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Will it drive my speakers?

Put in your speakers. We will tell you what they need.

Five numbers off the back of your speakers and out of your room. This works out the power actually required, and it will happily tell you that you need less than you were about to buy.

Your speakersOr choose a model and we will fill in the rest.
Speaker sensitivity, dBOn the spec sheet, usually 84 to 95
Nominal impedance
Listening distance, metresSpeaker to your ears
How loud do you listen?
Headroom for peaks, dB
Sensitivity is quoted at 2.83 V, not 1 WSame thing into 8 ohms. Into 4 it flatters the speaker by 3 dB, and we correct for it.
57watts
per channel, into 8 ohms

A modest amplifier is enough.

This is the range most integrated amplifiers already sit in, including the one you probably own. If yours is not clipping, keeping it is the right answer.

If any of that was unfamiliar: Sensitivity, Impedance, Headroom, The 2.83 V trap

Sensitivity figures are the manufacturers’ own. Manufacturers are optimistic and they do not all measure the same way, so independent measurement often lands a decibel or two lower. Standard sensitivity and distance arithmetic, with 10 dB left for peaks. It assumes sound reaches you directly and ignores what the room reflects back, so the true requirement is lower than this, and more so the further back you sit. We would rather be conservative with your money than flattering to ours.

Worked out, not estimated

What our amplifiers drive.

Every speaker whose sensitivity we have checked against the published rating of every amplifier we have checked. Same formula as the calculator above, at one stated condition so the answers can be compared: 85 dB at the listening seat, three metres away, with 10 dB left for peaks. Move any of those and the numbers move; the calculator will do it for your room.

See every pairing worked out
Power required at 85 dB, 3 m, 10 dB headroom, against rated output at the speaker's own impedance.
SpeakerNeedsLAiV Crescendo CHORUSLAiV Harmony GanM MonoblocksKINKI STUDIO EX-M1KINKI STUDIO EX-M1+KINKI STUDIO EX-M7KINKI STUDIO EX-B7VINSHINE x KINKI DAZZLE
ATC SCM1185 dB, 8 ohm90 WShort50 WDrives it200 WDrives it215 WDrives it215 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it300 W
ATC SCM1985 dB, 8 ohm90 WShort50 WDrives it200 WDrives it215 WDrives it215 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it300 W
ATC SCM4085 dB, 8 ohm90 WShort50 WDrives it200 WDrives it215 WDrives it215 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it300 W
Buchardt S400 MKII88 dB, 4 ohm90 WShort50 WDrives it200 WDrives it400 WDrives it400 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it560 W
Harbeth Super HL5plus XD86 dB, 6 ohm71 WShort50 WDrives it200 WDrives it215 WDrives it215 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it300 W
KEF LS50 Meta85 dB, 8 ohm90 WShort50 WDrives it200 WDrives it215 WDrives it215 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it300 W
Klipsch Cornwall IV102 dB, 8 ohm2 WDrives it50 WDrives it200 WDrives it215 WDrives it215 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it300 W
Klipsch Heresy IV99 dB, 8 ohm4 WDrives it50 WDrives it200 WDrives it215 WDrives it215 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it300 W
Magico A388 dB, 4 ohm90 WShort50 WDrives it200 WDrives it400 WDrives it400 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it560 W
Magico A588 dB, 4 ohm90 WShort50 WDrives it200 WDrives it400 WDrives it400 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it560 W
Wilson Audio SabrinaX87 dB, 4 ohm57 WShort50 WDrives it200 WDrives it400 WDrives it400 WDrives it250 WDrives it250 WDrives it560 W

Ratings are each manufacturer's own published figure, recorded with its source in our data. Amplifiers whose output we have not yet confirmed are not in this table, and will not be until they are.

What this cannot tell you yet

Watts are not the whole story.

Power decides whether an amplifier can play loud enough. It does not decide whether the pairing sounds right, and that is the half nobody measures. We suggest an amplifier only where we have published its rated output, and we will not estimate one, because an estimate dressed as a specification is the thing this site exists not to do. Send us your speakers and the number above, and we will tell you what we would use.

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