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Need some Amp help - a little new to properly powering speakers

Hello. 

 I have some polk LSIM707s that I thorough enjoy.

However, at the moment I'm powering them using a Yamaha aventage 3070 receiver which at 150 watts at 8ohms sounds pretty darn good. 

However, since these are rated at 300 watts at 8 Ohms, I assume I will need some more power. I notice at lower volumes a lot of the imaging and clarity disappears. 

I am looking at buying a 300 watt emotiva Amplifier, or a 500 watt emotiva amplifier.

I'm assuming it would be better to purchase the 500 watt per channel emotiva so the speakers won't suck it dry or stress it. 

Am i wrong in this assumption? 
moskaudio
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mesch
1,679 posts
 
Moskaudio, am I to understand that you are now considering replacing both the speakers and the amp and going to a 2 channel system? If so I would suggest that you search out the desired speaker first, pair them to your Rotel stereo amp, which seems as no surprise to me to be superior to the Yamaha AVR, while your explore the market for an upgrade in amplification. Finding speakers that are at least moderately easy to drive maximizes ones budget towards amplification. 
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
1,457 posts
 
@moskaudio What one needs to understand from the get-go, is that the number of watts is only one part, one quite small part, of the story.  For starters, take a look at the current output rating (not all manufacturers publish) and the damping factor.  Generally speaking for both, the higher the better.  Then you get into the jungle of class A vs. AB vs. D, and solid state vs. tube.  So not even two amps with identical measurements on all those parameters will sound the same hooked up to the same set of speakers.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
6,996 posts
 
DF (Damping Factor) desirable level really depends on the speaker in question. Some speakers definitely require more than others, some speakers require very little DF. Too much DF can be detrimental to sound quality. There’s no such thing as the more DF the better in every circumstance. Increased DF reflects an increase in NFB and there can be undesirable  sonic effects as Atmasphere has  eloquently explained in past posts.
Charles
kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
If all I did was listen at low levels and didn't need the headroom a class A push-pull amp provided, I'd be using a single ended amp. They don't have the low level distortion bump you see in push-pull topologies. 
willemj
1,036 posts
 
As for the Quad electrostats. Right now I am listening to my 2805s driven by a 2x140 watt Quad 606-2, at almost full power. The sound is glorious, but to be honest, realistic level would require more power. For a larger listening room like mine Quad's UK engineer recommended their 2x260 watt QSP monoblocks. They are on my wish list. The modern 2805's are far less sensitive than my older ELS 57s.
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