Newbie Question

[dalessandro12]

I am looking at new receivers and have a question about their output ratings. If a receiver is rated at 110X5, does it matter what the speakers are rated? I imagine so, but I don't see many speakers rated at 110 watts that are within my budget.

Can someone explain how this works or point me in the right direction? Sorry for the dumb question, I just want to understand how it works.

 

[markw]

You don't have to feed the speakers their maximum power, which is what you're reading, to get good performance from them.

It's like tires that may have a maximum rated speed. You don't have to drive them at that speed to realize their maximum performance.

 

[dalessandro12]

You don't have to feed the speakers their maximum power, which is what you're reading, to get good performance from them.

It's like tires that may have a maximum rated speed. You don't have to drive them at that speed to realize their maximum performance.

What about the other way around? If the speakers are rated at 75w but the receiver says it puts out 110w?

 

[markw]

You'll be fine as long as you use common sense and remember rule # 1.

"If it starts to sound bad, turn it down NOW!!!"

Also, since speakers are generally not played with more than maybe two - five watts continuously, having a little extra power on tap for those brief crescendos is a good thing to have.

Kinda like having a little extra horsepower available for passing or going up steep hills.

 

[dalessandro12]

You'll be fine as long as you use common sense and remember rule # 1.

"If it starts to sound bad, turn it down NOW!!!"

Also, since speakers are generally not played with more than maybe two - five watts continuously, having a little extra power on tap for those brief crescendos is a good thing to have.

Kinda like having a little extra horsepower available for passing or going up steep hills.

Thanks for the help. I bought some inceiling speakers since my house was prewired (and I have kids so i wanted to keep them out of reach) but they are only 75w. I plan on purchasing the new VSX-820-K Pioneer receiver today and wanted to make sure they would play nice together.

Thanks for everyones help.

 

[GlocksRock]

Most receivers don't put out their rated power anyway, so you will be fine.

 

[ribonzz]

Don't mind it at all. it will be fine, it has it's own "machine" to control.