Evoke 30 Amp help! 4 Ω dilemma * 1st Post / Be Gentle (also)

lololabrute

Novice Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
27
Age
47
Location
Montreal, Canada
Just before the holidays I treated myself to a pair of Evoke 30 and i have yet to get proper amplification for it. I'm not looking for recommendations on what to buy because that would be an endless quest with too many variables but what I DO need is help understanding the basics of what specs to look for in order to fully enjoy the sound these speakers can produce..

I will not pretend that I'm a "connaisseur", I'm not. But I want to make a proper purchase. Do I need a 100W amp? 150W? Do I need to make sure it can support 4 Ω only? What happens if the amp says 8 Ω? Am i damaging the speakers? Is the Unity Star a proper purchase for example? Or the Denon AVR-S650H (can support my blu-ray, x-box, and turntable all at the same time...)

If anyone can point me towards the right direction, that would be great.

Thx!!

L
 
As your speakers are 4 ohms, you need an amp that is able to drive 4 ohm loads. If you use an amp that can't drive 4 ohms, it will overheat and shut down. It shouldn't cause any damage to your speakers, it just won't be able to drive them.

How much power you need is a difficult question. The speakers have an 88db sensitivity rating, which means that at 1 metre distance, 1 watt of power, will produce 88db of sound.

So, how much power you need, depends on how much SPL you need, at the distance that you sit from the speakers, in your room. If you are listening to movies, reference level is 75db with 30db of headroom required for dynamic peaks. That is pretty loud though. Not everyone listens at reference.

There is a power calculator here:

 
In real world use you don't need massive amount of power, but with 4 ohm speakers you need a amp with an decent psu. That rules out most avr, as I've found they are a bit weedy when it comes to hard to drive speakers.

One good way to work out of a amp is 4 ohm capable is if it doubles the power output from 8 to 4 with the same amount of the
Also be aware many 4 ohm speakers drop way under 4ohm across the frequency range, mine are about 3 ohm at 60hz.


Typically quality dedicated power amplifiers will drive 4 ohm speakers no problem.

The amps I use are 300w into 4 ohm.
 
As your speakers are 4 ohms, you need an amp that is able to drive 4 ohm loads. If you use an amp that can't drive 4 ohms, it will overheat and shut down. It shouldn't cause any damage to your speakers, it just won't be able to drive them.

How much power you need is a difficult question. The speakers have an 88db sensitivity rating, which means that at 1 metre distance, 1 watt of power, will produce 88db of sound.

So, how much power you need, depends on how much SPL you need, at the distance that you sit from the speakers, in your room. If you are listening to movies, reference level is 75db with 30db of headroom required for dynamic peaks. That is pretty loud though. Not everyone listens at reference.

There is a power calculator here:


Thanks for this. Indeed I am not looking to crank it up that much but rather get the clearest sound possible out of my speakers. Although it's fun to through some Zeppelin in there without doing too much damage.
 
More about sound quality last time I used 4 ohm speakers with a avr it just sounded so closed in.
 
In real world use you don't need massive amount of power, but with 4 ohm speakers you need a amp with an decent psu. That rules out most avr, as I've found they are a bit weedy when it comes to hard to drive speakers.

One good way to work out of a amp is 4 ohm capable is if it doubles the power output from 8 to 4 with the same amount of the
Also be aware many 4 ohm speakers drop way under 4ohm across the frequency range, mine are about 3 ohm at 60hz.


Typically quality dedicated power amplifiers will drive 4 ohm speakers no problem.

The amps I use are 300w into 4 ohm.

Thanks for the input. I'll keep looking and shopping and comparing ..
 
All right so after a little research, here are choices I could consider in the near future :

Cambridge Audio CXA81 Integrated Amplifier with DAC

PMA-2500NE

Naim Unity Star


I have a soft spot for the Naim Unity Star especially with its hard drive / cd player function, but I don't know that at this price point whether or not it is far superior from the other 2 ... thoughts?
 
Some very happy Denon PMA 2500 owners on here. Excellent processor and DAC, I have the DCD 2500 SACD player. One members thoughts in this thread.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom