80 watt speakers 105 watt amp

[Kyled1]

I recently bought a Denon AVR-2310ci receiver and I'm considering buying a set of Paradigm Titan Monitor front speakers that are rated for 80 watt maximum. Will I have to worry about damaging the speakers? If my kids crank up the volume when I'm not around, will they blow the speakers?

 

[TLS Guy]

I recently bought a Denon AVR-2310ci receiver and I'm considering buying a set of Paradigm Titan Monitor front speakers that are rated for 80 watt maximum. Will I have to worry about damaging the speakers? If my kids crank up the volume when I'm not around, will they blow the speakers?

They may blow them whatever amp you buy, if they crank up the volume too much to distortion levels.

 

[Kyled1]

So there's no risk of speaker damage unless there's distortion? Really loud is ok as long as it's just loud?

 

[TLS Guy]

So there's no risk of speaker damage unless there's distortion? Really loud is ok as long as it's just loud?

Not necessarily. Speaker failure is a time power phenomenon, and almost impossible to predict.

However it is not sensible to blast domestic equipment. Apart from anything else it damages hearing, and there are no spare parts.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I wouldn't worry about it. The Denon will be more than enough to power those speakers. It is unlikely you ever will drive the Denon into distortion unless you are trying to fill a giant room with those small speakers and you crank the Denon into the + area of the volume control, then it is starting to get to the limits of the receiver, even then who knows. When a speaker receives a clipped signal it becomes very noticable, then it is time to turn the volume down. Alot of the time people are just careless.

Paradigm makes a great product just relax and enjoy the tunes.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I forgot to mention, Denon has this excellent feature on their receivers that can limit the maximum volume control setting.

For example say the volume control scale goes from -80 to +15. You can use the limit feature to set the volume control so that it goes from -80 to -20 so the max your kids can take the volume is up to -20 and this would prevent them from being to careless which might damage their hearing or your equipment.

 

[TLS Guy]

I forgot to mention, Denon has this excellent feature on their receivers that can limit the maximum volume control setting.

For example say the volume control scale goes from -80 to +15. You can use the limit feature to set the volume control so that it goes from -80 to -20 so the max your kids can take the volume is up to -20 and this would prevent them from being to careless which might damage their hearing or your equipment.

That sounds just the ticket.

 

[fredk]

If the 2310 setup menu is anything like the 2808, you will find the master volume setting under:

Setup
- Manual Setup
-- Option Setup
--- Volume Control

On the 2808 I can set volume on power up, max volume and mute volume.

 

[skers_54]

I used a set of Atoms with a 100 watt stereo receiver for about 6 months and didn't have any issues even though they're only rated at 50 watts. Most of the time, you will only be using a watt or two. Since the Titans are very efficient (93 db), odds are your kids will piss off the neighbors or turn down the volume from pain before the speakers are damaged.

 

[markw]

You can use pretty much any speaker with any amp if you follow the golden rule.

which is, "If it starts to sound funky, fuzzy or just plain not right, turn it down NOW!!!

 

[croseiv]

I'm running 150 watt RT7s as my front LR with 250 wpc (potentially) to them from my XPA-5. No issues here, and I doubt I'd ever get to the 150 wpc max rating of the speaker. I suspect they have a pretty high absolute max input rating. It is possible the you could reach 80 wpc though, and be careful not to overload the voice coils. The RT7s really sing now with the extra juice.

 

[JerryLove]

Don't overlook the issue of cooling. When a speaker lists a maximum wattage, it's about more than (if you exceed this for a moment, you blow the speaker). Sustained output generates heat that needs to be radiated. Overheating can cause all sorts of speaker seizing.

The general advice I've seen regarding over-driving, is that there's more danger of frying a speaker by putting too little amp on it and clipping than there is of putting too much amp on it and over-driving.

Keep the volume sensible for the size of the speaker (try to listen to 50w speakers from across a 3,000 ft^2 house would likely be inappropriate) and I suspect you'll be fine.

 

[lsiberian]

Rarely is power an issue in the home. Most folks listen to reasonable volumes that rarely get louder than 1 watt of power.

Only in a pro-audio type situation would I be concerned about power.

Most speakers are 87db or greater at 1 watt which is extremely loud.

TV is usually played around 60db.

Most of your sound will be less than a watt. Of course spikes can be higher, but you can see how 90db is likely the loudest you'll get too. No more than 10watts will be required for your speakers in most situations at home.

If you have hearing loss than your settings may be different.