2. amps-preamps
  3. 165028-98081

enough amplifier power

I am curious as to why so many people think that their amplifiers are powerful enough for their speakers. I use a Yamamoto A-08S--around 1.5 watts output. I use it with a Fostex F-106ESR. The combination is a little ragged at low volumes, but beautifully immediate. Distorts awfully at anything approaching a decent volume. I see people using 20-100 watt amplifiers with medium efficiency loudspeakers. I do not see how this can work any better. If you work out the math, most loudspeakers need 200-500 watts minimum. That is not even taking into account low impedance loudspeakers. Do people not know what distortion sounds like? Or, compression either, for that matter? Please enlighten me.
hedwigstheme

Showing 2 responses by cakyol

cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
The golden rule is that your amplifier should be about twice as powerful as your speaker can handle (RMS or peak, as long as both devices are measured the same way).

This is for a safety margin to be able to handle clipping.  If your amplifier can soft clip, then pretty much anything goes, as long as you can live with the distortions of either, when pushed to their limits.

cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
russ69,

The reason for the twice as powerful requirement is for clipping.

Do you know what that is ?

If you overdrive an amp, it will clip and may actually DESTROY your speakers, typically starting with the tweeters first.

With and amp twice as powerful as your speakers however, you cannot quite do that even if you accidentally want to because you will notice your speakers getting strained (but not destroyed) sounding really bad and you will turn the volume down.  With clipping, you will not have enough time to react to turn down the volume.  Clipping happens almost instantaneously.

However, if you do have an amp which can soft clip (again, as I indicated above), then this danger is no longer there and any combination of speaker & amplifier can be used safely.


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