Speaker Power Handling, RMS or peak?

[Andrew232006]

I'm looking at purchasing a new receiver and speaker system and I don't know if I should be worrying about it being too powerful for the speakers and damaging them.

The speakers(Fluance AVHTB 5.1 speaker set) list only "Power Handling" 20-120 watts for the front but 30-100 for the surround. Is this peak or RMS? I've tried to find more detail but couldn't.

The receiver adds more confusion(Sony STR-DN850) by only listing 6ohm power while my speakers are 8ohm.
(6Ohms, 1kHz, 2ch driven) THD : 1%
(6Ohms, 1kHz, 1ch driven) THD : 0.9%
6ohms, 20-20kHz, 2ch driven : 95 W + 95 W (0.09%)
6Ohms, 1kHz, 2ch driven : 110 W + 110 W
6Ohms, 1kHz, 1ch driven : 150 W

According to this calculation I found the receiver comes in at 112 watts peak:
"Ohms law of V=I*R and multiplying both sides by V again gives us V*V=V*I*R or V^2=P*R. Then plug in P (150) and R (6) to get v^2 (900). Now switch the equation around to solve for P, so we have P=V^2/R or 112=900/8. So the STR DN-850 is 112 Watts and not the 115 Watts I quoted earlier. The STR DN-750 comes in at 109 Watts".
But maybe I should be just looking at the 110+110 watt figure and use the calculation on that? I can't imagine when I'd only use 1 channel.

The only other 7.2 Receivers I can find in that price range are the STRDN750 and the Pioneer VSX-1128-K. I can't find any remotely comparable speakers near that price(in Canada). I want to buy more speakers and a subwoofer a few months later.

 

[markw]

amp vs. speaker power is not an exact sciences and it's importance is grossly over-rated.

Suffice it to say that the specs on you amp, while deceptive, show It as not overly powerful but I should drive your speakers loud enough for most sane people.

if you use common sense, any speaker can be driven by any amp. Remember this: If it starts to sound bad, turn it down immediately!

There are many helpful articles here in the links under the "Home Theatre Setup" tag which can be found on the man page of this site.