First I've give you my experience with a pair of UFOs and 94 dB Omega Super Alnico Monitors in my smallish room. The short version is they totally rocked, at least for me. They had plenty of volume, dynamics and bass (down to the high 30s) to provide a satisfyingly experience for e.g. Zepplin, Floyd or ZZ Top. What they don't do is move a bunch of air to reproduce that concert experience, or give you the sub bass down below 30 Hz (which is more on the speaker than the amp). They rocked harder than my 100 watt Pass SEM (single ended MOSFET) solid state monos, and for me, that was plenty.

Now to you. I'm a math guy so I'll start with that. If you believe your Fortes are really 99 dB then the UFO25 will drive them over 102 dB at 1 meter. That should be plenty loud if you're looking for 85 dB in your listening seat. When I hear Steve G talk about "rocking out" I feel like he is talking about reproducing a concert, literally shaking the house. In his UFO review he says 2 watts won't do that but neither will 20 watts or probably 100 watts. So, IMO if you're looking to rock out sanely you'll be very happy with your UFO25.

When I watched the video and heard Guttenburg talk about rocking out and that the Sarah  wouldn’t be loud enough… I kind of raised an eyebrow and felt that was somewhat of an inaccurate statement in retrospect.  To me…rocking out is playing music way above normal listening levels with good bass slam with crisp detailed highs.  Having played the guitar since I was young, I know when I’m playing loud, rocking out, or going explosive 🧨!!  Maybe Gutenberg’s comment is meant to be taken as explosive.

I run my SE84C+ UFO 25th Anniversary mods [2.2 wpc] with my ERR’s rated at like 89/90 dB and can play classic rock at fairly loud levels….concert like…no… but way above normal listening levels.  With your speakers being that efficient… I would bet that the SE84UFO25 would be able to rock out very loud…. Like CAJames said.

Dom

This discussion illustrates the danger of getting hung up on one comment a reviewer makes.

I doubt that the Forte IVs are really 99db as Klipsch tends to overrate their speakers' sensitivity levels.

Thanks all for weighing in with some great insights, this has helped calm my nerves. Prepared to stay the course.

MontanaDude, I also raised an eyebrow at that comment from Steve.  It doesn’t align with my own testing, at least in my 13x17 room.

Last year, I used 6 wpc 6V6 tubes on my Dennis Had amp playing to my RP-8000f speakers.  Klipsch rates them at 98 or 99 db sensitive and even after accounting for their supposed generosity with respect to sensitivity, it got more than satisfyingly loud in the room without clipping. I also averaged out between 75 to 85 db.

Guttenburg is a cartoonish cross between a mad scientist and a holdout from the 1970’s.

Welcome! You have a nice list going there for sure. We've been waiting on our build quite some time now. Maybe this fall. Some good/helpful folks here. Have a great day. Now have to get out and   move more snow..  yippee    ~Mike

Quote:


I strongly recommend you go either MK 5 or Junior v2.

I stand by this after already being there. I kick myself for initially getting the 3.2w Taboo SEP (a GREAT amp for headphones though) but am now happy as a screwed pig. The torque and drive that was missing is now in full force. The MK 5 is everything that I could have asked for, and much more….strong yet delicate.

Brad

I've noted that there is a lot of emphasis on amp power to get weight from a system.  Amp power alone will not do it.  I've had low power and high power amps, the highest being a 250 watt Krell and without the source and speakers being taken into consideration it was anemic.

Let me be clear, my intention in this post is not to convince you to go with a UFO25 or MKV.  It's to get you to factor in your source and speakers.

Your intended speakers are Klipsch Forte IV (If I recall).  In the Klipsch Line that would not be my first choice taking into consideration what you are trying to achieve.  I'd go for the Cornwalls, here's why:

Klipsch Forte IV, Freq. Resp. 38Hz with a 12" driver and a 15" passive
Klipsch Cornwalls, Freq. Resp. 34Hz with a 15" driver + larger and wider cabinet

Those specs are telling.  Based on my experience I fully agree with Steves comments regarding OB and 15" drivers.  I went from the Omega dual 4.5" drivers to the custom dual 8" drivers and along with the change in the source the difference was such that I no longer needed the ZRock2-A.

Based on that experience here's the next slated purchases along with my UFO25:
Source: Chord Dave with Hugo M Scaler (M scaler currently in my system with Chord Qutest))
Speakers: Once released, a pair of OB featuring two 15" drivers per side.

Once again, what I have said is not intended to support getting the UFO25 or the MKV.  Whichever you go with take into consideration more than amp power alone along with any other limitations that you may have.

You've been keeping your new Dave secret? But that is a discussion for a different thread....

I would say this to the OP...firstly I totally agree with Joman that you can't just look at the amp, or just watts, you need to look at the entire system, including your room. And esp. amp/speaker synergy. Rock isn't my favorite thing on the menu, but I'll order it once in a while and as I said above for me 5 UFO watts rocked harder than 100 Pass Labs solid state watts with the right speakers and front end.

But, back to you. I guess I would start with what is it about the UFO25 that made you want to order it in the first place vs. a high powered Decware amp or something else? And why are you reconsidering that now?

I'm not going to suggest either the UFO25 or something push-pull with more watts will be better for you. You can't go wrong with any Decware amp IMO. But there are strong feelings one way or the other. Many (most?) of us bought our Decware "sight unheard" and to some extent wrestled with questions like yours. In my case the question was Decware UFOs or something entirely different. Reading the forums and interacting with other posters gave me a pretty good idea that I was on the right track, and sure enough when my amps arrived they not only met but far exceeded my expectations. We're here for you and lots of posters are happy to share helpful experience and advice, but at the end of the day you've got to go with your gut.

'Mike In Montana, hello from Bozeman. I'm sure you can appreciate the madness of trying to figure ANY of this stuff out without a great commercial listening room within a day's drive (Audio Artisans is good for some stuff, but he's not really repping any gear I'm interested in).'

Yeah, completely understand and appreciate alright! We are in SW Montana in the sticks. We're not all that 'peoply' and get out of cities as soon as we get into one..  We're exactly where we like it! We are Klipsch people too and have owned our Chorus II's since 1998. Some might convince you to look into a different set of speakers, even before you have committed to a speaker change not even having the amp yet. Just hold on till you get the amp and go from there. Our son has those Forte IV's and loves them a LOT. Should work out like a champ....but wait to test drive em' in your home.. Take care man! ~Mike ~~saw this moon rising while looking out the bathroom window, brushing my grill. Quickly went to get the camera. Made a toothpaste mess. LOL.. anyway, I guess this was a 'Pink' full moon lastnight.

You're right.