How much amplifier power do you really need?

[RebelMan]

What I've gotten in moving up in the horse power range is more clarity - not limited to but predominantly with the lower registers.  When the dial is turned to the left, the music isn't getting louder - its bringing out hidden gems in harmonics, voicing, transients. 

So Mr RebelMan, as for the Devialet D1000 - you and I will have to disagree on it being a bragging rights thing.  I am very fortunate to have my current system. Is it the best - hell no, but it makes this old soul happy and for that I'm quite thankful.

I can appreciate the toe tapping feeling and the need to drive up the volume, it happens for me too.  It just doesn't take large amounts of power to get me there.  I typically listen at a continuous 76dB with spikes in the 84dB region.  When I feel like pushing the throttle I can reach a steady 85dB with peaks into the lower 90dB region usually between 92-93dB.  My 140 is capable of delivering 101dB to the listening position without breaking a sweat so there is plenty of headroom left in the tank should something more arise.

My speakers are pretty sensitive but the demands they place on current reserves given the low impedance they present (below 3 ohms)  requires a very linear amp to pair with.  Thankfully, the 140 is up to the challenge because it is capable of doubling down to 2 ohm loads making for a very robust and powerful "little" amplifier (420W for those that are curious).  Power figures for the 1000 have been all over the board (and much lower than they probably should be) so it is unclear just how linear it really is.  If we give the 1000 the benefit of the doubt and say it produces 1500 W into 2 ohms (like the Original d’Atelier) this would add an additional 5.5dB of headroom (round up to 6dB to keep the figures simple).

Would the extra 6dB the 1000 could muster sound any better than the 140 in my system?  Depends.  As long as nothing else changed with my system, my room and my listening habits, no.  In this example more power would have absolutely no impact on sound quality (which goes against the grain of popular belief).  However, if my speakers were swapped with some more difficult to drive and/or my room was over treated to sound lifeless and/or I played my music much louder than before would the 1000 sound better then?  Again NO!  Why?  Because the 1000 is doing what it did before only without clipping and distorting the signal.  The 140 may perform less competently in this example because it maybe clipping or distorting the signal and that could deteriorate sound quality.

In summary, a lesser amplifier will not sound inferior to a greater amplifier when doing the SAME work.  If a lesser amplifier is driven to work harder than before a greater amplifier will not sound better but the lesser amplifier may sound worse because it is doing MORE work. The ONLY way you can know for certain how much power you actually need is to measure how much power you actually use (or trying to use).  ANYTHING else is just placebo effects and/or misplaced expectations and/or bragging rights.

NOTE: These remarks are based on the 140 and 1000 having a similar architecture.  Other architectures may vary.