Power needed
4.7–75 W
per channel, into 8 ohms
To hit 95 dB peaks at 3 m from a pair of Definitive BP-9040, you need at least 4.7 W a channel. Anything from about 9.5 W to 75 W a channel is comfortable; past that, more watts stop buying you anything.
Power is not your constraint. The
Definitive BP-9040 is efficient enough that essentially any
amplifier we list will drive it at this level. Choose on inputs, streaming, phono
stage and price instead — and if you like valve amplifiers, this is a speaker
that suits them.
Show the working
- 95 dB target at the seat
- +4.8 dB for 3.0 m of distance
- -3 dB for a stereo pair
- -90.0 dB effective sensitivity
- 2 dB allowed for optimistic published sensitivity
- Published sensitivity 92 dB, used as 90.0 dB per watt.
178 integrated amplifiers suit the Definitive BP-9040
Also show the 1 we do not recommend
1
Excellent match
12 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power nearly doubles into 4 ohms (80 W to 150 W) - a stiff supply that copes with hard loads.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
2
Excellent match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power nearly doubles into 4 ohms (70 W to 140 W) - a stiff supply that copes with hard loads.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
3
Excellent match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power nearly doubles into 4 ohms (70 W to 140 W) - a stiff supply that copes with hard loads.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
4
Excellent match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power nearly doubles into 4 ohms (75 W to 150 W) - a stiff supply that copes with hard loads.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
5
Excellent match
12 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power nearly doubles into 4 ohms (80 W to 150 W) - a stiff supply that copes with hard loads.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
6
Excellent match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power nearly doubles into 4 ohms (75 W to 150 W) - a stiff supply that copes with hard loads.
Sensible value pick against these speakers.
7
Excellent match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power nearly doubles into 4 ohms (75 W to 150 W) - a stiff supply that copes with hard loads.
Sensible value pick against these speakers.
8
Good match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (70 W to 100 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
9
Good match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (70 W to 100 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
10
Good match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (75 W to 115 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
11
Good match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (75 W to 115 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
12
Excellent match
14 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power nearly doubles into 4 ohms (125 W to 250 W) - a stiff supply that copes with hard loads.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
13
Good match
12 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (80 W to 120 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
14
Excellent match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power nearly doubles into 4 ohms (70 W to 140 W) - a stiff supply that copes with hard loads.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
15
Good match
10 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (50 W to 75 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
16
Good match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (75 W to 110 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
17
Good match
13 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (90 W to 150 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
18
Good match
11 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (60 W to 100 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
19
Good match
12 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (80 W to 130 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
20
Good match
12 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
Power rises usefully into 4 ohms (80 W to 120 W).
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
Showing the best 20 of 178. Narrow it with the price range below, or a different budget split.
18 power amplifiers that would also drive them
Listed separately because they are not a complete system: a power amplifier has no volume control and no inputs to speak of, so you need a preamplifier or a streaming preamp as well. Worth it if you already own one, or if you want to buy the two halves separately.
1
Good match
12 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
No 4 ohm power rating on file, so we cannot judge current delivery.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
2
Good match
13 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
No 4 ohm power rating on file, so we cannot judge current delivery.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
3
Good match
14 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
No 4 ohm power rating on file, so we cannot judge current delivery.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
4
Good match
14 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
No 4 ohm power rating on file, so we cannot judge current delivery.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
5
Good match
15 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 6 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
No 4 ohm power rating on file, so we cannot judge current delivery.
Sensible value pick against these speakers.
6
Good match
15 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
No 4 ohm power rating on file, so we cannot judge current delivery.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
7
Good match
12 dB of headroom over what this speaker needs - peaks stay clean.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
No 4 ohm power rating on file, so we cannot judge current delivery.
Sensible value pick against these speakers.
8
Good match
16 dB of headroom, far more than needed. No harm in it.
Rated down to 4 ohms, comfortable with an 8 ohm speaker.
No 4 ohm power rating on file, so we cannot judge current delivery.
Balanced against the price of the speakers.
Were these amplifier recommendations useful?
It helps us tune the matching, and we read every comment.
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Thanks — noted.
Sensitivity and impedance figures are the manufacturer's own. We read sensitivity as dB at 2.83 V/1 m and take 2 dB off it, because published figures run high. Treat the result as a well-founded starting point, not a measurement. Full Definitive BP-9040 specs.