I’m a total neophyte when it comes to power requirements, so forgive any stupid questions please. My system has the following components and I’ve included the wattage requirements from their respective PSA manuals. The amp is powering Magnepan 1.7i speakers that run at 4 Ohms.
BHK 250 - 175 watts @ idle, 850 watts @ 8 Ohms, 1600 watts @ 4 Ohms
BHK Preamp - 60 watts
Direcstream - 30 watts
Marantz CD6006 CD player - Can’t find the specs, but guessing 30 to 40 watts
I guess the total wattage drawn with the Maggies is about 1730 watts. Would I need a conditioner of that many watts minimum under normal living room listening levels?
I also have 2 Sumiko subs (almost identical RELS) that have class A/B amps that run at 350 watts/700 watts peak. I can’t find their wattage anywhere, but would like to have them in the conditioner as well if possible.
Something to keep in mind right off the bat. Conditioners and regenerators are different. Based off your question, you’re most likely thinking of a regenerator. For the most part, conditioners don’t really care how much current is being pulled from them. Now of course, if something goes wrong, a circuit breaker or fuse should pop in order to protect everything.
A regenerator does care how much current is being pulled from it. If too much, it will get too hot and shut down (it does this with software before it actually gets too hot).
With that out of the way, with the demands of your system, I’d recommend a P15 at the very least. Because the Maggies can be pretty demanding, the BHK 250 will be working pretty hard. The P20 would be the best with its power handling and overhead, but the P15 will absolutely do your system justice, and do one hell of a job.
Hey steve. I have a similar type system. Magnepan 3.6R, Bryston 14B3, BHK pre and Direct Stream Sr. and a pair of S5/SHO subs.
I have a P10 regenerator and at full tilt operation i am consuming about 70% of the P10’s capacity as displayed on the P10 screen (load %).
My systen runs at 25% at idle.
The P10 can’t handle the pair of subs. And i doubt a P15 would either.
I honestly don’t feel the subs would benefit much from power regeneration - that’s what i tell myself anyway.
