Amplifier wattage

[neoT]

Is it only me or do you have to crank-up the volume on new modern amplifiers much higher than older stuff to get to the same level on both? or maybe I've been out of the game for to long.

I bought a new surround amplifier, a Denon, 75watt rms per channel, anything below 50% volume is useless - and this according to 5 household members some teenagers included.
Take it up to 60% and it starts to get okay, if you really want to enjoy the movie then 70%-85% volume is necessary depending on movie - and it runs hot, very hot, according to the place I bought it from this is normal.
In stereo listening to music the same applies.

Compare this to a 45-year old TEAC hifi I have, the TEAC is 50watt/channel, not sure if it is rms or not, the TEAC at 25% volume setting sounds like the Denon at 65% on the same song, source and speakers. The TEAC runs cooler at that setting as well. Yes if you turn the TEAC past 50% there is notable distortion compared to the Denon, I can take the Denon up to 95% volume with no distortion.

So ja it is probably just me and my lack of experience with different amplifiers, but it just feels wrong to run an amp at 70% just for a nice normal movie/music experience, and that heat, just doesn't feel right.

 

[Larry]

Is it only me or do you have to crank-up the volume on new modern amplifiers much higher than older stuff to get to the same level on both? or maybe I've been out of the game for to long.

I bought a new surround amplifier, a Denon, 75watt rms per channel, anything below 50% volume is useless - and this according to 5 household members some teenagers included.
Take it up to 60% and it starts to get okay, if you really want to enjoy the movie then 70%-85% volume is necessary depending on movie - and it runs hot, very hot, according to the place I bought it from this is normal.
In stereo listening to music the same applies.

Compare this to a 45-year old TEAC hifi I have, the TEAC is 50watt/channel, not sure if it is rms or not, the TEAC at 25% volume setting sounds like the Denon at 65% on the same song, source and speakers. The TEAC runs cooler at that setting as well. Yes if you turn the TEAC past 50% there is notable distortion compared to the Denon, I can take the Denon up to 95% volume with no distortion.

So ja it is probably just me and my lack of experience with different amplifiers, but it just feels wrong to run an amp at 70% just for a nice normal movie/music experience, and that heat, just doesn't feel right.

The quoted 75 watts is likely documented as driving 1, or 2 channels. Not all channels concurrently (assuming you have 5 or more channels). This the way that receiver output is typically measured these days.

 

[tzs503gp]

The two amplifiers have different input voltage sensitivity. The older Teac would have something in the 300mV range for full power, while the new amp would have something like 1v to 2v. This is because modern equipment is referenced to digital sources.

70% on the dial for decent listening level seems about right to me.

 

[ghostinthemachine]

Older amplifiers had a higher sensitivity on the line inputs and thus it did not take much to get a loud level out of a system. I agree with the posts above about the modern amplifiers being less sensitive.

 

[Timbaland]

The two amplifiers have different input voltage sensitivity. The older Teac would have something in the 300mV range for full power, while the new amp would have something like 1v to 2v. This is because modern equipment is referenced to digital sources.

70% on the dial for decent listening level seems about right to me.

also how the volume is set to match reference level (80db) which you get towards the higher end side of the volume. Anything below 50% is likely to be 50db and below which is just not audible