Speakers and Wattage

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Thread: Speakers and Wattage - Question

Nachoman91

Bronze Member

Username: Nachoman91

Cincinnati, OH
USA

Post Number: 34
Registered: Dec-04

Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 10:38 am:

I have a very dumb question but I am a novice so feel free to laugh at me.

I have a receiver/amp that says 50W per channel. Will I be able to connect a pair of 120 Watt speakers to this?

Can someone explain this to me. Does a pair of 120W speakers mean that each speaker is 60W or each 120W and does this number need to the the same or less than the wattage per channel my receiver/amp is rated? I do not fully understand this. What is the max size speaker I can connect to a receiver/amp that says it's 50W per channel.

david pannell

Silver Member

Username: Davidpa

Portland, Oregon
US

Post Number: 421
Registered: Nov-05

Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 11:13 am:

120wpc, per speaker.
You could connect a speaker rated at 600wpc if you so chose.
The limiting factor here is the 50wpc reciever, as it will only output so many watts, and if this is an "all in one" like I think it is, then actual power is more along the lines of 25-30wpc actual output.
You could harm your speakers, or pre for that matter if you try to get more out of the reciever than it can deliver.
The speakers impedence will play a factor also, 8ohm will play louder, 6ohm will tax your reciever, and 4ohm is a no no if you are using an "all in one" reciever.
Theres much more, but I've gotta get to work. Others here will chime in to help as the day goes on.

Andre Money (---None of it)

Gold Member

Username: Arande2

Extreme SQ FTW

Post Number: 2055
Registered: Dec-06

Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 08:32 pm:

Ding Dong Ding Dooong, Ding Dong Ding Doooong!

Jan Vigne

Platinum Member

Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 10101
Registered: May-04

Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 09:33 pm:

.

Speakers don't really have any watts. The numbers posted on the speaker are for marketing purposes only. The amplifier can deliver the amount of power it is designed to accomplish which is a combination of voltage and current as required by the speaker load. The amplifier is tested while driving a fixed load resistor and being fed single frequency sine waves in order to judge its power output on a test bench. None of this has anything to do with how much power the amplifier can actually deliver into a real world loudspeaker while reproducing music material. For now your best bet is to use the system you have within its limits which implies that when you hear distortion, turn down the volume and/or the bass control. There is far more to this than this simple explanation can provide but the incontrovertible fact is you must turn down the levels when distortion sets in or you are is serious danger of damaging the components. As long as you operate the system without distortion the components should perform as well as possible.

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david pannell

Silver Member