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Speaker wattage question

I'm new here, so I hope I'm posting this in the appropriate forum.
I am running KEF LS50's with a Parasound Integrated amp. The amp is rated at 165 WPC @ 8 ohms. The speakers are rated for 25-100 watts (and are possibly lower than 8 ohms according to some sources).
If pushed, do I risk damaging a driver, or will I simply get clipping?
Any help appreciated and please pardon my ignorance on something I'm sure is common knowledge.
chrisg1000
martykl
3,563 posts
 
Per the "danger of clipping" comments already seen here, the off-take is that you're more likely to damage a tweeter with an underpowered amp driven too hard than you are with an amp that has "too much power".
inna
5,245 posts
 
Why do speaker manufacturers put it in the specs when you can possibly drive anything with 1000wt of clean power?
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,957 posts
 
inna2,182 posts08-11-2016 5:49pmWhy do speaker manufacturers put it in the specs when you can possibly drive anything with 1000wt of clean power?

Inna, i think that you misunderstood. You can drive any speaker with 1000W/ch but it does not mean that you can crank up the volume indefinitely. If you do, you will fry the tweeter & eventually the woofer. So, you can use a 1000W/ch amp, just be careful of where the volume knob is & do not exceed the manuf's speaker wattage upper limit. it's not so much about "clean" power i.e. just because it's clean it wont damage the speaker. No, not true.

inna
5,245 posts
 
If the speakers are rated to be able to handle 200 watt/ch continuously and I am using 1000 watt/ch amp, how do I know where those 200 watts are, speaking of volume? 
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
@inna

The SPL at a listening location is a function of the speaker sensitivity, room acoustics and distance from the source.

You could measure the SPL at 2.83 volts (1w/8 ohms) with the mic at the listening location and then do math from there if you really wanted to. :)

Divide your maximum RMS voltage by 2.83 and convert to dB. Add this to the SPL measured at the listening location and voila, you have your maximum SPL.

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