Legacy Aeris or Focus XD owners which amp do you use?.

[geek101]

Given that these speakers have bass section amplified internally what are the amps one would choose if sitting 4 meters from speakers.
Both of them are rated 95.4 dB and are 4 Ohm. Simple calculation says not more than 16 watts to produce 95.4 dB level which is above normal listening level for extended period of time.

What amp do you use and why?.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Any major brands (depending on budget) would work because high-sensitivity speakers don't require much power, as you stated.

Legacy, ATI, Adcom, Parasound, Anthem, Outlaw, Monolith, etc.

 

[lovinthehd]

The Focus XD is an active speaker, i.e. it has it's own amps built in. The Focus SE is the passive version (and doesn't include an amp for the bass drivers either IIRC). A guy I know recently did just buy a set of the XD and is extremely happy with them (he lives on the other coast so I haven't heard them) and just uses a Bluesound player/streamer to run them (but he ordered a Wavelet). Otherwise ADTG has already mentioned some leading amp suppliers which all would work fine. You might play around with an spl calculator to approximate your power requirements at your distance from the speakers with your spl preferences.... http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html.

 

[geek101]

How would you compare Parasound JC5 vs ATI AT6002 ?.

 

[geek101]

Thanks lovinthehd using the calculator I see that just mere 12 watts can drive these speakers to 100+ dB at 10 feet listening distance. I have Line Magnetic 508ia putting out 48watt SET watts per channel. I am thinking this plenty enough for my normal listening levels. The amps in the speakers only power the bass section of the drivers as far I understand.

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks lovinthehd using the calculator I see that just mere 12 watts can drive these speakers to 100+ dB at 10 feet listening distance. I have Line Magnetic 508ia putting out 48watt SET watts per channel. I am thinking this plenty enough for my normal listening levels. The amps in the speakers only power the bass section of the drivers as far I understand.

The Focus XD is a complete active speaker, no external amp needed (and looked at them only because of my friend's purchase and use, not super familiar outside of the website description otherwise). I didn't look at the Aeris tho. Does sound like your amp is sufficient for your needs, hopefully it has pre-outs if you're going to use an active speaker.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

How would you compare Parasound JC5 vs ATI AT6002 ?.

Both amps probably have more power than the Legacy speakers need (sensitivity 95dB/w/m).

Both should sound equally good, but I trust the ATI more for reliability. The ATI is also a lot less expensive.

The Adcom GFA-575se (350W x 2),GFA-565se (250W x 2),and GFA-555se (200W x 2) are a lot less expensive than both.

All these amps will sound equally great.

 

[PENG]

Thanks lovinthehd using the calculator I see that just mere 12 watts can drive these speakers to 100+ dB at 10 feet listening distance. I have Line Magnetic 508ia putting out 48watt SET watts per channel. I am thinking this plenty enough for my normal listening levels. The amps in the speakers only power the bass section of the drivers as far I understand.

The sensitivity is for 2.83 V/1m. The calculator HD linked is for 1W/1m, so the 95.4 dB ( 2.83V@ 1m) will translate to 92.4 dB/1W/1m and that's the value you should enter in order to get the right power requirement. Also, it is a peak calculator so you automatically get 3 dB of head room, but it wouldn't hurt to have some extra, so whatever amp power it calculated, I would double or quadruple it just to feel comfortable.

 

[geek101]

The sensitivity is for 2.83 V/1m. The calculator HD linked is for 1W/1m, so the 95.4 dB ( 2.83V@ 1m) will translate to 92.4 dB/1W/1m and that's the value you should enter in order to get the right power requirement. Also, it is a peak calculator so you automatically get 3 dB of head room, but it wouldn't hurt to have some extra, so whatever amp power it calculated, I would double or quadruple it just to feel comfortable.

Thank you for that, now using the calculator for 92 dB @ 10 feet I get for 16 watts around 97 dB SPL. This is too loud already. Bumping to 4 times I get 64 Watts. Ok I only have got 48 Watts but that is ok I can buy a different amp. But everyone thinks I need 250 to 500 Watts amp why is that?. If the peak is at 100 dB SPL why do I need 250 watts?. Can you help me understand?.

 

[lovinthehd]

Some people want a lot of headroom, some think their speakers won't "sing" until fed so much power (based on the almost useless max power figures from the speaker manufacturer, which more likely mean a melting point than anything particularly useful), and some just like it as loud as possible. I'd start with what you've got and see if it's sufficient before changing amp.

 

[geek101]

@lovinthehd thanks

 

[PENG]

Thank you for that, now using the calculator for 92 dB @ 10 feet I get for 16 watts around 97 dB SPL. This is too loud already. Bumping to 4 times I get 64 Watts. Ok I only have got 48 Watts but that is ok I can buy a different amp. But everyone thinks I need 250 to 500 Watts amp why is that?. If the peak is at 100 dB SPL why do I need 250 watts?. Can you help me understand?.

Classical music and movies do have peaks of 20 dB or more. So if 16 watts get you 97 dB peak, you will be able to listen to 77 dB average and that is loud enough for some people. If you want to listen to cinema loud 85 dB average, then you need to allow for peaks of up to 105 dB, and that would bump your need up to almost 128 watts. If you want to allow another 3 dB of extra headroom (in addition to the calculator's build in 3 dB headroom), then you are talking 250 watts. That's why......

So, you don't have to have a 250 watts amp to get the best out of those speakers, but they are very nice speakers that deserve a good powerful amp, whether you need that much power or not. That's just my 2 cents.

 

[geek101]

@PENG thanks, yes I am looking at some class D amps that can easily put out 300 Watts @ 4 Ohm. I am considering ATI AT543NC but they seem to only be rated for 4 Ohm to 16 Ohm safe operation. Good amps can go down to 2 Ohm like Luxman etc.

 

[PENG]

@PENG thanks, yes I am looking at some class D amps that can easily put out 300 Watts @ 4 Ohm. I am considering ATI AT543NC but they seem to only be rated for 4 Ohm to 16 Ohm safe operation. Good amps can go down to 2 Ohm like Luxman etc.

Sure, but in terms of $/watt, Luxman's would likely be 4X (or more) that of ATI's. Luxman reminds me of the $6000-8000 Denon integrated amp, rated 50 WPC..only and weighs a ton, belong to that same niche market.

Seriously, the AT543NC is a decent match for you Focus XD already, I doubt you can benefit from more expensive amps.

 

[lovinthehd]

Why would Luxman be better than ATI?

 

[geek101]

I was looking at Luxman M800A it’s class A mostly amp and exceeds its spec by wide margin. Agree it may not be value but a used Luxman is like 2X ATI class A/B and that is ok for me.

I see Luxman stuff as good engineering and conservatively rated.

 

[lovinthehd]

I was looking at Luxman M800A it’s class A mostly amp and exceeds its spec by wide margin. Agree it may not be value but a used Luxman is like 2X ATI class A/B and that is ok for me.

I see Luxman stuff as good engineering and conservatively rated.

Seems bizarre to me to spend that much on a simple amp, a pro amp would probably be just as good for far less. Then again I'd just go with the active XDs

 

[geek101]

I agree hence I did not buy an used M800A. Any recommendation that can put out 400 watts till 2Ohm well below 0.5 THD and is not a room heater ?. I prefer something well reviewed and has good build quality and support.

 

[lovinthehd]

So you're no longer interested in the XD model? Well reviewed (subjectively I assume) means what in the real world?

 

[geek101]

I did hear legacy Focus SE amplified to extreme and legacy Aeris. There was a tangible difference that I found that made me rationalize few grand difference between them.
Given that I wanted Wavelet.
A lot of Focus XD customers do upgrade to Aeris, again my take on what I read.

I listened much more expensive speakers , Aeris is a step above Focus SE at RMAF 2018.

I am getting them delivered in few weeks hence my search for a value amp for a value speaker .