How do I determine if the ST35 can drive my speakers?

[Shannon Parks]

http://www.northcreekmusic.com/OkaraII/OkaraII.htm

I can't find any sensitivity specs on these speakers - that's the key to making a reasonable estimation. I will say that Thermion is using his ST35 to drive his Apogee Centaurs - a ridiculously difficult load, but it does sound very nice.

Shannon

[Shannon Parks]

Thanks for the reply. I think I may have answered my own question. On the NCMC web site the Okara II has a reference sensitivity of 85.5 dB. A minimum amp power of 30 watts. The ST35 output is 17.5 watts per channel, correct?? :oops:

Maybe at full clipping. :mrgreen: While I think some folks could be happy with a ST35 with your speakers, others wouldn't. Look for an ST70 to mod, or maybe build a Foreplay for use with your current amp.

Shannon

[erichayes]

Hj All,

My experience with my 1773 amp (also PP 6BQ5 UL) and the Seas Thor speakers (86dB) is that they're OK for each other unless you like to listen at moderately high levels to complex (ie orchestral, multi track highly compressed rock, etc.) waveforms. Sarah McLachlan makes them happy; Bach's Prelude and Fugue in Em brings them to their knees.

My solution was to bridge a pair of them to give me around 38 watts a side. Of course, being the owner of the company allows me to do this without inflicting great financial pain on myself.

BTW, Shannon, I keep forgetting to ask you how stable the ST-35 is in bridged configuration. I would guess it's fine, judjing from the testing you've done on your other designs, but I'm curious if it was always so.

[someone]

I drove a pair of Vandersteen 2ce's without too much trouble.

[Thermion]

As Shannon said, I am driving a pair of Apogee Centaurs (83 db) with my Rev C amp. It sounds very good until you try to push it just a little, and the Rev C runs out of gas pretty quick. My normal amps are a rebuilt pair of Dyna MkIIIs. (right now sitting on the bench getting an updated driver circuit) These are about the minimum power (~60 Watts)I would recommend for those North Creek speakers. Your best bet is to get a pair of Shannon's Ike boards, and build a pair of powerful monoblocks.

JT

[Thermion]

What are/is the Ike board and where can I find information about it.

Check out the Eiclone posts on this forum.

JT