TA-100

[therealfuzzychaos]

New to the forum, so be nice  . Looking at getting a pair of Dynaudio Emit m10's and was wondering if anyone knew if the TA-100 would drive them nicely. I'm open to options not only to the TA-100, but to speaker options.

[novisnick]

Welcome to the nuthouse!! So glad your here.   
The TA-100 is driving my set of bookshelves, Klipsch RB61 Reference. Does a fine job in my bedroom sized room. 


                                              To the          House!!

[mshump]

Welcome to the forum. The TA-100 should have no problem with the Dynaudio speakers. You may want to look and compare with the Emotiva Airmotiv B1.

Mark

[stiehl11]

Oct 19, 2016 20:45:28 GMT -5 therealfuzzychaos said:

New to the forum, so be nice  . Looking at getting a pair of Dynaudio Emit m10's and was wondering if anyone knew if the TA-100 would drive them nicely. I'm open to options not only to the TA-100, but to speaker options.

Welcome to the Lounge! The TA-100 will drive them; how nicely depends on what you ask of it. First let me state that I have not heard the Emit m10 speakers. But, looking at the specs of both the speaker and amplifier you will gas the amp at a little over 100db with a full-range signal. You would likely get a slightly higher db if you get a sub with it and cross it around 60 or 80 Hz. If you were to go with a speaker that was, say, 92db efficient you would be able to eek out an additional 6db. Remember that music is dynamic and depending on what you're listening to can swing 20db between soft and loud within a track. Even more if used as a theater speaker. Back in the day (25-ish years ago) I easily sent my 50 watt amp clipping with 89db efficient speakers jamming out to tracks of the day without a noise complaint from my neighbors in the dorm. In other words I was asking more of the amp than what it could give. The problem with this is that you can ruin your speakers by sending a clipped signal to it. So, if you're into easy listening or don't play that loudly you'll be fine with this combination. If you ever see yourself doing your best Pete Townsend air-guitar windmill while jumping off the furniture (I'm not dating myself, am I?) in full rock and roll rebellion then you may want to consider either a more sensitive speaker or a more powerful amp.

As for recommendations; I find that Emotiva makes some of the finest amps at their price point and Phase Tech PC speakers work incredibly well with them. The PC-1.5 would be similar to the Dynaudio speakers and give you another 4db and an additional 10 Hz lower output for roughly the same price. However, and again if you're going to be jamming to the sweet sounds of your soon to be new rig, you'd likely want to look into even more efficient speakers (pending that you like their sonic attributes) or a beefier amp.

[vcautokid]

Welcome to where High Current and Voltage swing. Now let's talk about the TA-100. Plenty of power to keep the Dynaudio speakers happy. Unlike allot of big deal amps. This one one really is. At lower impedances it gets to real work delivering the current when asked. You can see from the specs it does nearly doubles it's power into 4 ohms vs. 8 ohms. The Dynaudio Speakers happily live usually in the 4 to 6 ohms nominally. I sold allot of Dynaudio in the day. They like amps like the TA-100 very much. So continuing the trend of power with finesse, Emotiva Audio makes the TA-100, the choice for your perfect music enjoyment. You, and your Dynaudio's will be very delighted. Again welcome to the forums, and all things Emotiva, and much more.

[leonski]

The proposed Dynaudio are only 86db SENSITIVE. Probably less than 1% EFFICIENT.
Dynaudio calls 'em 6ohm, too. So the TA-100 will be good for maybe 70 or 80 a side at clipping.

This is a 'try it and see' proposition, to me, at least. If the room is not huge, you might get away with it.
If you can 'fall for' a speaker with higher sensitivity, so much the better. 3db will be like purchasing 2x the amp power. 6db would be like purchasing 4x the amp power.
This is to the good.

Room and listening habits will determine satisfaction, short OR long term. If you like it LOUD and are in a larger space with few or no neighbors to annoy?

If you are looking to improve TV sound, this might work. But not at nose bleed levels, probably.

Buy a sub IF you need the extra low end or 'miss it'. But expecting a dramatic increase in power isn't likely to happen.
From 80hz on down, you might need 20% or so of the TOTAL power of any system. And don't forget that ANY filters installed for 'bass management' are NOT 'brick walls' so the amp(s) in question produce both
above and below the set point frequency. Though the slope of the filter materially effects how much and how far the undesired effect lasts.

[therealfuzzychaos]

Thanks everyone for the help and the lessons on efficiency.

Oct 19, 2016 22:28:06 GMT -5 mshump said:

Welcome to the forum. The TA-100 should have no problem with the Dynaudio speakers. You may want to look and compare with the Emotiva Airmotiv B1.

Mark

I would like to know more about the B1's, what a great price. Can't really find any reviews., though there is a store in Cincinnati that carries Emotiva, maybe they have a pair I can audition.

[jmilton]

I have the TA-100 and the B1's (sounds like a 90's rock group). The B1's sound excellent with a wide soundstage. A shame that many will slap them on a desktop with a computer monitor...they should be on stands, 2 feet off the front wall IMHO. Strong bass for such a small speaker!

[leonski]

If you opt for the B1 speakers, don't forget they are REAR PORTED. This usually means you'll need a litte more space than you might imagine to the front wall.

Going to Cinncy with a COUPLE stores to visit would be a good idea. Try to have some idea what you want to hear prior to making the voyage. 300$ to 400$ a pair speakers is a pretty competitive space, so you'll have
plenty to audition if you can find the right stores.

Big Box stores might NOT be the best place. Huge open spaces won't show speakers OR electronics at their best. Smaller, 'boutique' stores may be better in this regard since they'll have smaller listeining spaces more like what you find in someones home.

The room you place the speakers in is NEXT. Setup makes a LOT of difference.

You'll get there!

[Deleted]

Oct 20, 2016 1:19:16 GMT -5 vcautokid said:

Welcome to where High Current and Voltage swing. Now let's talk about the TA-100. Plenty of power to keep the Dynaudio speakers happy. Unlike allot of big deal amps. This one one really is. At lower impedances it gets to real work delivering the current when asked. You can see from the specs it does nearly doubles it's power into 4 ohms vs. 8 ohms. The Dynaudio Speakers happily live usually in the 4 to 6 ohms nominally. I sold allot of Dynaudio in the day. They like amps like the TA-100 very much. So continuing the trend of power with finesse, Emotiva Audio makes the TA-100, the choice for your perfect music enjoyment. You, and your Dynaudio's will be very delighted. Again welcome to the forums, and all things Emotiva, and much more.

therealfuzzychaos, Welcome to the Emotiva Lounge!   

TA-100
50 watts RMS per channel (20 Hz – 20 kHz; THD < 0.02%; into 8 Ohms).
90 watts RMS per channel (1 kHz; THD < 1%; into 4 Ohms).

The 4 ohms 1% THD level is what is generally termed as "clipping."  1% distortion of the TA-100 is 50 times more than the very low 0.02%THD at the 8 0hm rating (unnecessarily low IMO--- 0.1%THD into 8 ohms would be plenty low for this receiver).  The amp does clearly not double the power into 4 ohms (you will find very few high end amps that do or even close)  A more commonly 50% more (or up to 75% more) is normally the case with stronger amps.
 
This is a very good but lower priced stereo receiver and at a more reasonable THD rate of 0.1 - 0.25% THD into 4 ohms even at 1 kHz would be much lower than the 90 watts.  I don't like an amp to get any where close to audible clipping.  

That said, I can presume the TA-100 will be OK driving the B1's, 8 ohms/86dB sensitivity rated (we don't have any independent tests yet).  That presumes you do not drive the B1's to to very high dynamic levels or in a very large room. Emotiva has a history of making excellent bang for the buck speakers at great prices.  My guess based on the three sets of Emo speakers I own is that the B1 will be a big winner in the new passive Airmotiv line!   That folded ribbon tweeter is superb!  I have heard many Dynaudio's at dealers over the years.  They tend to be excellent sounding Danish speakers.  However the price by the time they get to US dealers has always been rather high for US buyers.  They have been taken over by a Chinese firm, GoerTek, not sure what changes that might bring in the future (probably plenty of new money).   The Dynaudio Emit M10 is also spec'd at 86dB's.

To me it is imperative that you finally listen to the speaker in your own room as room a acoustics can have a huge affect on how the speaker will sound.  I can usually get a good idea in a dealers room if a speaker might be a good buy.  However, I never buy unless the dealer allows a no questions asked full return privilege (not just an in store credit).  

My recommendation would be to buy the B1 and TA-100 first and audition them in your room for several weeks.  In a moderate sized environment you might be very pleased.  If you love the B1's but think you might want more power then try the Emo PT-100, Stereo preamp/DAC/Tuner with a more pwerful amp like the A-300.  Yeah some will say that is only about 4.5dB's louder, but that can be critical with very dynamic sources.  Note, Emo is great about returns and customer service, nobody is better!

See jmilton's post above.  He is also a pro online reviewer with a great ear!
 
 

[Deleted]

Oct 20, 2016 7:43:07 GMT -5 therealfuzzychaos said:

Thanks everyone for the help and the lessons on efficiency.

Oct 19, 2016 22:28:06 GMT -5 mshump said:

Welcome to the forum. The TA-100 should have no problem with the Dynaudio speakers. You may want to look and compare with the Emotiva Airmotiv B1.

Mark

I would like to know more about the B1's, what a great price. Can't really find any reviews., though there is a store in Cincinnati that carries Emotiva, maybe they have a pair I can audition. 

If they do and you think you would like the sound, say thanks and leave.  (sorry dealers! )  Then order it from Emotiva direct on a quality Visa card and have it shipped to you free with mostly likely zero sales tax.  Many good bank cards add a full extra year to the manufacturers one year.  Many folks are not aware of this usually hidden in the small print.  I have used it several times with Visa/Master Card and American Express.  Return if necessary to Emo is only 25lbs boxed and that is well worth the audition.  Check at the Lounge for other members feedback. 

[leonski]

Buying by 'Review' is NOT recommended. Who do you Trust? And more importantly, WHY?

Chuckie makes a VERY important point and is not to be overlooked. Rating an amp at 1% distortion pretty much tells me that that is IT.
But while true, the FREQUENCY at which distorion occurs is also important. At very low frequencies, people are very INSENSITIVE to such while at high frequencies, very SENSITIVE.

A much better AMP, that comes with a lot of OTHER goodies would be the OUTLAW RR2150. A MUCH more robust amp section and a production history of 10 years and change.
FWIW, it is reasably well reviewed and in no way inferior to anything designed last week. The companies which have 'annual models' count on planned obsolescence for the 'churn'
and may not be able to service a piece more than 4 or 5 years old.

www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/306outlaw/#L7QSGI5SAsyJ7O3u.97

This is the Stereophile test for your consideration.

What is the SOURCE you are going to use? That, too, can be a limit, and sooner than later as you go 'up' the food chain.

[Deleted]

 I own an excellent Outlaw sub and agree the Outlaw RR2150 seems like a very nice unit but a little strange looking IMO.  However, it is $699 versus $399 for the TA-100, big difference!

I like and always look for an objective pro review (there are few anymore) for the test results.  In speaker reviews I want to see sensitivity, impedance, evidence of excessively rising high end, off axis response and low extension at about -3dB's.  Many manufacturers exaggerate specs by showing higher than actual impedance, higher than actual sensitivity, and lower than actual bass extension.   One reason is to not lose sales to buyers who own current AVR's that generally these days have low power amps.  If I convince you that my brand/model speakers are nominal 8 ohms and fairly high in sensitivity then you the buyer think you're OK with the $500 receiver.  I have seen many reviews that show a 8 ohm spec'd speaker actually dropping down to 4 ohms in tests and being spec'd 2-5 dB's higher than tested.   Not to pick on Klipsch as I owned them in the past, but several years ago I saw a Klipsch speaker spec'd at 98dB's test out at 92.5dB's.  This is still high sensitivity but requires close to 4 times more power than one would presume.  I also have seen speakers that seem to have a rather poor off axis response in tests and then when In a dealer's room and I move several feet to one side or another I hear the response drop off (no offense to some ML panels).  That might be fine for those who have one sweet spot seat.  Not good for me.

With amps the test results show the power output at 8 and 4 ohms if they are even spec'd at those.  Many AVR receivers and lower priced power amps as we know now skimp on the amps and only spec them at 8 ohms and sometime a quick mention at 6 ohms.  If they are tested at 8 and 4 ohms then I like to see power output hopefully with 2 or all channels operating.   THD of 0.1% is a good standard for tests and I could care less about clipping, 1.0%.  With SS amps many folks can hear as low as 0.5% THD, so IMO a tested THD of 0.25% or less is ideal.  Tubes are a different discussion.

If there are only subjective reviews then I have to trust the manufacturers published specs. sorry but I don't many times.  I don't trust peoples ears to tell me what most reviews years ago used to publish.  Too bad.  When I hear someone has purchased a new amp and another member asks, how does it sound?  I have to chuckle.       

Just some misc ramblings here.  
 

[leonski]

Yes, the RR in RR2150 stands for Retro Receiver. So it does have a little 'Art Deco' to the look.
I look at longer terms than many. If I buy a 400$ amp and simply outgrow it or find speakers it isn't happy with, I'm stuck. I think the Outlaw might go thru one upgrade cycle for sure and maybe even end up in a 2nd system some time in the future. It has been made for over a decade and so is of both lasting value and well regarded.
I think it may SAVE money in the long run, since it won't have to be replaced by another inexpensive amp.

I stay out of the swamp that is HT receiver power specs.

I've read but don't obsess about Stereophile tests. It would appear that most manufacturers, At Least from what I've read are fairly close with sensitivity. Again, are you measureing at 1khz or some broadband white, pink, grey, fuscia, or plaid noise signal? I look at the measured data part to try to judge 'goodness of load'. Measured speaker reactance is reliable in this regard.

Amp power is a nearly worthless spec. NO reference is hardly EVER made to an amps performance into a REAL speaker load, which is typically anything but resistive.
Distortion is in a similar situation. That 1% number for some amps is considered by most to the the onset of clipping. And it Will be pretty audible at most frequncies. I'm not prepared to draw a 'hard line'. Under some conditions, I suspect you CAN hear 1/2% but not many. Don't forget most tube amps of the 'last' generation hovered around 7/10% and got few complaints on THAT score. We can save the even/odd harmonic dispute for Later, if you like.
Stereophile runs amps at 1/3 rated power for 1 hour to put amp under MAXIMUM stress for heat purposes. The best amps go thru this test and you can't cook dinner on the heatsinks or measure much change in performance of the AFTER measures.
The other thing with 1% distortion is that you can automatically assume that the amp is of marginal headroom against the power at 1%.

In MY opinion, the trick with reviewers is to KNOW what that person likes. Know what they Value in a presentation. And have a history with them so you can tell with reasonable odds that you Will or Won't like something based on the review.

And agreed, recommending 'stuff' to someone completely or mostly unknown is a bad idea. Hey! you'll LOVE these speakers! Well? Will you or Won't you? I think my Klipsch Corner Horns SHOULD work in your 12'x12' listening room with cement walls and 8' ceiling. No reason why Not! And even though they are about 100+db sensitive, don't forget the kilowatt Monbblocs.

I could be 100% wrong, but didn't HSUResearch make the Outlaw subs?

Also misc ramblings:

[therealfuzzychaos]

I like reviews to help start the process. Of course, my own ears are the only thing that can really tell me if I like something or not. I may try the Airmotiv B1's and will probably get the TA-100.

[KeithL]

Note that, with all normal Class A/B solid state amps (which includes ours), the distortion remains low until you get very near clipping, then rises sharply.
This means that, for most of them, the THD is probably below 0.05% or 0.1% up to at least 90% of that 1% rating.
Likewise, the 4 Ohm THD rating is usually a tiny bit higher - but not significantly so.

Since there is no industry standard for rating power (not one everybody agrees on anyway) everybody picks the level they like.
For whatever reason, more companies seem to rate 4 Ohm power at 1%, while more rate 8 Ohm power at 0.1% or something like that.

The reality is that it's often simply a marketing decision ("90 watts/channel at 1% THD" looks better than 87.5 watts/channel at 0.1% THD)
It also depends on the target market for the product; is it "an audiophile product" or "an audio product".
(Note that you don't see THD ratings on the amps in Bluetooth speakers very often.... )

Response of a speaker on-axis and off-axis is a more complicated issue.
In general, you want a speaker to have a relatively flat off-axis response......

HOWEVER, if you have a relatively live room, or a room that's not symmetrical, then the exact opposite is probably true.
Speakers with a narrower response are less affected by room acoustics.

Likewise, a speaker with a rather narrow VERTICAL dispersion is likely to sound somewhat drier, and may sound different depending on whether you're sitting or standing.
However, because it limits ceiling and floor reflections, it will be much less sensitive to imaging problems in some rooms.
(And it won't sound wildly different depending on whether your floor is carpet or tile.)
This is why monitors, like our Stealth 8's, often talk about "limited vertical dispersion" as a feature.....

In short, if your speaker has a narrower dispersion, in either dimension, then it will be LESS CRITICAL of all those "first bounce points" people talk about.
The more the speaker "beams" the music straight to the listener, the less effect various first-bounce issues will have, and the less need you'll have for room treatments.
A speaker with a very wide and flat vertical and horizontal dispersion will tend to sound brighter in a live room than in a treated room.
A speaker with a more controlled (narrower) dispersion will tend to vary less in how it sounds between live and dead rooms.

There are some vague standards that apply to "friendly, well behaved speakers".....
A 4 Ohm speaker shouldn't drop below around 2.5 Ohms, and an 8 Ohm speaker should stay above 5 Ohms or so.....

Oct 20, 2016 17:27:20 GMT -5 @tllfkacn said:

 I own an excellent Outlaw sub and agree the Outlaw RR2150 seems like a very nice unit but a little strange looking IMO.  However, it is $699 versus $399 for the TA-100, big difference!

I like and always look for an objective pro review (there are few anymore) for the test results.  In speaker reviews I want to see sensitivity, impedance, evidence of excessively rising high end, off axis response and low extension at about -3dB's.  Many manufacturers exaggerate specs by showing higher than actual impedance, higher than actual sensitivity, and lower than actual bass extension.   One reason is to not lose sales to buyers who own current AVR's that generally these days have low power amps.  If I convince you that my brand/model speakers are nominal 8 ohms and fairly high in sensitivity then you the buyer think you're OK with the $500 receiver.  I have seen many reviews that show a 8 ohm spec'd speaker actually dropping down to 4 ohms in tests and being spec'd 2-5 dB's higher than tested.   Not to pick on Klipsch as I owned them in the past, but several years ago I saw a Klipsch speaker spec'd at 98dB's test out at 92.5dB's.  This is still high sensitivity but requires close to 4 times more power than one would presume.  I also have seen speakers that seem to have a rather poor off axis response in tests and then when In a dealer's room and I move several feet to one side or another I hear the response drop off (no offense to some ML panels).  That might be fine for those who have one sweet spot seat.  Not good for me.

With amps the test results show the power output at 8 and 4 ohms if they are even spec'd at those.  Many AVR receivers and lower priced power amps as we know now skimp on the amps and only spec them at 8 ohms and sometime a quick mention at 6 ohms.  If they are tested at 8 and 4 ohms then I like to see power output hopefully with 2 or all channels operating.   THD of 0.1% is a good standard for tests and I could care less about clipping, 1.0%.  With SS amps many folks can hear as low as 0.5% THD, so IMO a tested THD of 0.25% or less is ideal.  Tubes are a different discussion.

If there are only subjective reviews then I have to trust the manufacturers published specs. sorry but I don't many times.  I don't trust peoples ears to tell me what most reviews years ago used to publish.  Too bad.  When I hear someone has purchased a new amp and another member asks, how does it sound?  I have to chuckle.       

Just some misc ramblings here.  
 

[leonski]

Speaker impdance does matter. I know of NO 'convention' about the definition of 'nominal impedance'. But it is only useful with other measurables.
You are at the mercy of the marketing folks, so trust IS important in this regard.

It is clear that some kind of Real Reactive dummy load is needed for the proper testing of amps. Big 'into a resistor' numbers are cool but don't tell you much.

But of MORE importance is the Phase Angle which the speaker presents TO the amp. And the Amps reaction TO such wacky phase loads.

The reason the 1% number for distorion MAY be important is that it indicates potential HEADROOM issues. Even 1db is less than about 115 watts peak. If you wanted 3db headroom, you'd need double the RMS.

50@8 WOULD be 100@4 with a PERFECT (doesn't actually exist) Voltage Source amp.

But in the real world? Using a speaker APPROPRIATE for the amp, you have little to worry about. Cruising along at 5 watts leaves over 12db headroom to 90 watts. That's LOUD. This is of course assuming a system, speakers and ROOM in proportion. No cavern or volume level to make you nauseous. Though if you DID have some crazy sensitive speaker, you COULD pull it off! It'd have to be at the 100db mark or above, methinks.


I like review shopping, too. Kind of Fantasy Island for stereo heads.

[Deleted]

Oct 21, 2016 10:14:01 GMT -5 KeithL said:

Note that, with all normal Class A/B solid state amps (which includes ours), the distortion remains low until you get very near clipping, then rises sharply.
This means that, for most of them, the THD is probably below 0.05% or 0.1% up to at least 90% of that 1% rating.
Likewise, the 4 Ohm THD rating is usually a tiny bit higher - but not significantly so.

Since there is no industry standard for rating power (not one everybody agrees on anyway) everybody picks the level they like.
For whatever reason, more companies seem to rate 4 Ohm power at 1%, while more rate 8 Ohm power at 0.1% or something like that.

The reality is that it's often simply a marketing decision ("90 watts/channel at 1% THD" looks better than 87.5 watts/channel at 0.1% THD)
It also depends on the target market for the product; is it "an audiophile product" or "an audio product".
(Note that you don't see THD ratings on the amps in Bluetooth speakers very often.... )

......................

Oct 20, 2016 17:27:20 GMT -5 @tllfkacn said:

........................
 

50 watts into 8 ohms and then 90 watts into 4 ohms fools many folks like it did above with a member who wrote:   You can see from the specs it does nearly doubles it's power into 4 ohms vs. 8 ohms.  You know, I know and he should know that no $400 receiver, even from Emo that weighs a mere 15 lbs almost doubles the 8 ohm power into a 4 ohm load, not even close, unless THD manipulation is used!    Most of the Emo amps have a reasonable increase as posted:

XPA-5     200/8 ohms --- 300/4 ohms  =  50%  increase
XPA Gen3-2ch     300/8 ohms --- 490/4 ohms  =  63% increase      
XPA-1     600/8 ohms --- 1000/4 ohms = 67% increase

TA-100    50/8 0hms --- 90/4 ohms  =  80% increase   (no way)

Sorry, I must call some baloney here, please excuse my Italian.     The only amps I know of that almost double from 8 ohms to 4 ohms are very high end amps.  

The TA-100 THD was not even close to the same from 50 watts (0.02) to 90 watts (1.0), actually 50 times more THD.  I did a check of recent test of receivers from S&V magazine tested at 2 channels into 8 ohms with 0.1% THD  and then 1.0% THD (clipping) and found that with 4 units averaging $1375 they had an increase of 20% increase from 0.1 to 1.0 % THD.  Your estimate of marketing decision ("90 watts/channel at 1% THD" looks better than 87.5 watts/channel at 0.1% THD --- about 3% increase).  This seems to reflect an exaggeration IMO.  If in fact the correct power output at 4 ohms and 1.0% is 90 watts, then the 0.1% THD would seem to be  more in the range of 70-75 watts.  That is unless the TA-100 has the steepest pre-clipping graph curve increase in audio amp history ( ).  As I mentioned, I thought the 0.02% THD level/8 ohms posted for the TA-100 is unnecessarily strict.  Why not at 0.1% I have no idea other than in the past Emo's specs have seem to have had proof reading errors.

How about, as I have requested already several time at the Lounge, that Emo, if they are going to post power specs, then they should post the recent commonly accepted specs of 0.1% THD (0.05 or up to 0.25 for 4 ohms), but not just 1% THD as it by itself is for marketing purposes only and seems deceptive.  Where have the AP test results gone?  I would have zero issues with the TA-100 spec'd at 50/70 watts or even 60/70 watts into 8/4 ohms.  Very few products at this price range even mention 4 ohms!  

I'm sure some here think I'm being too picky.  I'm a detail person and hate to see the general turn in the audio industry away from precise and consistent power amps specs even when lower priced units are introduced into the market.  They are important to me and others who understand them and use them in evaluations and to mate properly with speakers and room requirements.      

I very much appreciate Keith being an Emo trooper and responding to my maybe tough questions.  I'm sure the TA-100 is a fine amp for the price, but let's not imply it is a power house into 4 ohms.

More of my misc ramblings.  
 

[teaman]

I agree chuckienut, the specs do seem deceptive.

[leonski]

They, like most specs, are nearly Meaningless without both Context and Knowledge.
Most will look at 50@8 and 90@4 and smile. The next level down looks at distortion which is NOT in favor of this amp while the next level down from THAT is 'not available' which would be how the amp performs into a REAL speaker.

FEW amps are rated into a real speaker, the manufacturers rely on buyers only wanting RMS power into a resistor. Too bad NO speaker is a simple resistive load.
The AP data which I seen and heard people yowl about doesn't help much. Just so much blah without context and missing some important items, like 10khz square wave response.