I have a pair of M22s and an EP175, and I'm now looking to upgrade my amplifier. I'm considering either the NAD C370 (rated at 120 watts/channel) or the NAD C350 (rated at 60 watts/channel). I'm leaning towards the C370 because I like to occaisonally achieve concert-level volume in a very large room. Am I in danger of frying the M22s with the C370 because it's peak power extends well beyond 200 watts? Just how loud can the M22s get? And at what point do I need to add another pair of speakers to get louder?

Roger

PS I've also found it tricky to find the right crossover and volume settings on the EP175. I realize that it depends on room dynamics, but could you give me a ballpark ideal crossover setting for it when combined with the M22s? I listen almost entirely to small group jazz, and have little interest in room-shaking movie sound effects if that helps. I'm just trying to get the upright bass to sound natural. Thanks.

It is no problem to run the M22s with 120 watts. In fact you can go much higher than this. Our testing has determined that using amplifiers up to 200 watts rms will still result in the amplifier running out of power before the speaker runs out of capability to reproduce it.

I would suggest setting the EP175 at 60 Hz as a starting point and then try some listening either side of this frequency.