I have a pair of Boston Acoustic Vr-20 floorstanding speakers. Im not sure what the RMS continous power rating of these speakers are in order to make the best match with an amplifier. In Hi-Fi Engine the spec’s just say recommended Amplifier 15-200 watts at 8ohms. is this saying the continous is 15 and the peak is 200. I would think the continous would have to be more than 15 watts being these are larger floor standing speakers. Thanks for help from the community!!
The philosophy is clear. An affordable speaker with decent amplification (and source) makes a lot more sense than an expensive speaker with a cheap amp (and source.)
Amplifier power ratings
Another word on power:, if your speakers are demanding to drive you’ll need a suitably muscular amplifier to support them.
Don’t look only at the posted headline power figure - watts per channel (wpc) in isolation are meaningless.
Do consider It’s available “grunt ” ,,,,(ergo the amplifier’s available current measured in amps that matters most. )
Go see what happens when the speaker impedance drops to four ohms. If the number nearly doubles, then your amplifier has good current delivery and will be capable of driving more demanding speakers.
(2) Lots of background reading available…. Do your own research , here is just a sampler.
Roughly speaking, a 100W/ch amp will play 5dB louder than a 30W amp, unless the smaller amp has extraordinary peak capabilities. It's also.likely the larger amp.will be more comfortable with complex low impedance speakers. As far as upgrades go, the new KEF Q7 Meta is a lot of value for $2k a pair. The Monitor Audio Silver 300 7G are a bit more, $26-2800, but are a step up in overall quality, especially the cabinets. These are two clear leaders in this price range, but you may find others from Revel or the Polk Reserve line to your liking. These are are middle/middle speakers: middle speaker from the middle tier of these very high quality and well known brands.
@phays245You might should have led off with your last post. Your problem, as you describe it now, is that you are unsatisfied with the sound of your current speakers. Given the fact the bass drivers in a ported two-way design are only 7 inches in diameter, there may be no amp on earth that can help you get the sound you seek from that speaker. You might be happier with a sealed acoustic suspension design or an open baffle speaker. If I were in your shoes, I would try to expose myself to different types of speakers, and save up for something truly worthy of your amplifier. Dealers, friends, audio shows could all give you such exposure. As other have said, look for a sensitivity in the upper 80’s or above.
The wattage rating of a speaker simply describes its power handling abilities. Most of the time, at normal listening levels, you are unlikely to exceed 25 Watts; only when you really crank it up does the power handling become an issue, and only then when the power being required by the speaker (at the volume selected) exceeds the amp’s ability to deliver it. If your amplifier doesn’t have the ability to sense that you are trying to over drive it, you can’blow up the amp, or the speakers, or both. I’m not sure if the Marantz has this circuitry or not. It’s a question worth asking. Speakers and motors (actually a speaker is a motor of sorts) are dumb; they will destroy themselves trying to do what you ask of them.
Im looking to do a speaker upgrade anyway. I have 100 watt Marantz 4300 amplifier. Around what speaker wattage should I shoot for. I know there are other factors to consider also that Im not that knowledgeable about yet. I know I want 8ohms, and higher the db the better usually. The Boston Vr-20’s were not sounding that good, and thought maybe they were not matched right for my amplifier. I was hearing too much boomyness that I tried everything to fix, but it wouldn’t go away. I think the speakers may need some fixing, I tried almost everything else.
good helpful answers, but what still leaves me somewhere in the dark is you will have some speakers like the Bostons I have say 15-200 recommended watts, and other speakers will say for example : Continuous/Peak : 75 W / 300 W
The latter seems less confusing, by letting me know the continous RMS is 75 W. Therefore I can say, if I hook up an amplifer that is 150 watts Im giving the amplifier plenty of headroom. Recommended15-200 W’s seems like t0o big of a window to figure what amplifier would provide twice the power to speakers.
You don't know until you hear an amp in your system. For example last week we hooked up a VAC Ren 30/30 class A amp 300B stereo tube amp to Sonus Faber stratovari speakers and it drove them no problem. Some of the best sound we hear on those speakers. Even controlled the bass better that 200 wpc mono blocks we had and many other amplifiers we have. So you never know if you are just looking at specs. Not the first time this has happened.. last time it was with our Vandersteen model 7 speakers. Happy Listening
I used to sell those when they were new. Probably the most salient spec is that their sensitivity is a claimed 89db and their impedance is 8 ohms. That means they should play quite loudly with either of your amps, and that is my experience as well. Enjoy the music!
Yes, both amps will work well. All things being equal the 100 watt should provide slightly more dynamic headroom. Your loudspeakers are not hard to drive nor do they need high power amps.
Okay great, so I have a 30 watt amplifier and a 100 watt ampflier, both are 8 ohms. Would the 15-200 watt range of RMS watts give either of these amplifers ample headroom then.
The 15-200 watts spec gives a range of RMS watts the loudspeaker will adequately perform. If the spec is accurate, for it might not be, you could use up to 200 watts of continuous power with this model loudspeaker.
By reputation the Boston Acoustics VR series are good loudspeakers. As with all older loudspeakers they may need work on the crossover components and the tweeter's ferrofluid.
You need enough power for your average listening level so your amp doesn't clip - going non-linear with rising distortion. Double that power in watts will give you about 3 db more volume/headroom to avoid clipping.
The rating for the speaker isn’t really anything more than a recommendation. In general the highest quality amp you can afford, more power is better. Since we are talking about a very budget oriented speakers, I am assuming your are not expecting to spend a lot. You might have a look at Schiit amps. They are very good audio components for the money. If you are new to this pursuit... yes, Schiit.
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