Watts per speaker question (1 Viewer)

[Craig Lafferty]

Ok, hopefully this won't come across as a really stupid questions, but when using a receiver that outputs 110W vs one that outputs, say 75W per channel - is there a noticeable difference when listening in a normal situation? In other words, is the average home user going to need that additional watts above 75W? The way I understand it is that unless I plan on really cranking the thing up, I am not going to need more than 75W per speaker.

Am I understanding wattage completly wrong?

 

[ColinM]

You are right. The additional 35w won't be night and day.

To add 3db you need to double the watts.

The 35 watts will allow a bit more headroom, but 150 watts or more would be more meaningful.

- C

 

[John Garcia]

What really matters is the actual amp design, components used, etc... ie; what the amp ACTUALLY puts out vs it's "rating" per channel. How the amp is rated also is significant, as some manufacturers will quote their PEAK rating at a specific frequency, rather than with the entire bandwidth (low frequencies require more power, so rating an amp above sub frequencies is not a good measure of it's true capability).

A good amp will put out CLEAN power at it's rated output, and may even be conservative. A good example would be my Old Sony STR-DE815 vs a used Marantz SR4000. I ran them back to back, with the same music, same source, same speakers(Paradigm Titans set to large, no sub), and there was no question in the results. The 4000, rated at 70w/ch (20-20KHz) made the Sony, rated at 100wpc (@1Khz) sound like a boom box.

Also, by having more power than you need (headroom) you don't have to turn the amp up to achive clean sound, while also not driving the amp as hard, and you have the reserve for dynamic peaks.

 

[John Doran]

better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it...

all other things being equal (e.g. quality and cleanliness of the added power).

- jd

 

[Greg_R]

You don't want to compare specs between various amp manufacturers since each has their own measurement methodologies. It's best to listen and compare the two (in the same room, driving the same speakers). Whether or not you 'need' that extra power will depend on your listening level, size of the room, & efficiency of the speakers.