wattage question for a new set up

Tom_Price · 11-10-2004, 11:46 PM

Hello,

I am planning to move in the next few years and have started designing the new house. I have a room that I will turn into a dedicated home theater room. The room right now is going to roughly 40' X 24'. I am currently in the process of determining equipment. I want to go separates with about 200W for each of 7 channels. For subs I was considering the SVS PB/12 Ultra 2. Originally, I was considering getting 2 of these sub woofers, but each gets 1,000W.

Compared to only 200W for every other channel, would 1,000W put out by 2 subs be bass overkill, or does the relative wattage between mains and subs not matter that much?

Also, would 200W/channel be too much for this size room?

Thanks,
Tom

Randy C Sr · 11-11-2004, 12:07 AM

Personally I like to have extra power reserved for those times when I just get the urge to blow out my ear drums. Actually the 200 wpc is nice to have. What really matters more is the efficiency of the speakers you plan to use. A very efficient speaker requires less wattage to reach a specific sound level than a less efficient one. If you need more info I can give you more details.

The wattage difference between the sub(s) and the 200 wpc does not matter. The powered subs rating is not a good measure of loudness/volume. Check the manufactures spec's as far as dB for loudness. You also want a low THD%. Most people will never here distortion (THD) from a sub unless it is above 2%, some not until more than 3%.

Dennis Gardner · 11-11-2004, 12:13 AM

Sounds about right. It takes more power at lower frequencies to push the air volume needed to reach similar levels of mids and highs. Headroom or extra power is always preferred for subs due to peak demands during action sequences in movies. Extra power at hand reduces distortion levels and makes all sound cleaner.

If your room will actually be 40X24, you will need the power you asked about to fill the room.

Wayne A. Pflughaupt · 11-11-2004, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Also, would 200W/channel be too much for this size room?

It depends a lot on how efficient your speakers are, but I’d say generally speaking that for a room that size (7600 cubic ft., if it has 8-ft. ceilings) it would be good to have than much power on tap.

Big rooms tend to “soak up” low frequencies, so you’ll also most likely be needing some fairly substantial main speakers, to make sure they have enough bass output to blend well with the subs.

Quote:

Compared to only 200W for every other channel, would 1,000W put out by 2 subs be bass overkill, or does the relative wattage between mains and subs not matter that much?

You can’t accurately make a comparison like that, because a sub’s power rating will largely depend on its design. For instance, compact subs with high-excursion drivers tend to have amplifiers with extraordinarily high power.

That said, it will take a lot of sub to fill that room with high levels and extension down to 20-25Hz. The folks at SVS can will be able to tell you if you need more than one Ultra 2. You might want to start with just one, and add a second if needed.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Chris Brock · 11-11-2004, 11:17 AM

talking more about the subwoofer situation for a second, in that size room if you truly never wanted to worry about having enough bass then this would do the trick for alot less money then the SVS subs....
http://www.geocities.com/pnwright3/Gemini_subs.html

More infor about Infinite Baffle sub configs are availabale at
http://f20.parsimony.net/forum36475/

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