will
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I can't say I understand it, not having studied SPLs in relation to speaker efficiency and amp power ratings, but I have looked at calculators, and they don't seem to make sense relative to my experience. This supports the thought that many specs/calculators can be useful, but perhaps not being the whole story, they can be incomplete.
I have tried a few Decware amps, and can say that I did notice more than loudness differences comparing lower wattage amps (SE34 and its later iteration, a Rachel, as well as a Taboo MKIII), and higher wattage amps (Blue Torii, Torii MKIII and MKIV) in my system/room.
In this particular complex, my feeling from listening makes me think the headroom from 12-25 watt Toriis allows them to push the drivers of my HR-1s harder, seeming to effect the sound experience more than the SPL range. Quite dense and dynamic ...bigger/deeper/fuller, I am guessing part of pushing the speaker drivers harder is from the power hungry lower frequencies being more present with Toriis than lower power amps I have tried with these same speakers. Tricky to equate without direct comparisons at measured volumes, but I am guessing the density and the low end presence of the Torii can be big power drains that may not necessarily show clearly with SPL measurements.... And with these speakers, power pushing the drivers harder seems more like music to me, more impactful, alive and complex.
Using SPL calculator theory, seems any of the lower power amps I have used in this room could have worked, but this was not really true. I guess some part of this is that my room and openly connected spaces add up to be a pretty big volume. Also the HR-1 radial drivers have intended dispersion effects. And, in this space, with my speaker placement, I prefer a slight toe out, and a slight angle up, so the front drivers are not pointing directly at my ears, but this room integrates more completely with the speakers this way, giving a pretty amazing, alive seeming soundstage.
Also my Torii MKIV is toned down volume/power-wise due to VRs and rectifiers that push the signal tubes in less than max ways, and I prefer input tubes that are not max power for the amps. Along with using a few active pre stages in series with my DAC, this particular combination and use also causes me to reach Torii distortion a little early.
But even reducing the MKIV 25 watt rating to 20 watts, according to SPL calculators, my 92.5 rated HR-1s should blow me out of the place. Yet I can get into minor distortion on very occasional hard notes with max peaks measuring in the higher 80s to low 90s. This is generally uncomfortably loud for me with max peaks that high, but many tunes that are pretty dynamic can go there with most of the average peaks in the 60-80 range, pretty normal serious listening levels for me. Yet using a few calculators tonight, each allowing for speaker distances from the walls, and running 20 watts, rather than 25, into 92 dB speakers, rather than 92.5, in theory I would get 100+ SPL at my seat....
Anyway, lots of variables, and perhaps I have more than some folks, but to me measurements and calculators can be quite useful, but may not be enough of the story to read like actual listening "measurements." A system/room can just be so alive to me, and amazingly complex.
How this might or might not relate to other speakers and system/rooms, especially with big, efficient drivers, I can't say, but my experience anyway.
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