Speaker input/wattage question
Hi Trevor,
Thanks for the reply, that helps!
This leads me to another question: is a 120W per channel receiver
powerful enough to drive 200W speakers? I've read that damage can
occur due to lower power receivers and amplifiers. The receiver I'm
considering is the Harman Kardon HK3480. Again, sorry if this is a
stupid question!
Thanks!
John
On Jun 14, 4:14 pm, "Trevor Wilson"
wrote:
"John Galvan" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,
I have a pair of Panasonic SB-ZR80 speakers and the input on the back
of each one is listed at 200 watts at 8 ohms. Are these capable of
handling 200 watts per channel or 200 total (meaning from a 200W
receiver w/ 100 per channel). I'm guessing that it's 100 per channel
but wanted to check with other people about this. The new stereo
receiver I'm considering is rated at 120 watts per channel, so would
that be okay with these speakers? Sorry if this is a stupid question,
but I'm new to this.
**Power ratings on speakers are always per speaker (system). However, there
is a 'gotcha'. (Ain't there always?) A 200 Watt (domestic) speaker is
unlikely to be able to cope with 200 Watts of continuous (aka: RMS - RMS, in
this instance, being a misnomer) power. What the number means (in simple
terms) is this:
A 200 Watt rated speaker system can be safely connected to an amplifier
rated at 200 Watts, which is driven by clean, undistorted music.
The manufacturer is assuming a peak to average ratio of around 10dB, which,
in simple terms, means that the average power into the speaker is around 20
Watts. If the amplifier is clipped, or driven with continuous sine wave type
signals for any length of time, the speaker may be destroyed.
What a cop-out, eh?
[ASIDE] My second pair of speakers (I built them in 1973) were a pair of KEF
transmission lines (Bailey design). KEF rated the speakers for 30 Watts of
power handling. I replaced the pitiful crossovers with something more
substantial and operated them for many years with my Marantz Model 500 power
amplifier. Since I was young and foolish, much of this time the Marantz was
operating close to it's maximum power ratings (250 Watts per channel).
Except for a couple of damaged crossover caps and one faulty B139 voice coil
(traced to faulty manufacturing) I never had a problem.
--
Trevor Wilsonwww.rageaudio.com.au
--
Trevor Wilsonwww.rageaudio.com.au
--
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