Proper Speakers ? (1 Viewer)

[Spottedfeather]

I just got a Denon AVR-S530BT receiver. It says 140w. What does this mean exactly ? I picked this receiver because the speakers I have say they're 6 ohm and this receiver says it can run them. But the speakers say 120w. The receiver says, like I said, 140w. Will my speakers work with this receiver ?

 

[Dave Upton]

Watts really don't mean a whole lot for audio gear these days. The power rating on most speakers is a general measurement of continuous power handling, assuming you drive them hard. Most of the time, you are listening to less than 10W even at moderate volumes, with momentary spikes up to 100+ during dynamic peaks.

Your speakers and receiver should work fine together, though any AVR like your Denon tends to overestimate its power output, and will likely be closer to 50-60% of that in the real world.

 

[Spottedfeather]

Watts really don't mean a whole lot for audio gear these days. The power rating on most speakers is a general measurement of continuous power handling, assuming you drive them hard. Most of the time, you are listening to less than 10W even at moderate volumes, with momentary spikes up to 100+ during dynamic peaks.

Your speakers and receiver should work fine together, though any AVR like your Denon tends to overestimate its power output, and will likely be closer to 50-60% of that in the real world.

does that mean the sound will be bad ? These questions may sound a bit noob-ish, but this is only the second receiver that I've ever had, so I'd like to learn. I've read that if the speakers aren't closely matched, if you turn it up too loud, the speakers will get wrecked. And that if you run speakers that are rated way below the amp that they'll explode. Just to make sure, my speakers are 6ohm and 120w. The receiver says 140w.

 

[Dave Upton]

It's true that driving speakers too hard with an under powered amp can damage them. This is due to a phenomenon called clipping, where the waveform isn't able to be reproduced properly and ends up causing mechanical stress for the drivers in your speakers.

As long as you don't listen withe the volume above 90% on an ongoing basis, this receiver and your speakers should sound just fine together.

For the nerdy, here's a neat whitepaper from pro audio company Rane, that describes why this happens.

 

[Spottedfeather]

It's true that driving speakers too hard with an under powered amp can damage them. This is due to a phenomenon called clipping, where the waveform isn't able to be reproduced properly and ends up causing mechanical stress for the drivers in your speakers.

As long as you don't listen withe the volume above 90% on an ongoing basis, this receiver and your speakers should sound just fine together.

For the nerdy, here's a neat whitepaper from pro audio company Rane, that describes why this happens.

so the receiver being 20w more than the speakers won't be a problem ?

 

[Dave Upton]

so the receiver being 20w more than the speakers won't be a problem ?

No, you're fine!

 

[JohnRice]

No, you're fine!

I've been mentally composing a ten page dissertation to explain about power ratings, testing parameters, why the parameters of that 140 watt rating for this receiver is like the pipe dream that pipe dreams have, insufficient power supplies on receivers, and how they are designed to spec out, rather than actually perform.

But Dave's response is so much better.