Question about Speaker Sensitivity and Speaker Power

[Mundus33]

How do they measure sensitivity of a speaker at 1 watt if the speaker has a minimum wattage before you can get sound out of it. For example I have some polk audio rti 6
Sensitivity=89db (1 watt at 1 meter)
Power=20-125w (minimum of 20w)
so does that mean its 89 db at 21w or that they somehow got sound out if it with 1w to test.

 

[everettT]

Most manufacturera measure sensitivity at one meter and either 1w or 2.83 volts. So according to Polk with just 1 watt your speakers should be able to play at 89dbs. The power portion is pretty irrelevant as there is no standard testing for it so take it with a grain of salt. The majority of situations in the real world only call for a few watts continously and more for Burts and peaks. Also look for 3rd party measurements to verify manufacturers claims.

 

[shadyJ]

Most real world situations do not even use a single watt continuously.

No speaker has a minimum wattage before it produces sound. If you put any current through it, it will move the cone.

Polk is merely recommending that the owner use a 20 watts amplifier for the speaker to get loud enough to fill a medium size room.

 

[lovinthehd]

Try playing with this spl calculator.