power for polk

Esreuter

Hey all,

Lets have a chat about polk speakers on power handling.

i have the series 2 from new egg monitors.

fronts:70's
rear and rear surrounds:40's
center: cs2

now i am looking to get some external power for these guys, i am wondering if polk underrates their speakers.

example the cs2 is rated at 175 watts, can it handle a load of 200 watts and not get fried?

to be honest that speaker is really my concern, as most amps deliver 200 watts or 125.

i was thinking of a 3 channel 200 watt amp for the fronts and including the center, but i dont want to cook my center, just looking to see if i can cheat and get a 3rd channel in the amp and not have to buy a small individual 150 watt for my center alone.

your thoughts and experiences are greatly appreciated

ESR.:biggrin::biggrin:

mystik610

Speakers get fried when they're underpowered, not when they're overpowered.

You should be fine driving your center off a 200 wpc amp.

When an amp is pushed beyond its capacity, it clips and feeds distortion to the speakers. This is what fries speakers. In theory, overpowering a speaker could also fry a speaker, but you'd have to be listening at levels that would fry your ears first.

B Run

+1, You could feed them 1,000 watts as long as you don't play them at stupid volumes, and it would be better for them than 75 wpc from a crappy receiver any day.

Hawkeye

200 watts will be fine for you. Don't get too hung up on huge wattage numbers. Most of the time, I only use 3-7 watts for listening and it gets quite loud. If you were to listen at 100 watts for any length of time, you'd quickly damage your hearing.

Gordon

cfrizz

I'm powering all of my speakers with a 405wpc Sunfire amp and they sound terrific. As has been pointed out, you will be just fine with a 200wpc amp, your ears will give out before the speakers do, at which point you won't have to worry about blowing your speakers!

The speakers will only take what they need at any given time while playing. Having that much power is to ensure that the power is there when they need it. It's not about having more volume, it's about the speakers having the power to operate to their full potential no matter what volume they are at without damaging your ears or speakers.

The biggest improvements that I heard when I connected a Parasound 1500A to my fronts was greater clarity all across the board from vocals, instruments, & bass.

It's better to have it & not need it, rather than need it & not have it.

Esreuter

A big thanks to you Cfrizz,

i was researching VU meters and the power meters, wondering if the speakers take a constant power from the amp or they take just what they need.

you have answered my question saving me a post.

i must note to you all, that when i said i rebuilt my HT setup this will really be my first dive into better audio.

my first setup was guided by the young chaps at best buy. i gave the guidance that i wanted to rattle windows and doors, i got that but never looked into the specifics of sound, electricity, signal processing, and all the nuance things i am learning about here.

this is all in good fun and learning. i am very excited to add some power to my setup.

i have made my choice in an amp too. even though i got blasted in another part of the forum, i think the emotoiva stuff is a great price point entry level external amp.

i am now in the saving mode for a xpa 2, for the front channels and xpa 5 for the center and surrounds.

i will save for new, but will be watching the used market as i see several people here trading and selling those amps amongst this group. i have faith that the used products from the users in this forum are safe.

i do have a few burning questions though.

first: having the sony 5400 es, just like previous es models i have owned i have the option to turn off all speaker outs. the amp, sony and the instructions state a power draw of 450 watts. does turning off the speaker outs and running this only as a pre amp reduce the draw? i would assume it would, but we all know, assumption is the mother of all f ups.

second: whats the impact of all the equipment on your electricity bills per month? i know it is dependent on your usage but shoot me an average.

again, thank you all for your time and input, it has been a great journey thus far.

ESR:biggrin::biggrin: