Many people who are new to tube amps do not realize that watts are not always a good reference for judging the power of an amplifier.

An amplifiers ability to drive a speaker depends as much on its power supply as it does the RMS watts. Output impedance also plays a roll in successfully driving difficult speaker loads.

You've heard the expression; "Tube watts are more than Solid State watts" and while there are exceptions to every rule, this is largely true when you look at the subjective end result - sound.

There are many instances where a 30 watt tube amp will have the ability to play the speakers louder than a 100 watt solid state receiver.

A single Zen Triode Amp (Model SE84C or SE84CS) is around 5 watts per channel.
That equates to an RMS figure of 1.8 watts into an artificial 8 ohm resistive load.

Can a 5 watt amplifier drive a speaker to a satisfying level?

Some would say Yes, some would say No. We designed these amplifiers to render super high fidelity sound at modest listening levels on most speakers with a sensitivity of 90 dB or higher.

If modest listening levels aren't acceptable to you, there are two ways to make your system louder.

A) Add a second Zen amp by running each amp in mono - one connected to each speaker.

B) Try 4 ohm speakers instead of 8 ohm, OR try more efficient speakers.

Option A will net you a gain of around 6dB before clipping - that's usually sufficient.

Can it have the dynamics, bass and natural weight of real music?

Not only can it but it's usually found to be superior to most solid state amplifiers. Our Zen Triode amplifiers are NOT rolled off sounding in either the bass or treble. They are not bloated, slow or tubey sounding like many other SET amps.

If you're the technical type and need to understand more about how 1 watt can drive a speaker to a listenable level - click here.

We have a database on the web site of speakers that Zen amp owners enjoy with their amplifiers. It can be viewed here.