dumb question... :$

inmate-

if i have a amp channeling out 60 wRMS and i have a speaker with 57.5 wRMS if i blast it for several hours for a time every day will it get ruined... its only 2.5 wrms difference, but im curious if it will have long term affects... :


i think its a dumb question, but id like to have a more knowledgeable opinion..

inmate-

lol is it really that dumb that no one wishes to answer?

McLoki

Speakers don't make watts, they dissapate heat. (and create sound) The Watt rating of speakers is for continuous watts, that is how much heat they can dissapate. If what you are listening to is white noise or static - yes, you will have issues at anything close to 50 watts.

As your music or movies gets more dynamic (the volume difference between the loud and quite parts of the music) the more time it has to dissapate the heat before the next loud sound comes along. That added time to dissapate the heat allows it to take in a much higher watt rating. (i.e. 20 watts continuous with 200 watt peaks will be no big deal compared to 55watts worth of white noise)

With that being said - if you are blasting music close to the watt rating of your amp, it will start to clip off the dynamic peaks. That clipped signal will definately damage your speakers and it will not take long at all to do it.

If you regularly run your amp at a continuous output of more than 60% of its rated limit. I would be looking hard at more efficient speakers or a MUCH larger amp.

Michael

BTW - not a stupid question at all. If what I said does not make sense, just let me know and I will try again...

inmate-

oh okay, if i understand this correctly you are saying that the speaker watts has to be higher and the amp wrms has to be lower... so kinda 1:2 ratio(example).... i always thought that the watts had to be equal.. or roughly the same..

so what your saying is that if i have an amp at 1 channel (60 wrms) and a speaker of 57.5 wrms theres a good chance the speaker will be harmed?

McLoki

No. (for example, I have a 500 watt amplifier but speakers that handle somewhere between 150 (LSi7's) and 350 (LSi15's) watts)

Personally I like the watts of the amp to be greater than the watts of the speaker. (this is not required by any means - but I feel it is safest to do it this way)

Reason being, it is pretty hard to blow a speaker with to many watts when playing music or movies. (it can happen, but you usually know when it is about to happen. - soundstage just collapses and everything just starts to sound wrong)

It is pretty easy to blow a speaker if your amp is not strong enough though because the amp runs out of steam but still tries to power the speaker. When it does this it sends a distorted signal to the speaker and the tweeter will usually fry.

In my example above - it would be much easier for me to blow my speakers using a 50wpc reciever than a 500wpc amplifier. It sounds backwards and wrong, but that is the way it is. Amplifiers running out of power is what usually blows speakers - not amplifiers with to much power.

Michael

inmate-

McLoki wrote: »

No. (for example, I have a 500 watt amplifier but speakers that handle somewhere between 150 (LSi7's) and 350 (LSi15's) watts)

Personally I like the watts of the amp to be greater than the watts of the speaker. (this is not required by any means - but I feel it is safest to do it this way)

Reason being, it is pretty hard to blow a speaker with to many watts when playing music or movies. (it can happen, but you usually know when it is about to happen. - soundstage just collapses and everything just starts to sound wrong)

It is pretty easy to blow a speaker if your amp is not strong enough though because the amp runs out of steam but still tries to power the speaker. When it does this it sends a distorted signal to the speaker and the tweeter will usually fry.

In my example above - it would be much easier for me to blow my speakers using a 50wpc reciever than a 500wpc amplifier. It sounds backwards and wrong, but that is the way it is. Amplifiers running out of power is what usually blows speakers - not amplifiers with to much power.

Michael

oh okay, so i have nothing to worry about right, thats what i thought too, plus the difference is so little... so in you're opinion im am okay to run this set up and it will prob not damage the speaker or the amp?

McLoki

Run at reasonable levels yes, you will be fine.

If you do any damage from playing the speakers to loud - it will be because your amp was not powerful enough to deliver a clean signal at that volume, not because your speakers could not take the power.

inmate-

McLoki wrote: »

Run at reasonable levels yes, you will be fine.

If you do any damage from playing the speakers to loud - it will be because your amp was not powerful enough to deliver a clean signal at that volume, not because your speakers could not take the power.

at reasonable levels? ... so lets say my deck gives a max volume of 35 if i always play it at 34 or 33 am i still okay?

McLoki

No - this is strictly an example, but if your deck goes to 35 I would speculate you are pushing it (sound quality wise) if you go much past 25. That may not hold true for your particular setup, but in general - if you are always running it full out (or close to it) you need a larger amp or (preferrably) more efficient speakers.

inmate-

McLoki wrote: »

No - this is strictly an example, but if your deck goes to 35 I would speculate you are pushing it (sound quality wise) if you go much past 25. That may not hold true for your particular setup, but in general - if you are always running it full out (or close to it) you need a larger amp or (preferrably) more efficient speakers.

so this is what i was planning to do... just to get u the details

4 channel amp (60 wrms each channel)
2x speakers (60 wrms each)
2x speakers (57.5 wrms each)

.. and i was hoping to be able to play the music really loud... like atleast 30ish... do i have the wrong setup? will these last (if so for how long)? and what should i change to make it better and longer lasting..?

leroyjr1

Get some bigger speakers and a nice powerful clean amp.

Example Adcom 555 and a nice pair of SDA's and your good to go. Or go grab a pair of cheap cerwin vega house speakers and beat the hell out of them.

inmate-

leroyjr1 wrote: »

Get some bigger speakers and a nice powerful clean amp.

Example Adcom 555 and a nice pair of SDA's and your good to go. Or go grab a pair of cheap cerwin vega house speakers and beat the hell out of them.

but im on a budget is my setup good enough for now?

Kex

inmate- wrote: »

... i was hoping to be able to play the music really loud... like atleast 30ish... do i have the wrong setup? ...

Probably: you're too close to the max on your receiver/amp (30 of a max 35).

inmate-

Kex wrote: »

Probably: you're too close to the max on your receiver/amp (30 of a max 35).

well the 30 / 35 is for the deck volume setting... not the amp... amp is 4 channel 60 wrms speakers(4) around like 58-60 wrms

leroyjr1

What kind of speakers do you have that only handle 57 watts rms?

inmate-

leroyjr1 wrote: »

What kind of speakers do you have that only handle 57 watts rms?

well its a pair (115) .. but im channeling them seperately..

McLoki

I am guessing it is car audio - not home. Same rules should apply though at a basic level. For a more exact answer about your setup - you might want to ask in the car audio section...

curved

What amp and speakers are you running? Give us specifics...