How to drive 2 Pioneer bookshelf speakers?

[nycSoft]

My friend recently gave me 2 Pioneer bookshelf speakers with impedance 6 ohm and maximum power 50W. I'm wondering if I can connect them with my mp3 player or laptop directly? Or do I have to use some amp to drive the 2 speakers?

By the way, there's no plug on the wire from the speakers, so how can I connect them to my audio equipment (like mp3 player or CD player)?

Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[sdy284]

You'll need a seperate amplifier or a reciever to power those speakers. You then hook up the line out on your mp3 player or laptop to the amplifier or reciever.

 

[jcPanny]

T-amp

A sonic impact T-amp would be an inexpensive solution. The wall-wart power supply in not included, so pick one up at radio shack.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=300-952

 

[nycSoft]

Thank you guys. Your opinions are great.

It seems that I have to buy some amplifier or receiver. Or buy a bookshelf stereo system and replace the 2 original speakers with the Pioneer ones (my friend's suggestion).

jcPanny: your suggestion is more feasible than my friend's. The Sonic amplifier is pretty compact and thus can fit my desk well. But I'm not sure if the 30W SONIC amplifier can drive the two 50W Pioneer speakers. Are there any amplifiers with more power (around 50W)? Thanks.

 

[nycSoft]

Wait. I have a simple arithmetic question about the maximum power first.

The maximum power marked on each of the 2 speakers is 50W. So, the maximum power for the 2 speakers is 100W, right? Or 50W is the max power for the 2 speakers?

en, one possible clue to this question is that the size of the speakers seem similar to the icon beside jcPanny.

 

[Ryan_Lilly]

It's 50 watts per speaker. I think that the T-amp would be fine for mp3 or laptop listening. The T-amp is only 15 watts per channel, but that is double or triple what most boom boxes have. It should be more than enough for small speakers.

Human hearing is logarithmic, so to double the volume requires 10 times the power!

Most home stereo speakers have a sensitivity or SPL (sound Pressure level) between 85 and 95 decibels (this is overly generalized and there are many exceptions)
SPL for speakers is rated at 1 watt.

So, lets assume that your speakers have an spl of 90db (probably in the ballpark). 1 watt of power would produce 90 decibels, this is like me yelling at you from a few feet away. So 10 watts would produce 100db (120db causes physical pain) most people don't listen to anything this loud.
As long as you don’t crank it up to high you should have reasonable headroom.

So in conclusion, The T-amp should be enough power for your speakers.
Sorry is any of this information is confusing, I you would like to know more about audio in general and have a better overall understanding of these issues, Rod Elliot has many very informative articles here

http://sound.westhost.com/index.html

...Or if you just want to use your new speakers and listen to music buy the T-amp or similar product and enjoy!

 

[nycSoft]

Thanks Ryan.

It's not confusing at all. In contrast, it's pretty awesome.

Human hearing is base 10 logarithmic function. So, the difference between 50W and 15W is log10(50) / log10(15) = 1.7 ; ie, if I use a 50W amplifier, I can only get 1.7 times of the volume that a T-amp can offer. Make sense.

I have some pratical issues: does anyone use a T-Amp to drive speakers of the size similar to the one in jcPanny's icon? How about the effect?

 

[markw]

Don't confuse the volume with power and percieved loudness.

For all the math involves, one simple way top look at volume/power/precieved loudness is this way
by remembering htesethree facts:

1) Doubling the power will result in a 3 decible increase in volume.

2) Three decibles is barely audiable. In any case, it's no way "double" the precieved volume.

2) To "double" the precieved volume level you need ten times the power.