Yamaha as500-too powerful for dyanudio 42?

[jdkpalmeira]

I currently have some Dynaudio audience 42(4 0hm driven, max power 150watts) and an ailing Denon amp.The speakers sound brilliant but i am looking to upgrade,preferably to something newish. only problem i have is getting a chance to demo them with some amps.
After much reading and trailing the net i have heard that these speakers sound best when running as much wattage as you can into them.
I like the looks and spec of the Yamaha AS500( but i'm worried that they output too much and may damage the speakers as i tend to listen loud music normally.
Other amp suggestions were the Arcam alpha 9 and a Harman Kardon 3490.

Just too confused with the amount of choice as was wondering if anyone ad these speakers or have heard of them and what they were running it with?

thanks guys

 

[happhhitachi]

Speakers have a maximum volume they will go to no matter what you throw at them I believe this is referred to as the SPL Sound Pressure Level.

What generally kills speakers is turning the amp up to the point where it cant deliver the volume being requested, the amp then starts to 'clip' and your speakers wont like this at all - bang no more speaker. This usually happens when you pair speakers with an amp that underpowered not overpowered.

I once heard a demo of a stereo system, pair of speakers being driven by a pair of 800W power amps I think made by a company called Threasham (this was about 20 years ago) in bridged mono mode. The Rep said in this mode they would be delivering around 1.2Kw per channel. Sounded FANTASTIC. Mind you the rest of the system was top noch too Linn Sondek turntable/arm, serious ££££ kit.

I'd suggest not worying too much about too much power, check the Amp is OK with the impedance (Ohms) of the speakers and watch the volume, you should be able to tell when you get to the point where the speakers have reached the limit. Be careful when changing sources etc turn volume down so theres no sudden 'shocks' sent to the speakers.

 

[Member 569079]

Very good advice from happhhitachi, you are much more likely to damage speakers from an underpowered amplifier clipping than a very powerful amplifier like the Yamaha AS500 developing clean power without clipping.

 

[BlueWizard]

The Yamaha AS500 is only 85w/ch which is well within the working range of the Dynaudio speakers.

I suspect that you assume having twice the power will give you twice the volume, but no, it won't. Twice the power give you a slight increase in volume potential. What really controls the volume is the Volume Control (surprisingly).

It is conventional wisdom that underpowered amps are more dangerous than overpowered amps. The problem is, no one ever defines underpowered amps. Does that mean 1 watt, 10 watts, ???

The truth is, if any amp blows a speaker, it is not the fault of the amp, it is the fault of the guy running the volume control.

I have a 100w amp driving large twin 8" floorstanding speakers in a somewhat small room. I don't have any problems at all with either music or movies.

In your case, assuming you don't go crazy on the volume control, I see no conflict between 150w speakers and a 85w amp. And if you do go crazy on the volume control, then you are in trouble no matter what amp you have.

Steve/bluewizard