Question:
how do i determine how many watts a speaker needs for amplifier?
Harry
2016-09-20 02:20:13 UTC
everything i have look at on the internet has been very confusing and i just want to simply know, or be given an equation to find the amount of watts/power specs i need for a speaker system (KEF speakers) because i have some fairly old speakers i want to test to see if i can get them to work. the speakers consist of a tweeter, woofer and sub woofer. the only information about power handling that the data sheet gave me was the continuous sine wave voltage RMS and programme wattage.
Link to data sheet:

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/pdf/kef/Kef%20Driver%20Spec%20Sheets.pdf

*the TWEETER is the "Model T27, SP1032", the WOOFER is the "B110-A, SP1003" and the sub woofer is the "B139-B, SP1044"

thanks so much to anyone who can help and im sorry if this seems like a dumb question to you, i really dont know much about speakers. thanks again!
Eight answers:
Lance
2016-09-20 07:17:41 UTC
There is no easy answer because a lot depends on the room your playing the speakers in. How large a room; how lively the room is. The amount of furniture and the type heavy sofas or just metal chairs.. . How many seating positions you have and how close you sit to the speakers...Also how large a speaker you have and where the speaker is placed...also prefered listening level and type of material you listen to...Soft rock or heavy metal etc..Also manufactures of amplifiers do not measure nor rate their Amplifier output the same way...So say a company like Marantz tends to be a little more conservative in their ratings as compared to Yamaha....

You can look at the sensitivity of the speaker and usually a speaker manufacturer of quality speakers will give you a range of acceptability...So say 20 watts RMS to 125 Watts RMS...so in most room types with nominal listening needs you would be fine with about 75 watts RMS more or less....What I have found in my use with various speakers that I have owned is that 20 watts is not really enough power for me 40 watts RMS per channel is the minimum I need and I feel more comfortable using an amp rated at 60 to 70 watts RMS...Klipsch speakers tend to be more sensitive that the speakers I chooses so you might be able to get away with 30 or 35 watts but you probably should choose something like 55 to 70 watts RMS just to be safe....Once above 80 watts RMS per channel your really not going to notice too much difference (in output) between amps unless you like to party a lot and have people over dancing and carrying on in a larger room.....Also the list you have is just the characteristics of the drivers not of a finished speaker...The sensitivity of the finished speaker will be determined a lot by the Cross-over used and the size and design of the box the drivers are put in
spacemissing
2016-09-20 09:46:33 UTC
There are no equations or formulas for this.

All you need is the right information.





Start by finding out the manufacturer's ratings for the whole cabinet.



[The ratings of the individual drivers are related,

but that is not the data to use in determining

what to drive the whole thing with.]





RMS power is the most meaningful;

"continuous" and "program" are the only others

that can be used for any good purpose.





For the best match, the amplifier should be rated for

75% to 125% of the speaker's rating.



In other words, if the speaker is rated for 100 watts RMS,

the amplifier should be rated to deliver between 75 and 125 watts RMS.



That said, any decent amplifier can be used

if you listen for bad effects and reduce the volume if you hear any.





For different numerical values, use a calculator to figure it out.
One Who Sits on Pizza
2016-09-20 07:06:25 UTC
Okay, lets start with some basics; You did not list a speaker system. You listed three drivers. Not until they are built into an enclosure with a crossover are they a speaker syatem. Secondly there is no subwoofer. This misnomer is taking over because of that loud, crude, car audio crowd calling everything that isn't a tweeter a "sub". What you have is a woofer, a midrange and a tweeter. "Subwoofer" is, without doubt, the most misused term in audio.



There is absolutely no way to determine how much power this assemblage will handle. For one thing, we do not know the crossover point of the tweeter (because there is no crossover) and this can be the singlemost important determining factor in regards to power handling. The lower you cross over a tweeter (or midrange) the less power it will handle.



You say that you want to test these drivers - that is what woofers, midranges and tweeters are called, drivers. Do not under any circumstances hook up the tweeters to an amp and run them without some kind of crossover. They will burn out in a nanosecond. Tweeters can not handle bass and that is where the majority of the energy is. I would recommend crossing over the tweeter no lower than 1.5kHz at 12dB. If you want to test, use a meter set to Ohms.



In order to best advise you, I would need to give you a primmer on loudspeaker building. There is so much information lacking in your question that I really am at a loss: Do you have an enclosure or a crossover?



More speakers are damaged by underpowered amplifiers being driven into clipping (severe distortion) than by overpowered amplifiers. When an amplifier clips the waveform, it generates all kinds of nasty high frequency harmonics and this really roasts tweeters.



As an audiophile, I really do not worry about wattage too much. For instance, last night I was listening to a pair of speakers rated at 40 watts being driven by a Hafler DH 200 - a 100 watt amplifier. I got it pretty loud too. But I know from experience how to handle such things. I doubt that at any time during that session that the amplifier put put any more than 25 watts.



Lastly: There seems to be absolutely no regulation of manufacturers amplifier ratings any more. My Hafler would be rated at something like 2,000 watts by an unscrupulous manufacturer such as Technical Pro. As Dale - E touched upon, you need to learn to read the specifications and throw out all ratings that are not from 20Hz to 20KHz with a THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) greater than 1%. For example, an amp rated at 500 watts at 1KHz and 10% THD is obviously a bogus rating. "Watts sell" is the old saw and it has never been more true.
?
2016-09-26 04:49:19 UTC
Choosing the right amplifier is not a simple answer, your wanting a amplifier that will drive the speakers well electrically, and complements them sonically. Most damage occurs when the amplifier is driven into distortion sending a clipped audio signal to the speakers. When a amplifer clips the audio signal can become very distorted causing speakers to overheat and burn the voice coils. This typically requires replacement of the drivers damaged.



So obviously if you under power the speakers this is more likely to happen, but I will mention you can also damage speakers with to much power as well exceeding the maximum output of the speakers, but this is much harder to do. You simply need to know how loud the speakers can play by listening, making sure they never sound distorted or strained.



The two figures you want to look at are speakers efficiency and impedance. Efficiency is measured with 1 watt of power and measured at 1 meter. The higher the efficiency the less power that is needed to get to a given loudness. For every 3 db over the speakers efficiency you need to double your amplifier power until you reach or exceed the speakers maximum output and sound pressure level you hope to achieve. Keep in mind the size and acoustic of the room as well, as a bigger room, and a room that absorbs more sound will require more power as well to get to the same loudness.



Impedance is a measurement of the speakers resistance, 8 ohms is the easiest impedance for a amplifier to drive, and as the impedance lowers or rises from 8 ohms it requires more current from the amplifier. Good amplifers come as close to doubling there output power as the impedance drops in half from 8 to 4 and even to 2 ohms. A good amplifier should also be measured at full bandwidth 20hz to 20khz, a sure sign of a cheap and poorly built amplifer are those measured at one frequency 1 kHz.



Why is this important ? All speakers impedance varies with frequency it's having to reproduce, and there design. So impedance is not static, it varies with program material. And some speaker impedance can vary greater than others putting a large demand on the amplifier. If you don't have a amplifer that is stable and comfortable driving speakers with large impedance swings the amplifer can easily overheat and damage itself trying. This is a weak area for many receivers because they do not use better quality power supplies, and discreet output devices. Look for a amplifer that has low impedance drive capability or that it shows you its increasing power as the impedance drops from 8 to 4 and hopefully even down to 2 ohms. This is a sured sign of a good quality and well built amplifier.



Lastly is buying a amplifier that complements the sound of the speakers. Like speakers which have there own sonic character, amplifers do as well, so the key is combining the two so they complement one another to create a natural balance of sound. You wouldn't want to buy a amplifier that might be a dat bright and lean sounding with speakers that are also bright and lean, as you guessed it, you will have a excessively bright and lean sounding system. You can read reviews from some of the better magazines like The Absolute Sound, or Stereophile to get good and accurate information on how equipment sounds and how well they are built.



I am very familiar with the drivers you mentioned, these are drivers from the classic series of kef loudspeakers, which in my opinion are some of the best sounding speakers in their day. Understand that these drivers are no longer made so if you damage a speaker using these drivers you will be hard pressed to find them if you need to replace them. These drivers are not designed for very high sound pressure levels, so do not expect very loud levels before they distroy themselves. They have no protection unless they are a select few of the model speakers from kef that had built in protection, even then it did not always work. So be very careful how loud you play them.



Kevin

40 years high end audio video specialist
inconsolate61
2016-09-20 12:33:30 UTC
Unless you are DIY building the speakers :Speakers are rated as systems not per driver. The three speakers in the cabinet are connected to a crossover that doles out the appropriate amount of energy to each one, and only the right frequencies that it should reproduce. the speaker system itself receives a maximum RMS rating but this is a continuous high current - to failure rating. (how much it takes to burn out the speaker) normally, this is not realistic, as the average rms (Root Mean Square) wattage delivered is controlled by where you set the volume control, and peak wattage levels due to wide dynamic swings in the music are normally very short, so do not count as continuous current events. Like with a car, you "put the accelerator down only as suits the safety of the vehicle not all the way to the floor no matter what. Like cars, you control this, no amp/speaker combination is "automatically" idiot proof. At best they are fool resistant.

Most speaker SYSTEMS reach normal room listening levels at seven watts or less. Very large, very heavy and very inefficient speaker SYSTEMS will have far more snap and clarity with a bigger amp (150 or more RMS Wattage at less than .04 percent distortion rated at 8 ohms across the audio spectrum, 20 to 20,000 Hz.) than with a smaller amp, but not because you pump the volume up, but because the amp is then able to control the instantaneous movements of the cone better , especially on dynamic events ( very impulsive music) at normal room levels. For most bookshelf sized units, a solid state amp delivering 60 watts or better will be Okay. Sub woofers for AV receivers usually have there own built in amps, and are not powered by the receiver. Unpowered Sub woofers will require purchase of an exterior amp to drive it, and most often an outboard crossover to cut away the higher tones, which it cannot reproduce well, or at all. If you are buying separate component audio, get the best that you can afford, but not just in raw wattage, but also in signal to noise ratio, slew rate, THD Distortion, and size of power supply. Match that with a very good preamp. If you are into tube amps, get VERY efficient speakers with high SPL, yet the best sound balance you can find. Always audition your choices. Never buy sight unseen. As receivers almost never host more than 130 watts RMS at 8 ohms with acceptably low distortion across the audible frequency spectrum, that wattage will likely be the upper limit for any receiver purchased. If any of this is greek to you, go to a stereo review or theater sound audio magazine or site, and read up on the basics.



If you are intending to DIY a set, Use the drivers and crossovers from a well pre-planned kit or instruction set first, that does indicate what the system specs will end up being.Madisound has very good kits and plans and does all this for you. Meanwhile, consider the hobby a learning based endeavor, and teach yourself through the basics and advanced info you need, to have fun doing the math the carpentry the electronics, and driver selections, pouring over and understanding the white sheets, nomographs, and what likely need doing to compose and tweak a good speaker system. A good book going over the Thele Small equations, would be a fair start. Madisound for example, has a large DIY area, and will point you in the right direction. and No, no one here is going to "teach you" how to do this well in any probable length of post. DIY audio is about LEARNING a lot of stuff about a lot of things..



If you are attempting to repair a KEF speaker (model unknown, you did not say) by replacing damaged drivers, most hobby sites Like Parts Express, that sell such, have help lines that will try to select replacement drivers that are a fair match to the originals. Kits to refoam ripped surrounds, even recone and restore drivers are available as well. these usually come with explicit instructions, or links to sites that offer these instructions, often even videos of the repair process,
Dale-E
2016-09-20 06:18:38 UTC
Lots of young people burn their speakers when they build a sound system. If you will keep your amp power not to exceed 80% of their power rating, you should be OK. RMS power is true power, but the frequency of the sound, plays a big part in that formula. Like with 60 or 50 cycle ac power at the wall plug is relatively simple to measure with any meter. But with the wide range of frequencies of 20 to 20 kilocycles makes for a very complicated RMS composite. Your amp specs will help with that because of its built-in range distribution per channel. Read your specs closely, because they are likely different for each channel. Assuming you are interested in Hi-Fi sound and not just noise, keeping your "amp out" limited to 80% of your speaker's power rating will give the best sound quality, because the peaks will be well past that RMS figure. The higher frequencies are more efficient, meaning true power and E x I power are virtually the same at the higher frequencies. If you want to look at power in reference to human perception (and we do) then we get into deciBells. One dB is the basic unit of human sound perception differential. And as it turns out it also applies radiantly through the atmosphere as well. Most people just barely notice or perceive a one dB volume differential. Are you sitting down? 3 decibels is equal to double or half the power in Watts. This phenomenon plays well into my volume limiting advice. (80 Watts turned up to 100 Watts is only a 1dB rise in volume,,, Hardly noticeable! But could be disastrous to a speaker.)
?
2017-03-05 09:57:35 UTC
Books improve your grammar, reading level, spelling, vocabulary, and generally will be more educational than T.V.
rozier
2017-01-30 09:38:18 UTC
When I watch Television I always feel like I should be doing something more productive


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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