It’s always been the case that relatively compact budget Class A/B integrated have been around 60w to 80w, some only 40w. They usually have a sub-out for obvious reasons. I bought the Cambridge Audio CXA81 because it is is quoted at 80w and measured by Stereophile (I think) at 93w continuous, has a good DAC and HD Bluetooth and cost £900 (€1,000). It is a clever design with dual mono amplification off one big transformer in the middle of the unit. It has as good connectivity as anything else, sub-out, pre-out, balanced inputs. No network input, but usb and HD Bluetooth do the job just fine and it’s Roon Tested. Even a basic streamer seems to add quite a lot to the cost of these types of units, but I suspect for most people usb is fine and the Bluetooth HD is very good and there is an even better Bluetooth coming out this year.
I think Paul is 100% correct in saying amplifier power should be many times the capability of the continuous operation of a speaker. I suspect that a lot of people have never really heard real dynamics, dynamics that are impossible unless there’s a huge amount of dynamic power. High power is not just needed for bass but, surprisingly, just as important for tweeters. I’ve several years’ experience with active speakers and have heard 100w amplifiers proving incapable of driving midrange and even tweeters. It’s not just amps that can throttle dynamics but also cables.
I think this is a great statement to make when you are selling high power amplifiers. (Dives under chair for protection).
I use a 3 watt per channel pair of monoblocks, all tube with tubed rectification and tubed power regulation separately for both input and output tubes, with 93 db efficient speakers and getting the best sound of my life. My audio journey the last three decades has been moving from larger amplifiers to smaller amplifiers, and as a result increasing sound quality and playback satisfaction.
There’s a place for all the topologies, and I’ve found my place in lower-powered Class A amplification.
Dan, another problem with Paul’s proposition is of course that A/B amps have such different capability in terms of continuous and peak power. Here in the UK Naim have been the top brand for decades, relatively modest continuous power ratings, but peak power sometimes 4 or 5 times higher, so they don’t run out of juice. At the end of the day, it goes almost without saying that sensible matching is the order of the day if you have any sort of budget constraints. Dealers and the internet make this relatively easy to do.
I would buy NAP 300 DR in heart beat if I could. It is 90w per channel and sells for $13k+. It would gladly sit in my system.
The point I was making is that unless you’ve heard a system capable of producing dynamics properly you won’t know that you’re missing something. Of course if one’s just interested in musac there’s no need to bother with high power, however a large room will require a huge amount of power to generate dynamics.
An excellent track for dynamics is Eva Cassidy Aint No Sunshine, very few systems/rooms will produce the dynamics in her voice.
Perhaps the most dynamic thing I ever heard was a Peter Thomas demo. He was using Audio Research. I think my ears bled.