250 WPC amp with Sierra 2?

[PoppaOptic]

I'm looking at using an Emotiva XPA power amp with my Sierra 2 speakers.

Since the speakers are rated at 150 WPC what is the risk in using an amp that will be 250-300 WPC? I've never had an amp with that much power and was concerned that it might be an issue.

Thanks!

[mikesiskav]

I'm looking at using an Emotiva XPA power amp with my Sierra 2 speakers.

Since the speakers are rated at 150 WPC what is the risk in using an amp that will be 250-300 WPC? I've never had an amp with that much power and was concerned that it might be an issue.

Thanks!

I'm running the exact same Emotiva amp with my Sierra-2 and have had zero problems. Nothing wrong with having a little extra power. If you have a subwoofer, just set your crossover to 80hz or so, and you should have no problems.

[PoppaOptic]

I'm running the exact same Emotiva amp with my Sierra-2 and have had zero problems. Nothing wrong with having a little extra power. If you have a subwoofer, just set your crossover to 80hz or so, and you should have no problems.

Good to know! What AVR or preamp are you using? Curious since I am looking at the Emotiva preamp too.

[sharkman]

If you are considering the Emotiva XPA-2, then that amp is 300 wpc. There is something to be aware of, and that is, you could damage the Sierras if you accidentally turn it up too loud. But if you're like me, I prefer medium volume levels and I've measured with a meter. Music with peaks of about 83-83 decibels is getting uncomfortable for me. Since I sit 10 feet away from the speakers, that's maybe a couple of watts. For me it's about quality over quantity.

Just be aware of the limits and you'll be fine.

[mikesiskav]

Yes, that is possible if you turn it up really, really loud. Same thing could happen with an underpowered amp. Even worse actually as an underpowered amp will go into clipping when turned up too loud which is even more likely to damage your speakers. I have the XPA-5 gen 3 along with an XMC-1. Works great. I love Dirac.

[PoppaOptic]

This would be for music and home theater. My current amp is 150 WPC and connected to a Yamaha receiver. I have had my Yamaha receiver at "+3" many times when listening to music. If I remember the max is "+9" so I'm approaching the max output. On my speakers with dome tweeters I can hear when the speaker is beginning to be pushed too hard and turn the volume down some. I've not tested this limit with the Sierra 2 simply because it would kill me to blow the tweeter! That being said I'm just being cautious before buying an amp that has so much power. I've also looked at Odyssey Audio and some others since I want to use balanced connections.

[mikesiskav]

That seems pretty loud. Have you used an SPL meter to see what kind of volume levels you're getting at +3? I rarely go above -10 on my system.

[PoppaOptic]

I don't have a SPL meter unfortunately. Any recommendations? I admit, it is very loud. I've pushed NHT, OHM, and some old Mach 2 speakers to those levels, but not the Sierras. I've moved since then but the drop ceiling would shake to the point of dust falling down. Clearly not critical listening just enjoying some old rock and metal music. :-)

[mikesiskav]

Unfortunately I can't play it that loud because of neighbors. Besides that, I'm not sure the Sierra-2 could handle it. I think they can get more than loud enough for the average person but their real strength is in their clarity and detail.

Edit: I use a Protek SL-100 SPL meter (now discontinued) I bought of Ebay. I believe Dave uses the same one. Very happy with it.

[RPM]

Be very careful if you go with that amp. I use an XPA 2 and it was to much for the Sierra 's.
After consulting with Dave ( which is the best thing to do first) I switched to Towers and it's
A wonderful match.

[mikesiskav]

If anyone is interested, I took some output measurements of my Sierra-2s. You can see it here:

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?6546-Sierra-2-output-measurements-in-my-room

Maybe Dave can chime in on the "extra power" vs "low power" amplifier discussion.

From my understanding, both a 25 watt amp and a 500 watt amp can safely power a speaker when played at a level where neither the amp nor the speaker is being pushed beyond it's limits. Turn the volume up too loud with either amp such that you are over-driving either the speakers or the amp, can damage the speaker. So in other words, take caution when turning the volume up, and if you hear distortion coming from the speakers, turn it down.

p.s. I'm running the XPA-5 with my Sierra-2 and it works just fine. No damage to my speakers. Then again, I don't turn it up super loud and my ears are very sensitive to distortion or any kind of anomaly coming from my system.

Edit: If I remember correctly, there was a Sierra-2 owner who blew out his RAAL tweeters with two different amps. One was a lower powered amp and then he upgraded to a higher power amp and blew out the tweeters again. My memory is a little foggy on that, but I believe I saw it posted here on this forum.

[davef]

If anyone is interested, I took some output measurements of my Sierra-2s. You can see it here:

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?6546-Sierra-2-output-measurements-in-my-room

Maybe Dave can chime in on the "extra power" vs "low power" amplifier discussion.

From my understanding, both a 25 watt amp and a 500 watt amp can safely power a speaker when played at a level where neither the amp nor the speaker is being pushed beyond it's limits. Turn the volume up too loud with either amp such that you are over-driving either the speakers or the amp, can damage the speaker. So in other words, take caution when turning the volume up, and if you hear distortion coming from the speakers, turn it down.

p.s. I'm running the XPA-5 with my Sierra-2 and it works just fine. No damage to my speakers. Then again, I don't turn it up super loud and my ears are very sensitive to distortion or any kind of anomaly coming from my system.

Edit: If I remember correctly, there was a Sierra-2 owner who blew out his RAAL tweeters with two different amps. One was a lower powered amp and then he upgraded to a higher power amp and blew out the tweeters again. My memory is a little foggy on that, but I believe I saw it posted here on this forum.

With Sierra-2 (or any ribbon based speaker) - I generally recommend having an amp with more power rather than less power as ribbons are more sensitive to amplifier clipping. That said, it all depends on listening distance and how loud someone actually likes to listen. With the ribbon towers, our 70-20 based ribbon is an entirely different beast than the ribbon in our Sierra-2 and can handle much more power and it even handles amplifier clipping with ease - this is due to unique mechanical damping that no other ribbon that I know of has... Unfortunately, I am under contractual obligation such that I can not reveal the technical details of this- but it is quite clever and is what really puts the 70-20 ahead of all other ribbon tweeters.

Mike -- these measurements are great and that is a ridiculously impressive in-room response. How far back was the mic positioned for these measurements?

[mikesiskav]

That is very interesting to hear about the ribbon towers. I'm very happy with my Sierra-2 but it appears that the tower/horizons with RAAL are quite impressive output wise. If I'm not mistaken, they should have about 8dB higher max output capability over the Sierra-2. +5dB sensitivity and +3dB for double the power handling.

[JR123]

I only* have the basic Sierra-1s, but they have been hooked up to a Parasound 2250v2 (275 watts per channel) for two years now with no trouble at all.

When listening loud on certain music the woofers really move but I don't go crazy on the volume and I've never heard a hint of distortion.

Overkill? Probably so. But I like to have lots of power in reserve, and I wanted my amp to be future proof, in case I buy larger speakers at some point.


*Maybe I shouldn't say "only" as I've spent 7 or so years with the Sierra-1s and love the sound. Accurate, detailed, great imaging and soundstage, amazing sound on anything from a solo vocalist seated at a piano to a full orchestra.

[bkdc]

These speakers can handle plenty of juice, but my Marantz HD-AMP1 (35 WPC at 8 ohms) is PLENTY to fill a moderate sized room. I don't ever recall needing to push my Towers or Sierra-2's ever close to their limits. Y'all must have hearing loss already. LOL. :)

They were driven by Wyred4Sound mINT for a few years, but the mINT is now out of commission for repair. However, I don't think it will get hooked back up as the Marantz is going to take permanent duty.

If kept well within amplifier specs, you'll never have problems. But more power is safer than less power as everyone has stated.

[PoppaOptic]

Thanks for the info Dave. I admit my listening can get loud at times. Since I'm buying new equipment that I plan to keep long term then I'll go with more power.

I thought my Sierra 2 might be the final speakers, but it sounds like I really need to get the towers with the ribbons. If the ribbon can handle that level of output they will be a perfect match for my listening habits.

[davef]

Thanks for the info Dave. I admit my listening can get loud at times. Since I'm buying new equipment that I plan to keep long term then I'll go with more power.

I thought my Sierra 2 might be the final speakers, but it sounds like I really need to get the towers with the ribbons. If the ribbon can handle that level of output they will be a perfect match for my listening habits.

The towers can play significantly louder and the ribbon in the tower is pretty much bulletproof. If you want to reach live rock concert listening levels - the towers are the better choice.

[mikesiskav]

I just came across an interesting document from JBL which explains in depth how a low powered amplifier can damage speakers:

https://www.jblpro.com/pub/technote/lowpower.pdf