Speaker max output

[TankTop5]

Why don’t speaker companies give ratings on maximum out and the wattage is needed to achieve that output?

 

[Pogre]

Some kind of (attempt to) do with sensitivity and max power ratings. I was able to figure mine out with this spl calculator, but I have also had conversations with the designer/builder and read his development thread. So I know that when they say 300w max, they mean continuous and it's not a melting point. I don't plan to try and do it tho, lol. They get plenty loud with my 200w amp and I'm pretty sure I haven't hit its limit yet.

The problem is that there isn't a set standard so often max power ratings aren't what most folks think it is. Do they mean it can handle an extremely short spike or continuous? More often than not it's right at, or beyond a melting point.

 

[lovinthehd]

Some speakers do come with a max spl figure, but usually not well defined even then. Probably more in the pro market you'll see more along these lines. I can somewhat understand speaker companies not trying to go there (to a set of "max" specs) with all the hammerheads who will put it to the test and file claims after failure . Quality over quantity sort of thing....

 

[Swerd]

Why don’t speaker companies give ratings on maximum out and the wattage is needed to achieve that output?

The maximum loudness of a speaker varies greatly with details of the room you're in. The speaker companies won't know anything about your listening room.

What are the room's dimensions? Where are the speakers sitting with respect to the walls? How far away is the listener from the speakers? Where is the listener sitting with respect to the walls? It quickly gets too complicated to predict how loud the speakers can play.

It's more useful to know how sensitive the speakers are. What loudness level (SPL) do you get when the speakers are driven with 1 watt (or 2.83 volts) as measured by a microphone one meter away from the speaker? Unfortunately, different speaker companies measure this in different ways, some of them honestly, and others not so much. So it's hard to compare sensitivities from different speaker makers. At present, it's all we have.