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Quick q about wattage.

Madeline12

Madeline12

Super Member
I have a Kenwood KR-2400 receiver with Lafayette SK-300 25 watt speakers (8 ohms) I have a Sony SA-W2500 subwoofer as well. Unfortunately, the A+B selector does not work on my receiver, as only A or B will play on the A+B selection. So I’ve been plugging my speakers into the output of the subwoofer. However, I’ve read online the power amplifier in the subwoofer is 60W. Plus, my receiver is only 16W of power. Am I correct in thinking this is a bad idea? I’m thinking of getting new speakers with higher wattage (though it’ll be a hard goodbye...) but that won’t be for a while, as I don’t see any good deals around me right now. I’ll try and see if I can make the A+B work again, but if not, I’d like to know if I should not use the subwoofer until new speakers and possibly a new receiver are purchased.
 
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No, it's actually the way things should be done. The power ratings of speakers are not really relevant; there's no standard for them, and getting speakers with a higher power rating will not make your system play any louder. When you connect your speakers to the subwoofer's terminals, it's simply a pass-through; the amp in the subwoofer doesn't affect the speakers in any way.

Now having said that, before starting to replace components, let us know how your system is lacking and we can make recommendations. For example, if your system can't play loud enough without distorting, it's most likely that you'd need to upgrade the receiver rather than the speakers (although upgrading the speakers would probably improve things as well, but if you're happy with them, leave well enough alone).
 
swechsler said:
No, it's actually the way things should be done. The power ratings of speakers are not really relevant; there's no standard for them, and getting speakers with a higher power rating will not make your system play any louder. When you connect your speakers to the subwoofer's terminals, it's simply a pass-through; the amp in the subwoofer doesn't affect the speakers in any way.

Now having said that, before starting to replace components, let us know how your system is lacking and we can make recommendations. For example, if your system can't play loud enough without distorting, it's most likely that you'd need to upgrade the receiver rather than the speakers (although upgrading the speakers would probably improve things as well, but if you're happy with them, leave well enough alone).
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I am quite happy with my speakers. But after listening to the University sound speakers I’m giving my sister... I’m starting to second guess. I’ll think about it some more, but I appreciate your help!
 
Just for clarification, the amp in the powered subwoofer powers ONLY the subwoofer, and has nothing to do with the receiver powering the speakers. As mentioned, the speaker connectors on the sub only takes the signal for the sub, then passes the receiver's power on to the speakers.
 
imral3 said:
Just for clarification, the amp in the powered subwoofer powers ONLY the subwoofer, and has nothing to do with the receiver powering the speakers. As mentioned, the speaker connectors on the sub only takes the signal for the sub, then passes the receiver's power on to the speakers.
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Perfect, thanks so much! Learning something new every day :)
 
If I am to get new speakers, I’m thinking of Scott S-11’s. Would this be a step up in general or should I stick with the ones I have? $35. Bit off topic I know, but I’d rather not make a new thread for something that isn’t too big of a question.
 
Madeline12 said:
If I am to get new speakers, I’m thinking of Scott S-11’s. Would this be a step up in general or should I stick with the ones I have? $35. Bit off topic I know, but I’d rather not make a new thread for something that isn’t too big of a question.
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Always, always, always, listen to speakers before you buy them. Let your ears decide.
 
Got the scotts. A bit more of a fuller sound than my old ones. I do notice, however, more rattling in the woofers than my old ones at higher volume(which also rattle when I put it at pretty high volumes). I was only doing this for a brief period of time (10 seconds) in order to determine the volume threshold at which this happens. The threshold seems slightly lower with the Scott’s, but not by much. I’ve checked the foam and it looks/feels fine. So, not sure. But the tweeters and drivers in the Scott’s sound nicer, brighter. SO. Am I happy with my purchase? Sure, absolutely. But do I think it’s a giant leap in improvement? Probably not. Still, they’re nice to look at :) Solid wood cabinet and a woven yarn(?) grille.
 
Madeline12 said:
Yes I’ve been doing some research, but I guess the only way I’ll be able to tell is hearing them myself at this point :dunno:
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Always the best way.
Rattling? Unless you're bottoming them out, you might want to check out the spiders. If they're letting the voice coil flop around you should rebuild them.
 
fill35u said:
... Until you exceed them...
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No. A lot of people seem to misunderstand that if you have a 100 watt amp, you can't connect speakers that are rated for 50 watts. But how was that rating obtained? Peak power? Music power? Average power? Sine wave? And over how long a period?

Unless you're listening at concert levels or your speakers are really inefficient, in most instances you're going to be using about a watt or less of average power. The reason you have a 100 watt amp is for those peaks. Most speakers can handle momentary peaks of way beyond their power rating. That's why power ratings are meaningless. If you had a hundred watt amp and you were listening at 100 watt average output, your music would be almost completely distorted, since all music (unless your music consists of constant-level sine waves) has peaks. Peaks take a lot of power, but it's only momentary. Consider this: to get a sound twice as loud, you need 10 times the power, to get four times as loud you'd need 100 times the power. But because you're typically only listening at a fraction of your system's rated output, your amp can handle it.

Realistically, you're better off with too much power than too little, since amp clipping can quickly kill tweeters. Use a little common sense and turn the volume down immediately if something doesn't sound right, and you should be fine.
 
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swechsler said:
No. A lot of people seem to misunderstand that if you have a 100 watt amp, you can't connect speakers that are rated for 50 watts.
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Agreed, there do seem to be a lot of folks confused by that. And there are different rules of thumb for different situations.

But how was that rating obtained? Peak power? Music power? Average power? Sine wave? And over how long a period?
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Depends on the standard, there have been a lot of them over the years:

[URL="https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/why-bookshelf-rather-than-floor-standers.884877/page-7#post-13091198"]Why bookshelf rather than floor-standers?? (Post#125)[/URL]

Drivers are damaged by over excursion or thermal effects of too much power. Any reputable manufacturer will specify how they chose their rating.

Realistically, you're better off with too much power than too little,
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Unfortunately, there's also a confusingly large variety of sometimes arbitrary ways to rate *amplifiers* as well...

since amp clipping can quickly kill tweeters.
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https://sound-au.com/tweeters.htm

Use a little common sense and turn the volume down immediately if something doesn't sound right, and you should be fine.
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I absolutely agree with this! If it's not something in the system distorting under strain, it's your ears.

The insidious problem is power compression, since it can cook speakers without much noticeable distortion or frequency shift, and it tempts the listener to add even more power.
 
fill35u said:
The insidious problem is power compression, since it can cook speakers without much noticeable distortion or frequency shift, and it tempts the listener to add even more power.
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This is something I don't think I've ever experienced, but you're quite right, and manufacturers of consumer-grade speakers rarely, if ever, mention it.
 
Here's how I look at the speaker/amp marriage. You can play ANY speaker with ANY amp as long as one uses their ears and common sense.

If it sounds strained, turn it down instantly. That means you're exceeding the capacity of either the amp or, most likely, the speaker.

In any case, it'll probably be plenty loud when/if this happens, assuming the speakers are in good shape. If the speakers sound funky at normal listening levels, they probably have a problem.
 
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Regardless of amplifier wattage, when the volume knob is turned all the way down, it's putting out zero watts to any given speaker. So, as the skipper says, use the volume control sparingly.
 
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