Rti a5 more watts than r50s- why?

lriker

THis question will show my lack of knowledge but would like to learn. I currently have a set of r50s that are rated at 20-150 watts. the r50s have 2 6 1/2 inch drives and a 3/4 tweeter. The rtia 5 has the same setup, 2 6 1/2 drivers but with a 1 inch tweeter. Having only that small difference in the tweeters, how is the rtia 5 rated up to 250 watts while the r50 is only rated up to 150 watts? Also when compared to the monitor 70s , which have two more 6 1/2 inch drivers, the 70s are only rated at 25 watts higher? Info would help in deciding between the a5s or monitor 70s, or maybe a step up to the rtia 7s. Thanks.

dane_peterson

For the most part, you can ignore the wattage rating on speakers. You could power either with an amp far exceeding their ratings, and nothing bad would happen. But to answer your question, it has to do with efficiency with each of the drivers, as well as the crossover network.

I remember when I first started getting into car audio (before I got into home audio), and I assumed that a higher number = a better speaker. That's not necessarily the case. In fact, my car stereo sounded WORSE once I installed the new, higher-wattage speakers. They were obviously superior to the stock speakers, so why was this? It had to do with what was powering of the speakers.

With that in mind, what do you plan to use for amplification on the speakers you select?

lriker

i just picked up a used pioneer vsx 1018 for my receiver. rated for 130wpc. I plan on getting some kind of amp later. Right now I want to make sure that I put my money down of the best speakers. So if by what you are telling me, even though the rtia5 has same drivers it pushes more in wattage than the r50s because of the drivers? How about compared to the 70s?

Ron Temple

That range has nothing to do with output. It's about power handling capability. The smaller number is the recommended minimum power rating by Polk for your AVR or amp. The larger number is the the highest amount of power that can be applied to the speaker and still maintain itself within it's performance specs. So 250 watts into an A5 is going to theoretically, on a test bench, take the drivers just short of xmax and stay within the heat handling parameters of the speaker. As Dane stated, it's a fairly meaningless number since no one is going to apply that much power (in any normal environment) to the speaker. However, it does inidicate that the speaker might respond better to more power, the higher that 2nd power handling spec is.

As far as the A5 and R50...they are not close to the same. The parts in the A5 probably cost 5Xs the R50.

lriker

thank you. that is what i needed to know.