Speaker power vs amplifier power

Is it better to have a high power amplifier feeding a low power capable speaker or the opposite?

[fferrari]

With great power comes great responsibility.

[souravchakraborty]

He explained every topic so elaborately that any person who have little knowledge about electronics still can easily understood.

[nvjefe]

Omg, Kicker audio couldn't not give me an answer like this. This was exactly what I was asking for. Clear, concise and understable knowledge. Thank you! Now I can be stress free with my amplifier selection.

[AllboroLCD]

Paul could not be more right about this one.
I finally saved enough to buy me my first high current amp for my birthday, sheerly based on what I can afford brand new, I got the Emotiva BasX A300 (300wpc @ 4ohm). Main reason was I read my 1986 Altec 501's call for 300 watts in a sales brochure I came across. Not only is 12 O clock on the dial the most my ears can handle now, but even at low levels I get such better dynamics! Smaller speakers ive owned 20+ years made sound I never knew they were capable of making on this thing!

[leekumiega]

For those that are more technically minded Paul could of added that a square-wave has exactly twice as much power as a sine-wave if they both have the same p-p voltage. The harmonics of a square-wave add to produce exactly as much power as the fundamental. The square-wave is basically a switched DC voltage so its power is V peak squared/R load.

[Bassic]

As a bass player, Paul's explanation is what I've followed for decades. For my home audio system and my bass amp rig, I have yet to blow a speaker with amps that have more power than the loudspeakers are rated for. More power seems to supply more headroom without taxing the amp and without clipping.

[andystokes]

Thanks Paul. That was really interesting.

[danielgeiger]

Healthy listening level is around 60–70 dB, 80 would be loud, 90 is damaging human hearing. In most listening, 1 W is more than enough with anything but with the least efficient speakers in most homes/private listening rooms. PearlAcoustics had a good demo video of "how loud is 1 W". So the question is rather "how good is your first W" rather than throwing 1199 more lousy W after it. Very happy with my 25 W pure Class A PassLabs XA-25.

[diogenescaruaru]

I’m confused. He said “the latter” but them in the explanation said the former is better.

[sudd]

amplifier max watts output is never a problem, thats why we have volume control.

[finscreenname]

When it comes to race car drivers there is an old saying, "it's easier to pull the reins back then it is to push them forward". I dont buy way to big because you can burn up some speakers by pushing hard like when listening to a lower recorded CD. You may never get to clipping and end up pushing 250 watts through a 100 watt speaker if not careful. I bi-amped my Infinity RS IIIa's (leaving the passive crossovers in). 200 watt speakers I now have 250 watts going to top and bottom each. Nice to pull the amps back to where they will never see clipping and still have plenty of power to bring out everything the RS IIIa's have to offer. Not to mention being able to control the woofers and the top differently, it's a whole new world.

[keeloraz]

So calming .. one of my favourite channels on YouTube

[sickasshandy]

Mate thanks heaps!... For getting straight to the point and answering my question "should your amp have more watts than speaker". Apparently no-one else on Youtube could! 😂

[grzegorzemanowicz]

Well another great video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me! I always thought and i think it's a common misconception, that the stronger amp it's more likely to damage the speaker by putting to much power into it, while in reality it's the week amp that can damage the speaker. Also, while counter intuitive it seems that the speaker can also damage the amp. Let's say a 25 Watt weak amp is playing at it's 80% capability to achieve some loudness desired loudness, and then a big base drops in which requires a lot of extra power peek to move woofers a lot. I think this might damage the amp as well.

[ericnortan]

People always say the speaker ratings don't matter, especially the peak, but my feelings have always been that the peak is a very easy way to decide on an amplifier. I try and equal or surpass the peak number of the speaker with the amp wattage and you will always be covered as long as you play within the capabilities of the speaker. Obviously, I am generalizing, and many other factors should be accounted for. To me peak wattage is the starting point.

[InsideOfMyOwnMind]

Spot on with this one. And
Welcome to Mr. McGowan's Neighborhood.

[herbalifepatrick]

Thank you for leading the way in our hi-fi fam! 😊⚡🎛

[jaydy]

I don't always agree with Paul, but what he says here is absolutely true.
I once sold a pair of really good studio monitors to a friend. They could easily handle a 300W amp. I sold them for very cheap, because he's not a rich guy and a good friend. But then he also needed an amplifier to drive them, so I threw in an old 40W amp that I didn't use anymore.
One week later he told me "it sounds great, I'll send you the money!". Two weeks later he told me "the speakers blew up". He didn't send me the money that he owed, but I didn't chase him for it either. Because I shouldn't have sold him that combination of speakers+amp.

[davidcontini]

It's a little like fitting a small engine in a very heavy car. Even if you drive slowly, you are going to stress the small engine and consume lots of fuel. The same is true about big speakers and a small amp. Even if you don't push it to its limits, the amp will always be out of breath and prone to producing some distortion.
When coupling a very powerful power amplifier with speakers that don't have a high power rating, the important thing is not to exceed the speaker's maximum volume output.
In this way, the speakers will simply draw the amount of power they need.

[hugobloemers]

Back in the hay days of JBL, they would put a leaflet in the box of speaker components explaining exactly the same. They even used the 20W amp as example. Having said that, if for instance you have a Fostex 5W full range speaker, 100 old fashioned Watts is just too dangerous.