Any concerns using an amp driving more Watts then Speakers max

M

Max997

Banned
I am looking to add an amp to my system and I was wondering if using an amp pushing more Watts then the max on my speakers would be ok. My system is mainly for HT.

My current front speakers are the Axiom M22 bookshelfs which have a max of 200w and Ive seen some amps I like that are rated at 250w driven. Also my current surround speakers are 100w

I would think it would work unless I decided to go full blast with my volume but I would like to be sure obviously, dont want to blow my speakers

Thanks
 
Buckeyefan 1

Buckeyefan 1

Audioholic Ninja
Max997 said:
I am looking to add an amp to my system and I was wondering if using an amp pushing more Watts then the max on my speakers would be ok. My system is mainly for HT.

My current front speakers are the Axiom M22 bookshelfs which have a max of 200w and Ive seen some amps I like that are rated at 250w driven. Also my current surround speakers are 100w

I would think it would work unless I decided to go full blast with my volume but I would like to be sure obviously, dont want to blow my speakers

Thanks
There is not a problem whatsoever. Distortion will fry a tweeter sooner than clean power will. With ample power, you shouldn't ever run into distortion.
 
Last edited:
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
Buckeyefan 1 said:
There is not problem whatsoever. Distortion will fry a tweeter sooner than clean power will. With ample power, you shouldn't ever run into distortion.

How will the tweeter or any driver know it is getting a distorted signal?
 
Buckeyefan 1

Buckeyefan 1

Audioholic Ninja
mtrycrafts said:
How will the tweeter or any driver know it is getting a distorted signal?
Without a brain, I'm not sure. ;)
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
Buckeyefan 1 said:
Without a brain, I'm not sure. ;)

Maybe you were thinking clipping, more power, will destroy the tweeter?
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Not this again.... :rolleyes: Good old clipping, distortion, too much/too little power...

The question was answered: NO, it will not be a problem. Just becasue an amp is rated at 250w, does not mean you will be USING 250w to drive the speakers. In general, when listening most people are using about 10-15w, which might translate into peaks of 100-150w.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
j_garcia said:
Not this again.... :rolleyes: Good old clipping, distortion, too much/too little power...

The question was answered: NO, it will not be a problem. Just becasue an amp is rated at 250w, does not mean you will be USING 250w to drive the speakers. In general, when listening most people are using about 10-15w, which might translate into peaks of 100-150w.

Well, buck had a specific question I wanted to clarify.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I just didn't want this thread to turn into another one of those threads where it just goes off debating over details that aren't quite specific to the question anymore, as they can get that way pretty quick.
 
R

rschleicher

Audioholic
Having an amp with more power capability than your speakers can handle is not a problem. It's like having a car with a lot of horsepower. Sure, you can go a lot faster than the speed limit. But you won't get a ticket unless you press the gas pedal too far down (or volume knob too far up)! If you're not hearing audible distortion from your speakers, you are probably OK.

And, as someone else noted, you are actually more likely to blow a tweeter by pushing an under-powered amp into clipping, than by applying a lot of clean power. The reason why clipping causes tweeters to fry is that a flat-topped (i.e. clipped) sine wave is equivalent to the original sine wave, plus an infinite series of its harmonics (I'm grossly simplifying). So clipping a low frequency (that is normally handled by the woofer) will generate a series of harmonics, some of which will get fed to the tweeter. It is the increased high-frequency energy of these harmonics that ends up putting too much total energy into the tweeter, resulting in thermal problems. A slow-blo fuse in the speaker wire (or directly wired to the tweeter itself) will provide added protection against this happening. (As an aside, the original Large Advent speakers of the late 60's/early 70's suffered somewhat from easily-blown tweeters, and Advent used to provide you with instructions on the right kind of slow-blo fuse to buy.)
 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
Y'all tend to forget the crossover network.

That tends to apportion the "power" accordingto the bandwidth that needs it most. Most of the power goes to the lows and the least to the highs, generally.

This it not to say that there will never be a problem, but with the lows and mids getting the lions share of the power, the tweeter is generally pretty safe if one uses their ears and brain together.

That is to say that if it starts to sound bad, turn down now.

Now, it one connects the amps output directly to a tweeters input leads, well then, that's another story.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
rschleicher said:
Having an amp with more power capability than your speakers can handle is not a problem. It's like having a car with a lot of horsepower. Sure, you can go a lot faster than the speed limit. But you won't get a ticket unless you press the gas pedal too far down (or volume knob too far up)! If you're not hearing audible distortion from your speakers, you are probably OK.

And, as someone else noted, you are actually more likely to blow a tweeter by pushing an under-powered amp into clipping, than by applying a lot of clean power. The reason why clipping causes tweeters to fry is that a flat-topped (i.e. clipped) sine wave is equivalent to the original sine wave, plus an infinite series of its harmonics (I'm grossly simplifying). So clipping a low frequency (that is normally handled by the woofer) will generate a series of harmonics, some of which will get fed to the tweeter. It is the increased high-frequency energy of these harmonics that ends up putting too much total energy into the tweeter, resulting in thermal problems. A slow-blo fuse in the speaker wire (or directly wired to the tweeter itself) will provide added protection against this happening. (As an aside, the original Large Advent speakers of the late 60's/early 70's suffered somewhat from easily-blown tweeters, and Advent used to provide you with instructions on the right kind of slow-blo fuse to buy.)

Uhm, here is what happens at clipping and harmonics:

http://www.rane.com/note128.html

As you increase clipping by asking for more power, the RMS power increases to 2X, peak voltage time peak current.
 

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