Speaker power ratings vs. aplifier power ratings?


This is probably a stupid question that has been answere here many times but her it goes anyway......

If a speaker is rated at 120 WPC at 4 ohms such as my Green Mountain Europa's how close to that power rating do I have to stay near when choosing an amplifier?

In other words, does 120WPC mean 120WPC with no room for deviation?

group3e11

Showing 1 response by macrojack

I agree that they are just guidelines and would further suggest that they are just arbitrarily assigned values. I doubt seriously if any speaker manufacturer "crash tests" their speakers to see what their limits are. Generally I have seen a range proposed, meaning maybe 10 watts is needed as a minmum for satisfactory results and anything over 300 watts might put your prized speakers in jeopardy.
Unless you have very unusual speakers, you can stop thinking about this topic.
Lastly, I would tell you to call GMA yourself about such things as Roy is better qualified than all of us together to comment on Europas. I'm sure you'll find he is happy to help.