Lets say we have a 2-way speaker using a passive x-over, 6.5" mid/woofer, and
a 1" dome tweeter. Would it be correct to say that for most music passages
the mid/woofer would be drawing more power from the amp than the tweeter
would? Does it take more power to produce low frequencies than it does to
produce high frequencies?

Now lets say we are running a 80W amp to the 2-way speaker and we are really
blasting a hip hop song with a huge bass track and a lot of highs. Assume
that the mid/woofer is drawing 50W of power from the amp. Is the tweet able to
get access to 80W of power from the amp at the same time (since it is playing
different frequencies) or is the tweet only able to get 80w-50W=30W?

(ab) wrote in message et...
Lets say we have a 2-way speaker using a passive x-over, 6.5" mid/woofer, and
a 1" dome tweeter. Would it be correct to say that for most music passages
the mid/woofer would be drawing more power from the amp than the tweeter
would?

Unfortunately a significant piece of information needed to answer
this question is missing from your hypothetical speaker description.

The energy in the music your speaker is playing is distributed in
some fashion or another across the audio spectrum. The details
of the distribution change with the type of music, it varies from
moment to moment, and so on.

The relevant point here is tha depending upon WHERE the crossover
is placed frequency wise determines HOW the power is distributed.

Let's take a simple, though not entirely realistic case. Let's say,
for the purpose of illustration, that the spectral distribution
of the music you're playing has the characteristics of pink noise
(most music does NOT, but we're making some simplifying assumptions
here). This means that each octave across the musical spectrum has
the same power in it as every other octave. The octave spanning
40 to 80 Hz has the same total power as the octave spanning
4 kHz to 8 kHz.

Now, let's put our crossover at around 700 Hz (again, for the purpose
of illustration). This places the crossover so that the woofer handles
5 octaves and the tweeter handles 5 octaves. In this case, using our
hypothetical musica signal, half the power goes to the woofer, and
half goes to the tweeter.

Instead, let's put the crossover at, say, 5 kHz. Now, the woofer has to
handle the range from 20 to 5 kHz, which is about 8 octaves, while the
tweeter has to handle only 2 octaves. In this case, the woofer has to
handle 80% of the power, and the tweeter has to handle only the remaining
20%.

Pick real musical signals, where the spectrum is significantly different,
and you find the distribution of power is also significantly different.

Does it take more power to produce low frequencies than it does to
produce high frequencies?

Depends upon what you mean by the question.

In the simplest, most unambiguous interpretation, a speaker with
flat frequency response will require exactly the same power to
produce the same sound pressure level at ANY frequency.

But, again, you have to go back to the concept of how the musical
energy is spread across the spectrum and how the crossover divides
up the spectrum and thus the energy.

As a VERY general rule, music has most of its power concentrated
at high bass and low midrange frequencies, and the power falls
off above and below that. But, again, it's very dependent upon
the type of music and the instantaneous spectral content of
the music, which varies from moment to moment.

Now lets say we are running a 80W amp to the 2-way speaker and
we are really blasting a hip hop song with a huge bass track
and a lot of highs. Assume that the mid/woofer is drawing 50W
of power from the amp. Is the tweet able to get access to 80W
of power from the amp at the same time (since it is playing
different frequencies) or is the tweet only able to get 80w-50W=30W?

It ALL depends upon the spectral distribution of the power AT THAT
MOMENT, and it all depends upon the crossover frequency.

But to answer you more general question. If the total power of the
amplifier is 80 watts, and it's already busy using 50 watts of it
to do one, thing, then no matter what tehe other thing is, there's
only 30 watts remaining to do whatever that is.

(ab) wrote in message et...
Lets say we have a 2-way speaker using a passive x-over, 6.5" mid/woofer, and
a 1" dome tweeter. Would it be correct to say that for most music passages
the mid/woofer would be drawing more power from the amp than the tweeter
would?

Unfortunately a significant piece of information needed to answer
this question is missing from your hypothetical speaker description.

The energy in the music your speaker is playing is distributed in
some fashion or another across the audio spectrum. The details
of the distribution change with the type of music, it varies from
moment to moment, and so on.

The relevant point here is tha depending upon WHERE the crossover
is placed frequency wise determines HOW the power is distributed.

Let's take a simple, though not entirely realistic case. Let's say,
for the purpose of illustration, that the spectral distribution
of the music you're playing has the characteristics of pink noise
(most music does NOT, but we're making some simplifying assumptions
here). This means that each octave across the musical spectrum has
the same power in it as every other octave. The octave spanning
40 to 80 Hz has the same total power as the octave spanning
4 kHz to 8 kHz.

Now, let's put our crossover at around 700 Hz (again, for the purpose
of illustration). This places the crossover so that the woofer handles
5 octaves and the tweeter handles 5 octaves. In this case, using our
hypothetical musica signal, half the power goes to the woofer, and
half goes to the tweeter.

Instead, let's put the crossover at, say, 5 kHz. Now, the woofer has to
handle the range from 20 to 5 kHz, which is about 8 octaves, while the
tweeter has to handle only 2 octaves. In this case, the woofer has to
handle 80% of the power, and the tweeter has to handle only the remaining
20%.

Pick real musical signals, where the spectrum is significantly different,
and you find the distribution of power is also significantly different.

Does it take more power to produce low frequencies than it does to
produce high frequencies?

Depends upon what you mean by the question.

In the simplest, most unambiguous interpretation, a speaker with
flat frequency response will require exactly the same power to
produce the same sound pressure level at ANY frequency.

But, again, you have to go back to the concept of how the musical
energy is spread across the spectrum and how the crossover divides
up the spectrum and thus the energy.

As a VERY general rule, music has most of its power concentrated
at high bass and low midrange frequencies, and the power falls
off above and below that. But, again, it's very dependent upon
the type of music and the instantaneous spectral content of
the music, which varies from moment to moment.

Now lets say we are running a 80W amp to the 2-way speaker and
we are really blasting a hip hop song with a huge bass track
and a lot of highs. Assume that the mid/woofer is drawing 50W
of power from the amp. Is the tweet able to get access to 80W
of power from the amp at the same time (since it is playing
different frequencies) or is the tweet only able to get 80w-50W=30W?

It ALL depends upon the spectral distribution of the power AT THAT
MOMENT, and it all depends upon the crossover frequency.

But to answer you more general question. If the total power of the
amplifier is 80 watts, and it's already busy using 50 watts of it
to do one, thing, then no matter what tehe other thing is, there's
only 30 watts remaining to do whatever that is.

Thanks for the response to my specific question below. Unfortunately I seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the people
agree with you.

The other half of the people say an 80W amp supplies 80W to all frequencies
across the audio spectrum. These people say that even if the woofer/mid is
drawing 80W the tweeter can also draw 80W at the same exact time because it is
reproducing different frequencies than the woofer/mid.

I do not know which answer is correct.


Now lets say we are running a 80W amp to the 2-way
speaker and we are really blasting a hip hop song
with a huge bass track and a lot of highs. Assume
that the mid/woofer is drawing 50W
of power from the amp. Is the tweet able to get
access to 80W of power from the amp at the same
time (since it is playing different frequencies) or
is the tweet only able to get 80w-50W=30W?

It ALL depends upon the spectral distribution of the
power AT THAT MOMENT, and it all depends upon
the crossover frequency.

But to answer you more general question. If the
total power of the amplifier is 80 watts, and it's
already busy using 50 watts of it
to do one, thing, then no matter what tehe other
thing is, there's only 30 watts remaining
to do whatever that is.

Thanks for the response to my specific question below. Unfortunately I seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the people
agree with you.

The other half of the people say an 80W amp supplies 80W to all frequencies
across the audio spectrum. These people say that even if the woofer/mid is
drawing 80W the tweeter can also draw 80W at the same exact time because it is
reproducing different frequencies than the woofer/mid.

I do not know which answer is correct.


Now lets say we are running a 80W amp to the 2-way
speaker and we are really blasting a hip hop song
with a huge bass track and a lot of highs. Assume
that the mid/woofer is drawing 50W
of power from the amp. Is the tweet able to get
access to 80W of power from the amp at the same
time (since it is playing different frequencies) or
is the tweet only able to get 80w-50W=30W?

It ALL depends upon the spectral distribution of the
power AT THAT MOMENT, and it all depends upon
the crossover frequency.

But to answer you more general question. If the
total power of the amplifier is 80 watts, and it's
already busy using 50 watts of it
to do one, thing, then no matter what tehe other
thing is, there's only 30 watts remaining
to do whatever that is.

"ab" wrote in message
t...
Thanks for the response to my specific question below. Unfortunately I
seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the people
agree with you.

The other half of the people say an 80W amp supplies 80W to all
frequencies
across the audio spectrum. These people say that even if the woofer/mid
is
drawing 80W the tweeter can also draw 80W at the same exact time because
it is
reproducing different frequencies than the woofer/mid.

I do not know which answer is correct.

Maybe it would help if you explained why you want to know.

"ab" wrote in message
t...
Thanks for the response to my specific question below. Unfortunately I
seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the people
agree with you.

The other half of the people say an 80W amp supplies 80W to all
frequencies
across the audio spectrum. These people say that even if the woofer/mid
is
drawing 80W the tweeter can also draw 80W at the same exact time because
it is
reproducing different frequencies than the woofer/mid.

I do not know which answer is correct.

Maybe it would help if you explained why you want to know.

"ab" wrote in message
t...
Thanks for the response to my specific question below. Unfortunately I
seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the people
agree with you.

The other half of the people say an 80W amp supplies 80W to all
frequencies
across the audio spectrum. These people say that even if the woofer/mid
is
drawing 80W the tweeter can also draw 80W at the same exact time because
it is
reproducing different frequencies than the woofer/mid.

I do not know which answer is correct.


Surely the second is nonsense.

Consider the following hypothetical example:

A perfectly efficient speaker is connected to an amplifier. A pure sine
wave is fed into the amplifier at a frequency of 1kHz, and it's amplitude
adjusted such that the 1W is fed to the speaker. The speaker would thus
produce 1W worth of sound. Now assume the same is done for 2kHz, the speaker
would produce 1W again.

If these two signals are now mixed, then clearly 1W worth of sound is
produced at two different frequencies, i.e. 2W. If the amplifier can only
supply 1W total, then clearly something is wrong.

Let us however assume that an amp rated a 1W, can output 1W to any frequency
we want simultaneously. This solves the problem.

If, however, we add a third frequency, or ten more, or a thousand more, then
what? Does this mean that an amplifier rated as 1W can actually produce 1kW
of power? How about if we use an infinite number of frequencies, infinite
power out from the amp?

Clearly this is nonsense, and a 1W amp can produce exactly that, 1W total
power.



Hope it is of help, and indeed correct!

Christopher Key

"ab" wrote in message
t...
Thanks for the response to my specific question below. Unfortunately I
seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the people
agree with you.

The other half of the people say an 80W amp supplies 80W to all
frequencies
across the audio spectrum. These people say that even if the woofer/mid
is
drawing 80W the tweeter can also draw 80W at the same exact time because
it is
reproducing different frequencies than the woofer/mid.

I do not know which answer is correct.


Surely the second is nonsense.

Consider the following hypothetical example:

A perfectly efficient speaker is connected to an amplifier. A pure sine
wave is fed into the amplifier at a frequency of 1kHz, and it's amplitude
adjusted such that the 1W is fed to the speaker. The speaker would thus
produce 1W worth of sound. Now assume the same is done for 2kHz, the speaker
would produce 1W again.

If these two signals are now mixed, then clearly 1W worth of sound is
produced at two different frequencies, i.e. 2W. If the amplifier can only
supply 1W total, then clearly something is wrong.

Let us however assume that an amp rated a 1W, can output 1W to any frequency
we want simultaneously. This solves the problem.

If, however, we add a third frequency, or ten more, or a thousand more, then
what? Does this mean that an amplifier rated as 1W can actually produce 1kW
of power? How about if we use an infinite number of frequencies, infinite
power out from the amp?

Clearly this is nonsense, and a 1W amp can produce exactly that, 1W total
power.



Hope it is of help, and indeed correct!

Christopher Key

On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 18:01:15 GMT, (ab) wrote:

Thanks for the response to my specific question below. Unfortunately I seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the people
agree with you.

The other half of the people say an 80W amp supplies 80W to all frequencies
across the audio spectrum. These people say that even if the woofer/mid is
drawing 80W the tweeter can also draw 80W at the same exact time because it is
reproducing different frequencies than the woofer/mid.

I do not know which answer is correct.

OK, but history shows that Mr Pierce usually knows what he is talking
about when he chooses to answer somebody. I would trust him, if I were
you. On the other hand, it is hard to answer your question if we don't
know why you are asking.

Are you trying to determine power handling of woofers and tweeters
respectively?

Per.

On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 18:01:15 GMT, (ab) wrote:

Thanks for the response to my specific question below. Unfortunately I seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the people
agree with you.

The other half of the people say an 80W amp supplies 80W to all frequencies
across the audio spectrum. These people say that even if the woofer/mid is
drawing 80W the tweeter can also draw 80W at the same exact time because it is
reproducing different frequencies than the woofer/mid.

I do not know which answer is correct.

OK, but history shows that Mr Pierce usually knows what he is talking
about when he chooses to answer somebody. I would trust him, if I were
you. On the other hand, it is hard to answer your question if we don't
know why you are asking.

Are you trying to determine power handling of woofers and tweeters
respectively?

Per.

(ab) wrote in message et...
Thanks for the response to my specific question below. Unfortunately
I seem to get different answers to this question from everyone.
Half the people agree with you.

The other half of the people say an 80W amp supplies 80W to all
frequencies across the audio spectrum. These people say that even
if the woofer/mid is drawing 80W the tweeter can also draw 80W
at the same exact time because it is reproducing different
frequencies than the woofer/mid.

I do not know which answer is correct.

It's easy to tell which answer is correct.

There's this fundamental physical rule called the conservation
of energy. One consequence says that you cannot get more energy
than what you started with.

If you are saying that your amp puts out 80 watts, then that's ALL
it puts out. If these other people are saying that the amplifier
can supply 80 watts to the woofer AND 80 watts to the tweeter at
the same time, then they are saying that the amplifier is putting
out 160 watts, which DIRECTLY contradicts your statement that the
amplifier puts out 80 watts. Where do these other people propose
the extra 80 watts is comoing from from? Thisn air? Magic?

80 watts is 80 watts. Thats the TOTAL power available from the
amplifier. You can't have that 80 watts show up in more than one
place at a time, or you are violating the conservation of energy.

If your friends STILL insist that an 80 watt amplifier can supply
80 watts to the woofer AND 80 watts to the woofer atv the same time,
In would suggest you find yourself a new set of friends, because
the ones you have now are completely clueless.

(ab) wrote in message et...
Thanks for the response to my specific question below. Unfortunately
I seem to get different answers to this question from everyone.
Half the people agree with you.

The other half of the people say an 80W amp supplies 80W to all
frequencies across the audio spectrum. These people say that even
if the woofer/mid is drawing 80W the tweeter can also draw 80W
at the same exact time because it is reproducing different
frequencies than the woofer/mid.

I do not know which answer is correct.

It's easy to tell which answer is correct.

There's this fundamental physical rule called the conservation
of energy. One consequence says that you cannot get more energy
than what you started with.

If you are saying that your amp puts out 80 watts, then that's ALL
it puts out. If these other people are saying that the amplifier
can supply 80 watts to the woofer AND 80 watts to the tweeter at
the same time, then they are saying that the amplifier is putting
out 160 watts, which DIRECTLY contradicts your statement that the
amplifier puts out 80 watts. Where do these other people propose
the extra 80 watts is comoing from from? Thisn air? Magic?

80 watts is 80 watts. Thats the TOTAL power available from the
amplifier. You can't have that 80 watts show up in more than one
place at a time, or you are violating the conservation of energy.

If your friends STILL insist that an 80 watt amplifier can supply
80 watts to the woofer AND 80 watts to the woofer atv the same time,
In would suggest you find yourself a new set of friends, because
the ones you have now are completely clueless.

Maybe it would help if you explained
why you want to know.

I am just trying to understand how the power is delivered to the
various components in a speaker. Thanks very much for all the replies. I
appreciate it.

I am configuring one of my amps in my car audio system. The amp is an 80x4
RMS @4-ohms unit and it is driving a pair of component speakers. The
component speakers use a 6.5" mid, 1" silk tweeter, and a 3500hz 18db slope
2-way x-over. I was trying to use theory to determine if bridging the amp to
200x2 was a better option than bi-amping it to 80x4 without the passive
x-over. The amp has the proper active x-over to make this work.

I was thinking that in 200x2 mode the 6.5" woofer/mids would have access to
more power than they would if I ran it bi-amped (80x4). My question about
power consumption was created when I was discussing how the power would be
distributed to the drivers during a bass heavy track.

Maybe it would help if you explained
why you want to know.

I am just trying to understand how the power is delivered to the
various components in a speaker. Thanks very much for all the replies. I
appreciate it.

I am configuring one of my amps in my car audio system. The amp is an 80x4
RMS @4-ohms unit and it is driving a pair of component speakers. The
component speakers use a 6.5" mid, 1" silk tweeter, and a 3500hz 18db slope
2-way x-over. I was trying to use theory to determine if bridging the amp to
200x2 was a better option than bi-amping it to 80x4 without the passive
x-over. The amp has the proper active x-over to make this work.

I was thinking that in 200x2 mode the 6.5" woofer/mids would have access to
more power than they would if I ran it bi-amped (80x4). My question about
power consumption was created when I was discussing how the power would be
distributed to the drivers during a bass heavy track.

In article ,
ab wrote:
Lets say we have a 2-way speaker using a passive x-over, 6.5" mid/woofer, and
a 1" dome tweeter. Would it be correct to say that for most music passages
the mid/woofer would be drawing more power from the amp than the tweeter
would?

Yes, because music has more energy at lower frequencies. The energy above
and below 350Hz is about equal. With 1200 and 3000 Hz cross-over frequencies,
the tweeter is seeing just 35 and 15% of the total power. The actual
cross-over should be someplace between those two.

Does it take more power to produce low frequencies than it does to
produce high frequencies?

It takes the same acoustic power to reach a given output level regardless
of frequency. Differences in efficiency and radiation patterns will change
the electrical power it takes to get there.

Now lets say we are running a 80W amp to the 2-way speaker and we are really
blasting a hip hop song with a huge bass track and a lot of highs. Assume
that the mid/woofer is drawing 50W of power from the amp. Is the tweet able to
get access to 80W of power from the amp at the same time (since it is playing
different frequencies)

No.

or is the tweet only able to get 80w-50W=30W?

Given 8 Ohm tweeter and woofer impedances only 3.5W will be available to
the tweeter and the amp will be putting out just 50+3.5 = 53.5W.

If an amp will deliver 80W RMS into 8 Ohms, it can deliver 25.3 V RMS
or 35.8V peak. 50W is 20V RMS or 28.3 V peak. So, when you have ~50W of
bass you can add just 7.5V to the signal before it clips, which is 5.3V
RMS or 3.5W into 8 Ohms.

In real life it's a bit more complicated because speaker impedance
varies with frequency, and either current or voltage can be limitting
output.
--
a href="http://www.poohsticks.org/drew/"Home Page/a
Life is a terminal sexually transmitted disease.

In article ,
ab wrote:
Lets say we have a 2-way speaker using a passive x-over, 6.5" mid/woofer, and
a 1" dome tweeter. Would it be correct to say that for most music passages
the mid/woofer would be drawing more power from the amp than the tweeter
would?

Yes, because music has more energy at lower frequencies. The energy above
and below 350Hz is about equal. With 1200 and 3000 Hz cross-over frequencies,
the tweeter is seeing just 35 and 15% of the total power. The actual
cross-over should be someplace between those two.

Does it take more power to produce low frequencies than it does to
produce high frequencies?

It takes the same acoustic power to reach a given output level regardless
of frequency. Differences in efficiency and radiation patterns will change
the electrical power it takes to get there.

Now lets say we are running a 80W amp to the 2-way speaker and we are really
blasting a hip hop song with a huge bass track and a lot of highs. Assume
that the mid/woofer is drawing 50W of power from the amp. Is the tweet able to
get access to 80W of power from the amp at the same time (since it is playing
different frequencies)

No.

or is the tweet only able to get 80w-50W=30W?

Given 8 Ohm tweeter and woofer impedances only 3.5W will be available to
the tweeter and the amp will be putting out just 50+3.5 = 53.5W.

If an amp will deliver 80W RMS into 8 Ohms, it can deliver 25.3 V RMS
or 35.8V peak. 50W is 20V RMS or 28.3 V peak. So, when you have ~50W of
bass you can add just 7.5V to the signal before it clips, which is 5.3V
RMS or 3.5W into 8 Ohms.

In real life it's a bit more complicated because speaker impedance
varies with frequency, and either current or voltage can be limitting
output.
--
a href="http://www.poohsticks.org/drew/"Home Page/a
Life is a terminal sexually transmitted disease.

Drew Eckhardt wrote:

In real life it's a bit more complicated because speaker impedance
varies with frequency, and either current or voltage can be limitting
output.

And I thought the reason it's a bit more complicated was
because real music doesn't consist of two unclipped continuous
sine waves. ;^)

Drew Eckhardt wrote:

In real life it's a bit more complicated because speaker impedance
varies with frequency, and either current or voltage can be limitting
output.

And I thought the reason it's a bit more complicated was
because real music doesn't consist of two unclipped continuous
sine waves. ;^)

"ab" wrote in message
t...
Thanks for the response to my specific question below.
Unfortunately I seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the
people
agree with you.

And those people are right. It would be nice to get 160W out of an
80W amp by simply dividing up the frequency range, but it ain't gonna
happen.

Norm Strong

"ab" wrote in message
t...
Thanks for the response to my specific question below.
Unfortunately I seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the
people
agree with you.

And those people are right. It would be nice to get 160W out of an
80W amp by simply dividing up the frequency range, but it ain't gonna
happen.

Norm Strong

"normanstrong" wrote in message
news:g_Prb.120183$ao4.372379@attbi_s51
"ab" wrote in message
t...

Thanks for the response to my specific question below.

Unfortunately I seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the
people agree with you.

And those people are right. It would be nice to get 160W out of an
80W amp by simply dividing up the frequency range, but it ain't gonna
happen.

While its impossible to beat the law of conservation of energy, it is
possible to win it and it's possible to lose it.

Take two 50 watt amps. Either can handle a 20 volt RMS signal. Mix 200 and
4000 Hz 1:1, pass through an electronic crossover and then to the two amps.
One amp handles signals above 1 KHz, the other handles signals below 1 KHz.
Neither amp will clip until the voltage passing through it is 20 volts or
more.

If you don't divide the signals, it takes a power amp that can pass a 40
volt signal to amplify them without distortion. This would be a 200 watt
amp. So, 2 50 watt amps can do the job of a 200 watt amp.

However, if you are amplifying a single tone, the 200 watt amp can produce a
40 volt or 200 watt signal, while the two 50 watt amps are limited to
producing a 50 watt signal.

"normanstrong" wrote in message
news:g_Prb.120183$ao4.372379@attbi_s51
"ab" wrote in message
t...

Thanks for the response to my specific question below.

Unfortunately I seem
to get different answers to this question from everyone. Half the
people agree with you.

And those people are right. It would be nice to get 160W out of an
80W amp by simply dividing up the frequency range, but it ain't gonna
happen.

While its impossible to beat the law of conservation of energy, it is
possible to win it and it's possible to lose it.

Take two 50 watt amps. Either can handle a 20 volt RMS signal. Mix 200 and
4000 Hz 1:1, pass through an electronic crossover and then to the two amps.
One amp handles signals above 1 KHz, the other handles signals below 1 KHz.
Neither amp will clip until the voltage passing through it is 20 volts or
more.

If you don't divide the signals, it takes a power amp that can pass a 40
volt signal to amplify them without distortion. This would be a 200 watt
amp. So, 2 50 watt amps can do the job of a 200 watt amp.

However, if you are amplifying a single tone, the 200 watt amp can produce a
40 volt or 200 watt signal, while the two 50 watt amps are limited to
producing a 50 watt signal.

Arny Krueger wrote:
Take two 50 watt amps. Either can handle a 20 volt RMS signal. Mix 200 and
4000 Hz 1:1, pass through an electronic crossover and then to the two amps.
One amp handles signals above 1 KHz, the other handles signals below 1 KHz.
Neither amp will clip until the voltage passing through it is 20 volts or
more.

If you don't divide the signals, it takes a power amp that can pass a 40
volt signal to amplify them without distortion. This would be a 200 watt
amp. So, 2 50 watt amps can do the job of a 200 watt amp.

Take two 50 Watt amps. Either can handle a 20 * sqrt(2) =
28.3 Volt peak signal. Feed both amps a 1 KHz square wave and
adjust for maximum output. Each amp produces the equivalent
of a 50 W sine wave at 1 KHz, plus 50 W of odd harmonics, for
a grand total of 200 Watts RMS.

Arny Krueger wrote:
Take two 50 watt amps. Either can handle a 20 volt RMS signal. Mix 200 and
4000 Hz 1:1, pass through an electronic crossover and then to the two amps.
One amp handles signals above 1 KHz, the other handles signals below 1 KHz.
Neither amp will clip until the voltage passing through it is 20 volts or
more.

If you don't divide the signals, it takes a power amp that can pass a 40
volt signal to amplify them without distortion. This would be a 200 watt
amp. So, 2 50 watt amps can do the job of a 200 watt amp.

Take two 50 Watt amps. Either can handle a 20 * sqrt(2) =
28.3 Volt peak signal. Feed both amps a 1 KHz square wave and
adjust for maximum output. Each amp produces the equivalent
of a 50 W sine wave at 1 KHz, plus 50 W of odd harmonics, for
a grand total of 200 Watts RMS.