Power for the Argon3Ls?

To Philip Beaudette,

I am sure you are getting all sorts of e-mails and questions from people regarding your review [of the Amphion Argon3L], but I think I have my justification. I live in Bahrain and it is really hard to go and audition any hi-fi equipment here due to a lack of dealers, so I have to place overseas orders to buy my equipment.

I read your review on the Amphion Argon3L and I like it a lot, both the review and the speaker. However, I noticed that the speaker has a sensitivity of 87dB, and I am not sure what the amplifier requirement for the speaker is. I use Roksan Caspian monoblocks, the power rating is as follows: 85W continuous into 8 ohms, both channels driven; 120W continuous into 4 ohms, both channels driven.

Can you please advise if my monoblock amps will be able to drive the Argon3L?

Regards,
Mahmoud

Unless your listening room is really big, I suspect 85W will be plenty. I think people tend to assume they’ll need more power than they actually end up using. I partnered the Argon 3Ls with a Bryston B100 SST integrated amplifier that is rated at 100Wpc into 8 ohms and it provided more power than I could use. If you like to listen at ridiculously high levels (i.e., over 90dB at your listening seat), then maybe you’ll have problems, particularly if your room is huge. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it. . . . Philip Beaudette