Suggies croaked it

[Mikeandvan]

what changed after the early 90s?

[Macca]

what changed after the early 90s?

Japan's 'Lost Decade':

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decades

Cost cutting started, the old ways of producing the absolute best as an engineering statement and as a gauntlet thrown down to the engineers at the other Japanese audio companies came to an end.

Added to which there was a global decline in a quality hi-fi being an aspirational thing to own.

[Macca]

Then:



Now:

[CageyH]

Why stop at 100W with the replacement amplifier?

[Pigmy Pony]

Why stop at 100W with the replacement amplifier?

I suppose it goes to that old question "How many watts is enough?" Much better to have too many than not enough.

Puts me in mind of the time my brother sold his old B&W speakers and "budget" Marantz amp - when demo'ing the speakers he plumbed them into his new MF A3.2 amp, and was shocked at how much better his old speakers sounded with the extra welly up them - brought them to life, better faster bass etc. Almost made him regret flogging the speakers

[CageyH]

That is part of the reason I built my Modulus 686. 220W.
My speakers sound better with more watts.

[Macca]

Not just watts but current.

With some exceptions modern speakers don't offer the amp an easy load. As impedance drops, more voltage is demanded and that means more current needed. Ohm's Law.

The Sugden offers 30 watts into 8 ohm and 40 watts into 4 Ohm

An ideal amplifier would be 30 watts into 8 ohm, 60 into 4 ohm and 120 into 2 ohm.

You can't have an ideal amplifier but if you want it to drive any speaker then it needs to come close to that.

50 watts should be enough for most modern speakers as they tend to have high sensitivty. But if the amp can't maintain its voltage when impedance dips then it will clip - bad sound - and if it can't recover from clipping before it's asked to do that again, it clips all the time.

It's not an all or nothing thing either, think of it more as a sliding scale. Usually low impedance in high frequencies is not a problem as not much power is demanded in the high frequencies. But in the bass a lot of power is drawn.

Hence if the amp isn't up to the job, you get no bass, or weak bass, or booming bass and generally not a good sound.

[Mikeandvan]

Why stop at 100W with the replacement amplifier?

The specs you linked to suggest amps in range of 20-100W, but surely 100W is more than enough!!

[CageyH]

A bit more won’t hurt, if used sensibly.

[CageyH]

My speakers max (continuous) power handling is 120W.

This is what the manufacturer has to say:

Amplifier and Power Handling
Recommended Amplifier power : from 60 to 200 Watts (8 Ohms)
Power Handling : 120W

* The power handling of a speaker is the average continuous power that the speaker can accept without damaging the drivers. You can use an amplifier more powerful than the permissible speaker power by limiting the volume to 70% of the maximum capacity. Conversely, an amplifier that is too underpowered will clip and create distortion, which can also damage the speakers if it is used beyond its capacity.

My 220W power amp has never been turned up to max volume with my speakers, and my speakers are still working fine, even with 100W of additional power available. Normal listening, I am sure it does not even break a sweat.