How to match a decoder and speakers?

xen

How to match a decoder and speakers? for a 5.1 system!
i mean by power rating??

is it if decocder says 80w per channel thats the max they can take.. what would happen if u used say 100w speakers with this decoder...
thanks people

Korg

Speaking in pure "wattage" terms you can plug 100w speakers into an 80w amp no problem, 200W speakrs into a 50w amp, 50w speakers into a 200w, all fine. The problems start when you start turning things up loud. A 200w amp can damage 50W speakers easily enough, as the amp can generate more power than the speakers can handle. In theory 100W speakers can handle anything an 80w amp throws at them, but in practice an overdriven amp (turning the 80w amp up too loud) can do far more damage to the speakers it's driving.

When checking out power ratings tho try to look out for RMS ratings. You'll see things like 100w "peak power", "ipp" "instantanious peak power" etc, these scales are innacurate, some 50W rms amps can be rated at 200Wpeak etc, rms is the generally accepted measurement.

Kali

Aye PMPO is the power term to discount.. RMS is (as already mentioned) what you want to look out for, theres no need to match the wattage of the amp and speakers exactly, but as close as possible is always a good idea. Also important is matching the impedance (measured in ohms) of the speakers and amplifier (for most speakers this will be 6 or 8) otherwise the speaker wont be driven properly leading to either a dull or overly-bloated sound.

mooman_00

if i may throw in a question of my own, how do you work gain in an amp? is gain the amount of extra power an amp can give out??

daveg

I would be more concerned with the resistance of your sepakers. Usually either 4 ohm or 8 ohm. This should be matched with the output of your amp.