Is my amplifier too powerful for my speakers?

Hi. My speakers are rated 25w - 150w. My amplifier, the NAD S200, puts out 225w continuous. Does that mean that it's always putting out 225w per channel or is this only what it's capable of doing should the speaker require it? I've just bought these speakers and don't want to blow them! I will swap amps if necessary. Thanks.

 

Dont worry - continuous means the amount of power it can put out and hold if pushed to the maximum. At normal listening levels in an average living room you would likely use 5 -10 watts and have PEAKS of up to 80 - 100 watts or so. If you have a particuarly large living room these figures may be a bit higher.

The main point is that if you had significantly overdriven your speakers it would be obvious from the audible distortion followed by the even more audible lack of any sound whatsoever.

In the past I ran my old Goodmans Magnum II's (rated at 30 watts max) with a bridged Rotel setup for a short time. These amps put out 120 watts a side. At no time did I ever overload the speakers, and this is a very badly matched combination on paper.

Just dont go totally mad with the loud knob and your speakers will survive just fine

 

Not enough power is bad, almost never too much power...

 

good answers !

you don't say which speakers ?

you also need to get the right units for each set of specs ...both need to be the same...

the amp will only produce 225watts at full volume ...and full input, which rarely happens....

its said that most people only ever listen to the first 4-5watts that any amp produces .....unless you turn the wick up ...or live miles from nextdoor !

 

Distortion is a speakers worst enemy. Jim.

 

It's easier to blow speakers with an amplifier which has too little power than it is with a more powerful one.

When you drive an amp above it's limits, it 'clips' the signal(imagine sound as a wave-when clipping occurs, the top of the wave is cut off leaving a square edge). This is what causes a rather nasty distortion which is far more likely to blow your speakers than a little too much power.

As you have plenty in reserve, that shouldn't happen so you have nothing to worry about.
Think of it as having a car with a huge engine. You only use as much power as you need.
If the music sounds distorted, turn it down.
Simple.

 

what Andy said.

Here's a white paper on it.

http://www.jblpro.com/pub/technote/lowpower.pdf

 

Cheers mi'dears.:MILD: