True Power Delivery (1 Viewer)

[Pete Austin]

Hey all,

I'm a relative HT newbie so forgive me if this is a "dumb question". I recently bought a Sony rerceiver to power my Klipsch Reference series 5.1 system. The receiver is rated at 110 watts per channel. In browsing this forum and its links I've come across many separate amps costing a lot of money and yet only delivering say 50 watts (tube amps). Now I'm confused. Do my speakers really only need/get a fraction of the receiver's rated watts/channel? What is that fraction? What does the watts/channel rating really mean. How do I know how much power my speakers need to sound best? I'm just looking to better understand my system. Thanks for any comments.

 

[DanaA]

With your speakers, three or four watts will achieve an output of over 100 decibels at one meter. Your receiver will have plenty of power to drive the Klipsch, which are renouned for their efficiency. In fact, a lot of Klipsch owners, especially of their classic speakers, used tubed amps rated at 15 or less watts per channel.

The problem with power ratings, especially so far as receivers are concerned and, then again, moreso with certain manufacturers, is that the way they list the power is misleading to many. Some receivers having power listed at 100 watts/channel X's 5 in fact have significantly less actual power with all five channels being driven simultaneously. However, a source rarely asks the amp to deliver the same amount of power to each channel simultaneously in real world circumstances.

Click HERE to see a somewhat outdated chart of manufacturer's claims as to power and what the actual power was tested at.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

We have a Primer that might shed some light :Power and Speaker Output .

Yes, your speakers typically only draw 3-10 watts at at time, but you need the extra for the sudden shifts in volume that we get from a movie.

 

[Jack Briggs]

...as well as music.

You'd be amazed at how little power is being used most of the time.

 

[RussKon]

actually, IMHO it is not the quantity of power, but rather the quality....those mega-buck amps that you find out there produce a much higher quality power for your speakers than your typical receiver...

in my younger days, i always thought "a watt is a watt", but after going through several different receivers and now several different power amps....it is very obvious that there are huge differences in amplifier power quality!

additionally, your klipsch speakers are very revealing and will allow you to hear the weak points in your system...(amplifier, pre-amp, cd player, etc)....i discovered this after i got my klf-30's

enjoy!!

russ

 

[JeremyFr]

sorry delete this.