I am now looking into Elac Unifi, Unifi 2.0, and in very last place the Adantes, and less oriented on dolby atmos, but would still like to leave the option available. I did not have any real experience with speakers besides sound bars.
I tried looking for Elac's info on these speakers. The Elac web site was down for maintenance, so I found nothing. To guess what kind of power these speakers need, you'll need to know several bits of info. See below.
I was able to find this for the Un-ifi UB5 from
a review by The Absolute Sound. These numbers are probably taken from what Elac says, but Elac was offline, so I can't be certain about that. For what it's worth, the
Amazon page for these speakers had the same info.
Sensitivity: 85dB
This means when they are given 1 watt (or 2.83 Volts) and measured at 1 meter distance, they produce sound that is 85dB loud. That's low, but to be expected for a smaller speaker. So it might be an honest number.
Nominal impedance: 4 ohms; minimum 3.4 ohms
This alone doesn't tell us enough. Better if we could see a graph that shows Impedance vs. Frequency because impedance is not a constant value, it varies with frequency. If the impedance minimum value of 3.4 ohms is genuine, I would want to see that graph to know what frequency the minimum occurs at. If it occurs in the bass range below 200 Hz, it could indicate you might need a big iron amp. Frankly, I'd look for different speakers that are easier to drive.
Recommended amplifier power: 40 to 140Wpc
I'd stick with that recommendation for now. If true, these speakers don't seem difficult to drive. Most AVRs on the market should be able to drive them. That would also be consistent with their price. At $300/pair, I would not expect to have to buy a $2,000 stand-alone amp such as that Emotive XPA-9.
So I have been told by the audio store I went too, which doesn't sell this line of products. So it wasn't a sale pitch, suggested that I go with an Emotiva amp, honestly after reviewing it it seems like it is pretty powerful. Correct me if I am wrong. Probably? way more than what I need
Yes, that Emotiva is way more than what you probably need.
I'd look for a Denon, Marantz, or Yamaha AVR with enough channels to suit your present & future needs, that is somewhere in the upper end of the 40 to 140 watt/channel range. Look for these features:
- Stable at 4 ohms
- Multiple channel pre-out (If you decide at a later time that you want an external amp, you can use the AVR as a pre-amp. You won't need one of those expensive pre-amps.)
If you search on
Accessories4Less, you can filter a search to include those features, as well as others. Look on the left panel on the A4L page. I did that search for a Denon, stable at 4 ohms, with multiple pre-outs. The link shows 8 possible AVRs. I think the Denon AVR-X3500H, AVR-X3600H, and AVR-X-4200H look like they would be good for you. You decide how much you want to spend.
A4L is a reputable authorized dealer that sells factory refurbished products and last year's models, all of which come with a factory warranty.
The suggestion was made because the Elac speakers I am looking at are 4 ohms and they suggested that it's not a good idea to run a load like that with weak amp. Definitely more power is better but that also means more money on AVRs. So they suggested going with a separates.
Based on that suggestion, I would stay away from that dealer. It was certainly not helpful, and it may have been dishonest. Until we find out for certain, I don't think these speakers need such a powerful amp.
