Output Consumption

Hi :


My receiver Yamaha can output 80W per channel (max). If I hook it up with
speakers having specifications : 10-100 W or 10-120W

Will this set-up damage ny receiver for speaker output is > receiver output ? Thanks

From your posts here, you seem to be new to this. Let me impart some things that I've learned over the years. You can either accept or ignore this advice.

Rule # 1 - Use common sense. If something sounds bad, turn it down. Ignore this at your own risk.

Rule # 2 - Just because a speaker can absorb so much power dosen't mean it has to be fed that much power to sound good. But, be aware that any amp can be driven into clipping (NOT a good thing), even if it falls in the range stated by the speaker manufacturer as "safe" . See rule # 1.

Rule # 3 - Speaker ratings are pretty useless. Many times a speaker can be safely driven with a much more powerful amplifier than it's spec'd for if you follow rule # 1. Actually, I'd rather err on the side of too much power than too little.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by markw

Actually, I'd rather err on the side of too much power than too little.

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But this statement has me wondering...I've blown several speakers in my day over-powering them, but I've never, ever damaged a speaker "underpowering it"...though I'll admit, it sounds like crap if it sounds at all.
What's the rationale behind this statement...can damage occur from under-powering it if you hit a large impedence swing or something?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kexodusc

What's the rationale behind this statement...can damage occur from under-powering it if you hit a large impedence swing or something?

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Clipping. Ever check out the power handling figure on a tweeter in a speaker system? Thank heavens for crossovers.

If an amp runs out of power, it can push a LOT of high order harmonics and even DC into a tweeters voice coil. DC is not a good thing for tweeters and other tiny things. Woofers are pretty sturdy and can handle it but tweets tend to die pretty easily.

Example. I was driving a pair of (tiny but schweet) Minimus 7's, rated at 40 wpc, from a Marantz 2270 (conservatively rated @ 70 wpc @ 8 ohms) for the better part of a year and, by using rule # 1, I was able to get pretty durn good (nearfield) sound out of them with no damage to either.

Conversely, when I was working for RatShack while going to school in the early 80, I sole a LOT of those automotive EQ/power booster combos. Most were ratred about 20 wpc. These yahoos would buy these, hook 'em up to speakers rated at a LOT more than 20 watts, put the EQ in the infamous smily position and proceed to blow out the tweeters. RatShack, in all it's infinite wisdom would replace the eq/booster but not the speakers. And, doncha know, they would blow out another pair of speakers by doing exactly the same thing?

..even after I warned 'em this could happen and they would call me a liar and worse. Sometimes I think Darwin is right.

Oh...I see what you meant...what you'd call underpowering a speaker I'd call overexerting an amplifier. I guess it's all relative...
I'd liken underpowering a speaker to reducing the volume to zero...you're essentially pushing nothing through the speaker, using no power...and no damage to anything.
I was wondering what you were getting at there....thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kexodusc

Oh...I see what you meant...what you'd call underpowering a speaker I'd call overexerting an amplifier. I guess it's all relative...
I'd liken underpowering a speaker to reducing the volume to zero...you're essentially pushing nothing through the speaker, using no power...and no damage to anything.
I was wondering what you were getting at there....thanks.

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I was just elucidating on my post while you were writing this one. We seem to be on the same track. ;)