I have a new P12 with Stratos AB 150wpc, a NAD AB100 wpc, DS DAC, Oppo 205 and I’m thinking of adding a Musical Fidelity M8 500s AB 500wpc amp. If the Musical Fidelity adds too much, I may get anew M1200’s or a new NAD M33. Any suggestions appreciated.
First you have to determine if you are running your amps hard and hence how much power are they drawing. And…what is the efficiency of your speakers? If the loudest volume for music is well under max volume (i.e. deafening) then the amps are probably averaging a few watts.
Thanks. The P12 is rated at 1250 watts. Is it reasonable to add up all the rated wattage of your amps and compare the total to 1250? Of course, a 4 ohm speaker will increase the wattage of the amp execept I noticed the new NAD M33 is rated at 200 wpc in 8 ohms or 4 ohms. But that is a new PURIF self-clock amp design.
To your question of adding up all the rated wattage, that only useful if all the units are producing full power, which is not what normally occurs. How many speakers are you powering? Connected to my P12 is a 300 watt AB amp & DS DAC, plus a low wattage USB/SPIDF converter and playing music at average mid 80s dB levels, the P12 shows an average draw of about 100 watts. Speakers are mid efficient at 89 dB. What wattage and % load levels are you seeing on the P12 display playing music at a loud level?
The way you have everything hooked up now, what does the P12 say for wattage draw in the scope screen?