![]() How much more? It really depends on the speaker and the amplifier. The former (which would be more simply described as continuous power) is calculated by playing a sine wave signal and measuring the average (root mean square) voltage and current that the amp can deliver without clipping (which is usually measured in terms of Total Harmonic Distortion, but can be seen on an oscilloscope as a flattening out of the curved tops and bottoms of a sine wave).Ī good amplifier can, of course, deliver more powerful, albeit brief, bursts of clean energy than its continuous power output rating without clipping, and good speakers can likewise handle such brief bursts. The power output of amplifiers is usually listed as RMS and Peak. Instead, it's an indicator of how much power a speaker can physically take without distorting or physically breaking (whether that be from fried voice coils, blown speakers, or cooked crossovers).Īn amplifier's rated wattage, by contrast, is calculated a little differently: by throwing numbers into a hat and pulling them out until one sounds impressive. But what does that mean when it comes to speakers? Despite conventional wisdom, it really isn't a good indicator of how loud a speaker will play. Wattage is a measure of electrical power described most simply as voltage (volts) times current (amps). Since wattage is the spec that most people look at first (and the only spec that some shoppers consider), we'll start there. With that out of the way, let's discuss some of the common terms listed in the specifications for most amps and loudspeakers, and what those specs mean when shopping for components that play well together. Still, even a simple discussion of the relationship between speakers and amps can get a bit mathy so, if you're merely looking for a cheat sheet to help you find a new amp for your favorite speakers (or vice versa), you can skip straight to the conclusion. ![]() To keep things simple, we'll mostly be focusing on the characteristics of your typical solid-state amplifier and ignoring things like OTL (output transformerless) tube amps. The goal here isn't to write the definitive treatise on the subject, but rather to give budding audio enthusiasts a foundation of knowledge on which to build. As such, it contains a number of simplifications, many of them bordering on grossness. Nine Questions to Consider Before You Hire a Custom AV Installer at īut first, a caveat: this article is intended as a quick primer for beginners.Tips For Building a Great Portable Home Theater at.Five Ideas on How to Go Big on a Small Budget or in a Small Room at.To understand why, we need to take a look at what those terms mean. As such, you might think it would be reasonably simple to match a speaker with an appropriate amplifier: make sure the numbers match, and you're in good shape, right? Well, sorta yes and sorta no. But if speakers and amps were a Facebook couple, there's no doubt that their relationship status would be "It's Complicated."ĭespite being quite dissimilar devices (one being an electrical device designed to increase the amplitude of a signal from a preamplifier or preamp stage the other being a mechanical device designed to convert that electrical signal into acoustical energy), the performance characteristics and capabilities of both loudspeakers and power amplifiers are described using many of the same words: primarily, watts (both RMS and peak) and impedance (usually denoted as Ω, or ohms). After all, you can't have one without the other, assuming you actually want to listen to your music and movies in an actual room. Two devices that go together "like a horse and carriage," as the Sultan of Swoon would have said.
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