.  At moderate levels, power differences are often digfucult for me to distinguish. 

Like the previous guy said, I'm a fan of headroom. I have heard some powerful amps sound pretty bad at high spl's.

[*Scotty*]

It's not just the speakers you are listening to and more headroom isn't even necessary to have a more dynamic sounding system. Occasionally better sounding amplifiers have better designed power supplies.
 At the end of the day you are listening to the power supply and the effect of its dynamic impedance on the sound of the amplifier. It is always cheaper to put an inadequate or barely adequate power supply in an amplifier.
Scotty

[Pez]

Do most speakers sound better with more power?

Funny, 8 watts on my midrange, 8 watts on my tweeters, and 600 watts on my woofers. So I guess my answer is No, no, yes.

My answer and my point is this. Power is only relavent to a point and with certain gear. Better sounding amplifier is better than a powerful amplifier period. Just make sure you set it up with gear that makes it sing.

[TONEPUB]

I'll always take a well designed high power amp over a well designed low power amp, but I've got speakers with a sensitivity of 90db.  If I had 100 db speakers, it might be different.

[Big Red Machine]

When I'm cruising down the highway at 70 mph and punch it, I'd like to be able to light the tires up!!

So yeah, having that capacity in an amp is number one in my book.

[roymail]

At the end of the day you are listening to the power supply and the effect of its dynamic impedance on the sound of the amplifier.
Scotty

Scotty, I would not doubt that at all.  I used to have a rather expensive amplifier (not McIntosh) that was rated at 75wpc that sounded better and more powerful than amps more than twice it's power rating.  By the way, it was a heavy amp due to it's larger transformer.  Talk about headroom, on crescendos it sounded like 1000wpc and clear as a bell with never a hint of congestion.

So I can see what you guys mean by a well designed amp. 

[JLM]

I'm not a headbanger, but fully believe that for the best sound the amp must have a commanding grip on the speaker.  With more power you gain macro dynamics, resolution (image definition & detail), and deep/full bass.

I've run my 91 dB/w/m speakers in a 2,000 cu. ft. room with nearfield setup using 8 wpc, 40 wpc, and 100 wpc.  Each time the above improvements clearly came through as power increased.  And yes, I believe that we grossly under estimate the peak sound pressure levels, OTOH finding the same micro dynamic performance from giant (say 500+ watt) amps isn't easy (not many options) or cheap.

This "commanding grip" phenom really comes to light in one amp per driver (truly/fully active) designs.  Shameless plug: single driver designs are active by default.