Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Enough amp power for M80?

Howdy all. I'm upgrading my system from bookshelf speakers. Have been using Mordaunt-Short MS812's, very very nice, but I wanted floorstanders. I'm evaluating the M60's, and thinking about also trying the M80's. I'm wondering if my Cambridge Audio Azur 640A integrated amp is strong enough to use with the M80s for an indefinite amount of time.

The 640A is rated at 65 wpc at 8 ohms and 100 wpc at 4 ohms. It seems to do very well with the M60s. I keep eyeing the M80's because I know that I won't want to spend this kind of money on speakers again for a long time, and I'm willing to stretch a bit further (I'm already past my budget) to get something I'll be happy with for more years. But I can't afford to also upgrade my amp at the same time. Those things get pricey fast!

So even though I know I wouldn't get the most out of M80's, would my amp be enough to run with them for a year or two? Or will I be wishing I had more power?

Your amp will power the M80s fine, it is according to the level at which you listen that will determine if you will think you need more power. I use a Rotel RB1080 @ 300 watts @ 4 ohm for my M80s. I like the combo just fine.

That's a lot more powerful than mine! My amp goes to 100W at 4 ohm.

I have read that the M80's sound significantly better with higher power to back them up -- as much as you're using, or more.

Rel, welcome. There'd be no factual reason for the M80s to sound better simply because an amplifier has more unused power. Remember that the power of the human mind, rather than the power of the amplifier, may be the reason for that belief. Your amp should be plenty in most cases.

Very well, when I finish trying the M60's maybe I'll try a pair of M80's too. As long as they can hold me over until someday when I can pay for a better amp then it should be okay.

Thanks

The M80s are very nice audiophile speakers. A more powerful and high quality amp, like the Rotel RB1080, will give you better separation and a clearer soundstage. This is important to some listeners. Others don't care or cannot tell the difference. If you like listening to music or movies at very high db levels, then a powerful amp will reproduce the sound without any distortion. In this case, a lower wattage amp will not do justice to the M80 speakers!

Others don't necessarily believe there is that difference. Note that I do not necessarily include myself in that category, but I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand as not caring or not being able to tell the difference.