160 watt speakers and 80 watt receiver ok?

Question

This is a temporary arrangement until I get something else, but is it bad for the receiver in any way? I would think there is no problem with it, except for the speakers not performing at near their intended level... But if there is something hazardous I have not thought about I would appreciate any comment.

Thanx for the answers, I will have to do some further research to see whom of you is most accurate... No offense, but since everyone says they know, I have to make sure you now.

Most of you talk about the impedance, I'm quite confident the impedance is no problem, being the ideal for the receiver 8ohms and the speakers are such.

But thank you for all the answers so far.

Answer 1

WRONG. I wish people who don't know what they are talking about would stop answering technical questions. One of these days their bad advice will:
1) Cause someone to ruin their expensive electronics
2) Cause someone to get electrocuted
3) Cause someone's house to burn down.

The worst thing you can do to your speakers is send them a clipped (over-driven) signal from an under-powered amp. This clipping can be so subtle that even a highly trained ear might miss it.

The quickest way to blow a speaker is by sending it a clipped signal from an under-powered amp.

As long as you take it easy you should be OK. DO NOT TURN IT UP! Listen at a moderate volume and get a higher powered receiver as soon as you can. Sooner or later you WILL blow a speaker.

Answer 2

I have never heard so much misinformation about this subject! In the old days, when sound systems were bought by hi fi enthusiasts who knew something about what they were getting, speakers never came with a "power" rating. Speaker power raitings for home music systems were invented by marketing hacks to make unsuspecting buyers think they were getting something when they got speakers with a high power rating. Speakers designed for use with high-powered PA systems or guitar amplifiers must be power- matched with their amplifiers or fused, but the fact is that home stereo systems are almost never operated anywhere near their maximum ratings. There are two speaker characteristics that are important to consider: the speaker impedance, and the speaker sensitivity. The impedance tells you how much current the speaker will draw from the amplifier; the sensitivity tells you how loud the speaker will sound for a given power input. Therefore, unless you know the sensitivity rating of your speaker, you won't know how much power it takes to give the volume of sound you need. Unfortunately, unless you are getting genuine high-fidelity speakers, the sensitivity rating is not usually specified. Most lwo-cost speakers are high sensitivity, and will put out quite a high volume at modest power inputs. The only time you will drive your amp to 80 watts will be during a loud, very low frequency bass passage. This could damage the speakers, but the damage will be from excessive voice-coil excursion rather than burning out. Keep the volume at reasonable levels, and your 80-watt amp will do fine with your speakers. It is also important to be aware of the speaker impedance. It used to be necessary to match speaker impedance with amplifier output impedance (it still is with tube and FET output amplifiers), but transistor-output amps will accept a wide range of speaker impedances. The power output of the amp will be affected by the speaker impedance, so the 80W rating is meaningless without the speaker impedance specified. Usually, the wattage is rated for an 8-ohm speaker. If your speaker has a higher impedance, this will cause no problem but will reduce the maximum output power (it should still be adequate). On the other hand, a lower impedance will increase the maximum ouput power, and the danger here is more to the amplifier which can overheat if it drives too low an impedance.

Answer 3

mrknositall is right. Before I knew what I was doing, the band I was playing with blew out 2 500W speakers in about 1 minute by running them with a 300W amp. As he said, the power amp was clipping the signal from the mixer. When speakers are rated, they are rated as the amount of power of a white noise signal that they can continuously handle. If you have ever listened to white noise, it isn't plesant for more than 5 or 10 seconds since it is an equal amplitude of every major frequency in the sound spectrum. To get through the technical stuff which most people have no clue about, that is much more intense than an actual music signal. For optimum operation, you want to use an amp that is 4 times, or even up to 10 times the rating of the speakers. After getting to know some professional sound techs for several bands, that is how they will typically set up their systems.

Make sure to study what you are going to do before you actually do it. It will save you time and lots of money.

Answer 4

Take a look at your speaker system's specifications if possible. Usually, a speaker will have a recommended amplifier power range given. If you stay within the manufacturer's specs and instructions, you will get the maximum enjoyment from your audio/video system.

Ok, with that being said, if your speakers are rated at 160 watts max (or peak watts, not RMS), see if you can find out what their watts RMS rating is. Same with your receiver... If your receiver is rated at 80 watts max, find out what it puts out in RMS into the same impedance (i.e. 8 Ohms most commonly, or 4 Ohms in some speaker models) as your speakers.

HERE'S A TYPICAL EXAMPLE:

Home Audio Florstanding Speaker System

Recommended amplifier power rating....... 20 wpc to 200 wpc (RMS)
Max power............... 200 watts continuous (400 watts peak transient)
Impedance.......... ........... ........... 8 Ohms nominal (6 Ohms minimum)

The most common type of speakers available at your local consumer electronic chain stores have recommend a typical amp range of from 20 watts per channel RMS (which can translate into a max watts as high as double the RMS rating) into 8 Ohms to as much as 200 watts per channel RMS (which can translate into a max watts as high as double the RMS rating) into 8 Ohms. If your receiver is rated somewhere in between these numbers, you should be in good shape with compatibility.

With any receiver or amplifier, it is possible to damage a speaker system and/or receiver or amplifier by turning the volume up too high. You should never turn the volume more than 50% of the maximum volume level. If there is not enough loudness for you at this point, then either get higher efficiency speakers (i.e. 92 dB @ 1m/2.83v or higher) and/or a more powerful receiver or amp (i.e. to make a noticeable difference in loudness, you will want to double the watts RMS of your current receiver or amp).

H a p p y
L i s t e n i n g !

Answer 5

As long as the receiver isn't putting out more power than the speakers can manage, you're ok.

The speakers will perform just as good as a pair of identical 80 watt speakers ... it's simply that your speakers are capable of receiving much more than you're giving them (I think it's a good thing).

Answer 6

ACTUALLY!!!! You must ensure that the speaker impedence matches that of the power unit/amp/rcvr. etc. Speaker wattage is a max rating, not a requirement.

Answer 7

a simple yes