Receiver does 120WPC Speakers can handle 250 Problems????

REDWING3139

Hello my reciver will be putting out 120WPC but my fronts (RTi8) can handle 250 will this be a problem will this put a strain on either the speakers or the reciever?

amulford

No. But I wouldn't crank it. Your receiver will distort and fry your speaker, most often the twetter first...

REDWING3139

Thank you for that but just so I know for the future, it would be better to have more closely match what your speakers can handle, meaning sperate power amps delivering say 200WPC to each of these fronts.

Early B.

REDWING3139 wrote:

Thank you for that but just so I know for the future, it would be better to have more closely match what your speakers can handle, meaning sperate power amps delivering say 200WPC to each of these fronts.

No, not necessarily. Don't concern yourself with drawing correlations between speaker load and amp power.

REDWING3139

Thank you

audiobliss

The real goal is to just throw as much power at your speakers as you can afford. :D

cfrizz

But also be aware that having separate amps driving your speakers will let them operate to their FULL potential without worry about putting your receiver into protect mode or frying your speakers! (IE your ears will give out before your speakers do!)

VR3

Your receiver most likely does 30-35...

So yeah...

ward91

dont turn your reciver over +5db or 0db to be safer.
(is i have learned from experiance:D )
that is the rule for my avr but i noticed that not all avr's go high in the +db scale. my avr goes to +18, some dont go so high but proberly leve themselves more headroom???
marantz said that the amp gives its rated outputs warm and with the volume between -5 and odB.

still if your ears say its distorting turn it down.

Mazeroth

In all actuality your speakers can probably only handle 120 - 150 watts continuous if you're running them full-range. If you have them crossed over to a sub they can handle more.

Don't worry about the wattage ratings on your electronics. The only thing watts buy you are decibels, nothing else. They don't get you "better control" over your drivers or any of that stuff. If you feel you aren't getting enough volume, or if you're driving your receiver to clipping, then it's time to get a beefier receiver or look into a separate amp.

audiobliss

But do take note that an amp's wattage is typically indicative of the amps 'power'. And so, in general, a higher wattage amp will help to control the drivers better and have more headroom.

cheddar

And wattage ratings on receivers are often horribly overrated. The people above have already cautioned you, but what they're really saying is that you will likely get nowhere near 120W with your receiver before your receiver either shuts down or destroys your speakers. A receiver that loses control of the power at 30W is more dangerous than an amp that is clean all the way to 400W for your 250W speakers.

honestaquarian

Power ratings for loudspeakers are NOT measured the same way as power ratings for amplifiers.The exact same tweeter for example that can handle a TEN THOUSAND WATT PULSE that comes and goes faster than you can snap your finger(The late AUDIO magazine used to actually do this sort of test)Would LITERALLY MELT if you drove it with ONE LOUSY WATT of continuous power for more than a few seconds using a continuous tone.As long as you are not asking your loudspeakers and amplifier to do things that they were not designed to do(like play at concert hall volume measured 50 feet from the stage for example)Then you should not have any problems.I remember having blown a tweeter by playing the alarm clock section of Time from Pink Floyd's Dark side of the moon cd once.I wanted the neighbors to hear it at midnight on New years.I was using a 60WPC(Watts Per Channel)receiver at the time.I later upgraded to a 200 WPC power amplifier and played the same passage even louder without a problem.The loudspeakers were rated to handle 100 watts.