Modern cordless speakers come in all shapes and sizes. Finding the perfect model for your application can often be tricky. There is a flood of different names and terms describing loudspeaker performance. Also, each manufacturer publishes a large number of specifications, including "sound pressure level", "dynamic range" etc. I will give a short overview of the output power spec in order to help you better understand the meaning of this term and how they relate to the performance of an speaker.
If you are looking to buy a pair of speakers to set up in your home, you will often be confronted with a number of strange terms describing its performance. But how do these numbers relate to how the speaker sounds and how are these to be interpreted? Now I will give some details about "speaker wattage". This spec is often misunderstood. It is important to look fairly closely at how the manufacturer shows this parameter.
"Wattage" shows how loud your speaker can sound. Depending on your application, you can go with a small speaker tolerating only a few watts or a larger one tolerating several hundred watts. Many smaller home speakers only can be driven with a few watts power which usually is enough for a small room. If you plan to shake your walls then you obviously want to opt for a speaker that has up to several hundred watts. Please note that many speakers will start distorting the audio once the audio reaches higher wattage. If you want to enjoy low-distortion audio then you may want to pick a speaker which will give you more wattage than you will actually need.
Some specs will give the wattage in "Watts peak" while others will show "Watts rms". "Peak" means that the speaker is able to tolerate the wattage for a short period of time only while "Watts rms" means that the speaker will continuously tolerate that amount of power. The peak power rating in the past often led to manufacturers showing large wattage ratings for small speakers. However, in reality those speakers would not be able to endure larger amounts of output power for larger amounts of time.
Music and voice is not constant in terms of loudness. As such the peak power rating is still important, although not as important as the rms power rating. Ideally the speaker will show both the rms and peak power rating. Having a high peak power rating will ensure enough headroom for power peaks which are common in music signals. Having enough headroom is essential since music signals differ a great deal from sine wave signals which are used to measure rms power. Short bursts of high power are often found in music signals. These bursts will drive the speaker into high distortion unless the peak power is high enough.
However, be aware of the fact that the maximum output power also depends on what type of speakers you are using, in particular the impedance of the speakers. Speakers usually have impedances between 4 and 8 Ohms. Due to the limited supply voltage of your amplifier, the maximum output power will be half if you connect an 8-Ohm speaker than the peak power that the amp can deliver to a 4-Ohm speaker. Thus often maximum output power is given for a specific speaker impedance.
If you are looking to buy a pair of speakers to set up in your home, you will often be confronted with a number of strange terms describing its performance. But how do these numbers relate to how the speaker sounds and how are these to be interpreted? Now I will give some details about "speaker wattage". This spec is often misunderstood. It is important to look fairly closely at how the manufacturer shows this parameter.
"Wattage" shows how loud your speaker can sound. Depending on your application, you can go with a small speaker tolerating only a few watts or a larger one tolerating several hundred watts. Many smaller home speakers only can be driven with a few watts power which usually is enough for a small room. If you plan to shake your walls then you obviously want to opt for a speaker that has up to several hundred watts. Please note that many speakers will start distorting the audio once the audio reaches higher wattage. If you want to enjoy low-distortion audio then you may want to pick a speaker which will give you more wattage than you will actually need.
Some specs will give the wattage in "Watts peak" while others will show "Watts rms". "Peak" means that the speaker is able to tolerate the wattage for a short period of time only while "Watts rms" means that the speaker will continuously tolerate that amount of power. The peak power rating in the past often led to manufacturers showing large wattage ratings for small speakers. However, in reality those speakers would not be able to endure larger amounts of output power for larger amounts of time.
Music and voice is not constant in terms of loudness. As such the peak power rating is still important, although not as important as the rms power rating. Ideally the speaker will show both the rms and peak power rating. Having a high peak power rating will ensure enough headroom for power peaks which are common in music signals. Having enough headroom is essential since music signals differ a great deal from sine wave signals which are used to measure rms power. Short bursts of high power are often found in music signals. These bursts will drive the speaker into high distortion unless the peak power is high enough.
However, be aware of the fact that the maximum output power also depends on what type of speakers you are using, in particular the impedance of the speakers. Speakers usually have impedances between 4 and 8 Ohms. Due to the limited supply voltage of your amplifier, the maximum output power will be half if you connect an 8-Ohm speaker than the peak power that the amp can deliver to a 4-Ohm speaker. Thus often maximum output power is given for a specific speaker impedance.
0 comments:
Post a Comment