How to match amps to speakers

What are the important considerations? And check out our newest KZbin channel / @octaverecordsanddsdst... Octave Records.

[@jm374]

These are the masters, who rocked the 70s .....

[@Mtts28]

Just stumbled upon this video while trying to figure out how much power I need for a set of speakers. Perfectly explained.

[@rev420official5]

Same

[@izzeystarz7578]

"I can see clearly now the rain has gone". Thanks for clearing up something that so many people have confused. I wish i had you as an uncle or neighbour.

[@Turtleback8024]

😂@uncle

[@Brainwealth]

Your simple, yet in depth explanations was very much highly appreciated. Thank you!

[@DeeTeaDee]

Where does it say ANYWHERE what an amps “efficiency” level is tho???

[@piotrsalanowski8337]

😊

[@emilmetzger4177]

@@DeeTeaDee The amplifier's efficiency is irrelevant in the context of this video's subject. He is referring to the speaker's efficiency level.

[@vikary5747]

Thank you for explaining this in a way that non-experts can understand how to answer this question.

[@irish7460]

Probably the most important video in Home Theatre tbh. This is a must watch.

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

Paul covered this in another way in another video. A small amp driven to clipping is more harmful to speakers than anything short of just a ridiculous power missmatch. Here's what you do. Get an amp that modestly exceeds the speaker's power handling capability and has it's own gain presets. Turn them all the way down. Turn your main volume full up. Ease the preset gains to the highest level that you will reasonably use within the speaker's linear region. Turn down the preamp to the currently desired level. Done. Speakers fully matched to the system and protected from amp clipping and over excursion.

[@oysteinsoreide4323]

You should calibrate using pink noise at -20dB as the signal. And you can for instance measure at listening position at 85 dB. Then you know that you will never play more than 105dB at listening position. You can of course calibrate using 70, 75. but you must not exceed the max SPL of the speakers ( which sometimes is documented ). There are several videos on youtube that covers how to calibrate studio monitors, and you can do this in the same way. But to be able to do it you need a volume knob on each channel on the power amplifier to be able to do this. And if you can do this, you will be sure, as you said. But I would not try to calibrate while listening to music. Because different music has different loudness levels. Pink noise is controlled.

[@MP-qn1jw]

Overpower & underdrive!! Scripture.

[@mikeb359]

Many videos and many google searches and finally watch a single video with a pure,precise answer to my question. Thank you.....Very much!

[@yelamolur]

Thank you paul for the insight on speaker matching with AMPS. I have recently purchased a Pylon Audio Amber MK2 speakers for stereo and have also purchased a Marantz Pm7000N 60watts at 8ohms and 80 watts at 4ohms. My speakers are 97db and nominal power of 300watts at 4 ohms. I am very happy with the setup and all my doubts clarified . Thank you for enlightening us

[@manuel_II]

Four years late, but i pick up something new on this, thanks.

[@eagleeatsmonkey3621]

no body can explained these type of things better than you .... love your videos

[@carrow2250]

Just installed my first car audio system and made some mistakes. This channel has been so helpful.

[@Kevin-mb4xf]

Paul, thank you so much for this video. It took a bit of the magic out of all those specs of speakers and amps!

[@RadioHamGuy]

That was great Paul, I never really understood that before, makes sense now. I keep following your posts and am sure learning a lot about audio and I thought I knew a lot before, ha. Learning all the time and it is fun! Sure appreciate your videos here.

[@tovarasulsecretargeneral2822]

finally somebody who knows how to explain

[@restlessascension3260]

Tell me about it 😒

[@ekimandersom4478]

@@restlessascension3260 he just told you

[@Mranirbansur]

He could explain this to a 5 yr old....

[@luissaavedra5948]

Awesome explanation thanks for posting and greetings from the ancient megalithic city of TIAHUANAKU BOLIVIA 🇧🇴

[@alexisgutierrez5863]

I have being trying to learn this for the past 3 months thank you so much

[@Masterlowen21]

Thank you for making that clear, I almost made a fatal mistake, you really know what your talking about...

[@mmt8263]

Samee

[@JH-he6wf]

Learned more in 5 minutes than I had in hours of googling. Thank you!

[@minnesotajack1]

This dude is the Oracle of sound engineering for newbies

[@TheBinaryWolf]

After a kitchen hand took off with my Bose 800 speakers at an officers's club in W. Germany, I had to perform my show with borrowed bookshelf speakers that were driven by a 200W RMS amp. They began to distort at a very low setting on the mixer. So a powerful amp can be used with even 20W speakers as long as the output is kept below clipping level.

[@arieraziel5202]

A very long and detailed answer to a very short question, and the correct snswer should have been : "YES. YOU SHOULD USE AN AMP OF 300 WATTS OR LESS". Paul said that on minute 3.50 of the video: "do not acceed the rated power handlig capacity of the speaker in order not to harm it". All the rest of the information is just nice to have. Note that the data of speaker's efficiency is not always indicated, certainly if you buy it second hand.

[@KyleMassey-q6x]

Thank you! I've been struggling with how to pair a receiver with the speakers and speakers to the receiver, this was very helpful

[@gereral1_jackofalltrades]

I run klipsch r35 at 125w per speaker powered by 80w denon amp x7. Over 10 years low and no problem

[@petercamacho1462]

paul i truly like watching your videos you give plenty of information on most questions when explained clearly keep them coming we enjoy all

[@nc3419]

For bookshelf speakers, the range is typically 82 to 92db at 1watt/meter. With the Avg I see at 85-86. Alot of Amps under 100 watts are typically used to drive these speakers...with varying results but usually good. Maybe an Amp with more current output, headroom, would be better for discussion as some 100 watt amps can't beat some 50 watt amps. Also, hundreds of watts? Doubt it, at least for home music listening for most people.

[@georgegrubbs2966]

I understand that what you explained is "sensitivity" not "efficiency," although the two are related.

[@robertobarros9946]

Thank you so much!! No one else is really explaining it like you do!!

[@mw0i0]

Such a simple explanation, I am one of those that did not know but now i do.

[@watchdog005]

Also keep in mind a speaker can handle much higher short term busts of clean power than its conservatively rated power. Music is peaks and dips. A lower powered amplifier driven into distorted clipping can damage a speaker much easier than an amplifier with more clean power and clean headroom.

[@vivianmagloire3945]

Wow! Thanks Paul, this is the best explanation I have heard on this particular subject. I clearly understand now.

[@cwm7930]

Thanks for the lesson, you're doing God's work.

[@user-od9iz9cv1w]

Excellent. I think there is also something that is not measured, but maybe the most important thing to make amazing sound. The ability of the system to reproduce low level information. Here we are speaking about micro volts. The harmonics and details that express emotion, space and all the cues that make an instrument or a voice in a natural setting sound real. I think that low efficiency speakers driven by high powered amps largely miss this information. They may have low distortion and tons of dynamic range. But still miss the mark of recreating the illusion. This is why some audiophiles love the >100 dB speaker paired with a flee watt SET amp. The combination excels at breathing life into music. I use pretty efficient speakers and triode based OTL amps. The amps can output 25W or 110W. Same circuit, just less paralleled tubes. Even with efficient speakers I prefer the 110W configuration. Not to play louder, but seems to play with more authority. So Paul's assertion that headroom is important shows. But after everything else is working, I think you have to listen and find if that low level info is there and if it is important to you.

[@silvershadow4965]

Paul, this was a very helpful video. I appreciate that you take time to share you knowledge. I do have a question about this video. At 3:40 you say, “if you buy a medium efficiency amplifier, say 90 dB, that means you can run that thing at an amplifier that’s 50 to 100 watts...”. Did you really mean, “if you buy a medium efficiency speaker...?” Thanks again.

[@Mrlimabean01]

I'm extremely confused by this, and can't find info on speaker efficiency anywhere. Does he have some way of calculating it he didn't mention here??

[@oysteinsoreide4323]

It is also another problem that the impedance of some speakers are very skewed. So it can vary all the way from 3 to 8 which means that for some frequencies, it might put out many more watts than for other frequencies. And it might be that the efficiency of the speaker is measured at a frequency that is 8 ohm.... it makes a bit more complicated.

[@ralphpaquin8313]

wow.... great explanation of this topic. Thank you!

[@hectorgonzalez5030]

Power isn't everything! Thanks for clearing this up! All my speakers are 93+ so I don't have to pump them so much {200/250 Watts)

[@ahmedmabrouk6942]

Excellent explanation! Simple and straight to the point!

[@antoniobaskerville6823]

Paul Thank You so Much this issue was driving me Crazy.

[@yancylent]

You're a great teacher.

[@melarcilla8105]

Hi Paul Thank you very much for the info. I'll keep that in mind. Appreciate it. Have a nice day 😊

[@brendanhoffmann8402]

I got some new speakers last week. They're big and should sound really good but they're a bit lacking with my Aiyima a07 class D amp. I think my amp delivers about 130 watts at 6 ohms but these speakers are rated at 250 watts, the speakers are 89db efficient (Yamaha NS-777 floor standing). I ended up wiring up a second pair of 6 ohm speakers to fill out the sound and make it sound richer. It sounds pretty good now but am shopping for a bigger amp, probably a class AB amp next time.

[@gevik.Alahverdi]

Short & sweet....thanx for informative video

[@gyrgrls]

It is instructive to note that with speakers of lower sensitivity, especially 2-way or 3-way systems, an amplifier should be able to easily deliver the rated peak power (or higher) of the speakers. If not, the amplifier can clip and/or distort at high volume settings, and blow out the tweeters. You should NEVER send a clipped or distorted signal to a two or three way speaker system. It is better to go with a higher powered amp per speaker power handling rating, and throttle it back so the speaker gets a clean signal. Of course, any fool can blow out a speaker system by grossly exceeding the power rating, as well...

[@ksmithreps1]

Thanks for your insight on this very difficult issue!

[@jhob22]

Great info Paul,Thanksfor the well explained topic most people wanted to know

[@ChiCan76]

I like plain English technical explanations. Thanks!

[@FURIOUSRIDEMOTO]

Thank you about this very important detail, I had the same question and got it now. God Bless!

[@llanelli80]

Hello, I have a question, I have an audio match set for BMW F36, after installation everything works fine, but the problem occurs when I turn up the bass volume to the maximum, there is a whining sound, but when I turn the volume down to half, it plays normally.

[@uddorangsby]

Respect 🙏 from Indonesia 🇮🇩

[@arliecrumpler3213]

Can I run a pair of 8 ohms and 6 ohms speakers at the same time? My amp is rated for 4-8 ohms. Owners manual says I can run 2 pairs of 8 ohms but not to mix 4 ohms and 8 ohms. Cambridge AXR85 amp. Only 85 watts per channel. Don't really crank it up...seems to be running cool enough/no sign of overheating. I appreciate your technical expertise and really enjoy channel.

[@maaxsxzone2914]

Another very helpful video, thank you Paul.

[@TBonerism]

Damn, giving you guys a subscription now. Didn't really realize that the speaker impedance mattered on a receiver. Having hooked up a set of JBL 2800 tower speakers to a cheap little sony radio/cd/tape player and it working, didn't think before I bought a new set of speakers. Should have checked my receiver first. Thank god they fall in the impedance rang, but the range seems a little high at 8-16 ohms. Is that just because of how old the receiver is or are there variations on receivers that I should be aware of.

[@FINALLYQQQQAVAILABLE]

I've read from several sources that the required power doubles for every +3 dB needed. So a speaker with a sensitivity of 90 dB (1 W, 1 m) will consume half the power compared to a similar speaker with a sensitivity of 87 dB (1 W, 1 m) when both are playing the same material at the same volume. On the other hand, turning the amplifier up to gain +3 dB will double the wattage used unless the speaker or the amplifier is reaching its limits. 1 dB is very close to the smallest noticeable change in sound pressure. 3 dB is certainly noticeable but not very much of a change either. So, a small change in speaker sensitivity (or preferable listening level or dynamic range of records or room acoustics) could make a big difference in required amplifier power. Is this generally correct?

[@Mikexception]

You are right - it is only 3 dB less in sound pressure an d it is so much as double less power drawn from amplifier. And it my be at 10 times less THD. That is someting to think about when purchasing power amp. because with grow of used electrical power up the reconstruction of sound quality starts to be problematic due to sizes of powerfull speakers. In reality we experience mostly sound coming from point-like sources. Much power requires more speakers so the size of radiating sound field is growing to much larger making perfection of sound impossible. For gaining reality sound I use minimum dimension speakers limited only by low tones efficiency and amplifiers not more than them at max 10% of capability. The art of sound reconstruction starts with speaker high efficency and little dimension of radiated sound field, not the high power.. For this pupose is developed by me crossover.

[@eggshellskullrule7971]

I think I learnt this while I was a teenager. Ever since then, I'd only want hi eff speakers. How u do it is like, count how many doubles u can make starting from 1 watt, then 2, 4, 8, 16. In this example, there are four increments of 3 dB, and multiplying them gets u 12 dB, 12 here meaning u can have 12 dB of dynamics above yr speaker's efficiency quote. So for my JBL 4320, running at 96 dB@1watt at 1 metre, if I have n amp of 15 watts or so, my system gets me 108 dB tops.

[@phillipjohnson7583]

Ah, now that explanation makes much more sense than other ways I have heard it explained!

[@evolutionsimplified]

He is CEO for a reason. His technical knowledge brought him to the elites

[@userhwoarang]

What about the load stability, dampingfactor and all the fine things?

[@nicktaylor7680]

Once again Paul has only given half the explanation. I was always under the impression that an under powered amp risked damaging speakers due to potential clipping. Also having an amp at a higher rating than your speakers is fine as long as you don't go crazy with the gain and has the advantage of greater headroom.

[@DEI-HIRE]

where's YOUR audio company? exactly. STFU Nick

[@123pantyhose]

True, volume is the only killer to speakers. If your sound keep low all the time, nothing is gonna hurt them

[@hyroproto4364]

@@DEI-HIRE he is right... you will damage an underpowered amp running low sensitivity speakers

[@gbrm6077]

It's best to stick to neutral or basic black colors when matching. Avoid stripes and plaids, unless you intend to match your room treatments as well.

[@ashboy7968]

sarcasm might be lost on many !

[@emotown1]

This sarcasm, folks. Never, ever, try to match your amp to your speakers by using fabric coverings, cork, or any insulating material.

[@ChrisEllul87]

Very interesting video. Well explained. Got to find that high dB set of speakers now!

[@nmhusk505]

Very well explained, thank you!

[@ericamador8297]

Thanks for a very informative topic

[@kolgankhanh2003]

What is the difference between head room to SNR

[@GeorgeDaher-c4y]

Thank u a lot for the simplicity in answering that tricky question. Say I have Kef Q950 towers (91 sens) and Q650 center and Q150 rear… and would like to ise Yamaha A2A…. Would highly appreciate your feedback. Would it be under power? Is it recommended to go for a higher AVR? Say the a6a or denon X4800? Thank you in advqnce

[@maneeshsharma9860]

Hello Paul, I really learnt a lot from this video…thanks a bunch!! Just have a question … I have a Sony TA AX310 amplifier which has an output of 32W (RMS) per channel with an impedance of 8ohms. Signal to Noise ratio is 70dB. Kindly suggest what speakers would be best suited. I am a music lover and wish to enjoy my collection of songs…warm regards from India 🇮🇳

[@gigachard5690]

Fascinating. I never really knew what went on under the hood with this dB setting. So question: if you have speakers all in the 90s range, let's say 92 for all channels except the rear which is 86 dB sensitivity per 1 meter, would it be more effective (specifically if they were rated for lower wattage amplifier) to offset the more sensitive speakers down *or* would it be more effective to adjust the whole system relative to the amount of dB that those weaker links require and maintain a lower volume of output?

[@sh1z3r63]

If you have a home cinema system the central unit with the measuring mic will do the job for you but answering your question. In the audio industry you should always bring something down, not up if you have less sensitive speakers you should bring down this more sensitive and then your maximum volume will be limited by your rear speakers power handling. If you do it the other way. You bring your back speakers 6db up, you will have to set master gain to -6 db (to maintain 0db on your rear speakers but 0 db in this case is set by power handling of your rear speakers) so the result will be the same if you bring down your front speakers 6db. The reason for bringing down is to maintain unity gain betwin the units lets say u have dsp unit and power amplifier if you give your power amplifier +6db signal you can potentially overdrive your amp input stage (you can overdrive the output of dsp too) and you will get the distorted signal from the amp even when you set him to -6db ( wich will give 0 db signal on output calculated from your rear speakers handling). Ofc you have to make sure this 0 db is not above your amplifiers max voltage and power handling. Don't forget to take distance from the speakers to you into consideration if one speaker is closer to you u will hear it better so you need to compensate it too.

[@cvee2614]

Paul, try the Marantz PM series! Best ever.

[@TheNLHAZE]

Well hell the number one question of the day is what is efficiency that would be impedance so if you got a speaker with 98.99 in , you're great takes very little power but if you're a around 88 87 it's going to take a lot more power to push that speaker

[@chestermarcol3831]

Is he talking about the efficiency of the speaker of the amp? I'm confused. Is he saying if I have speakers that are 93db sensitivity, that I can get great sound out of them from a low wattage amplifier?

[@snidjantha]

When connecting from powered amp to active speaker, is it safe to use microphone xlr cable?

[@gtdodgeviper]

I just saw on another video that lower DB speakers have better bass. Is that true?

[@artmayvlog8901]

What amps needs to match to speakers with 3 ohms?

[@robertwang7825]

For every increase of 3dB , you need to double the power. Also lower ohm speakers require higher current delivery and not only watts.

[@victorbaker4585]

Some one I know bought four 5x7 speakers 200w. They added up 4 times 200 thinking they now need 800 watts to get louder better sound. I hoped to find a video explaining this problem. Sometimes you just can't get a person to listen to what you're trying to say, but someone else they might listen too.

[@woodburn2597]

hi sir I have two channel amplifier and one of the negative channels not working ,can I put the 2 negative wire in one channel and leave the broken one empty?

[@TheAboriginal1]

Awesome video extremely helpful!!

[@donmarcel9167]

Thank you sir....I learned something today

[@jammanson1055]

sir is it still match if the amp is equal to the wattage rating of speaker, i have 1500w(rms) amp at 4ohms, and my speakers also rated at 1500w(rms) at 4 ohms?

[@philipvesterlund1253]

Right now i have a pair of Polk es20 hooked up to a Fosi Audio V3 amp and the volume produced is well enough for me but the thing i dont understand is why i would buy a bigger more expensive amp if it puts out the same wattage? I dont have any other amp to compare to so i dont know if the sound from the amp could improve or if the things i find "lacking" in my setup comes from the speaker or the amp

[@mikedompor]

Sir, What is a LONG THROW speaker? What is its frequincy range response? Why is it called so? Is it designed for the purpose of responding to very low frequency signals and produce soft powerful subsonic bass?

[@mattjohnson8357]

Thanks for what you do. Very well exsplained. 👌

[@MixedArarash]

what is watts per channel and watts per speaker. in my av manual, it says it is a 90 watts per channel and gives 140 watts for front, left, right and rear speakers. i am confused. can you please make a video on that?

[@jordanmesa8820]

sir paul, is bridging power amp is safe? i mean here in philippines we have 220V current. sometimes low current not stable. what happen to power amp thats in bridge mode?. also 4ohms load is much safer than bridge mode? what would you advice given the scenario sir pual.

[@rockydsouza5689]

Sir i have Yamaha natural sound stereo amplifier AX-596 . Speakers JBL STAGE 190 sir i want to know if this combination is right for the power . The bass i like very much But the treble does not sound sweet . So please suggest the best for me

[@antonamalfi]

What sounds better, driving an inefficient speaker with lots of watts or driving an efficient speaker with minimal watts?

[@wjarnock44]

Understood the stuff about decibels in speakers then lost it at 3.38 when you switched to amplifiers and switched units of measurement at the same time.

[@jasonmc.dougall8551]

I'm pumping 400w into a pair of 50w 8ohm speaker for a total impedance of 4ohms, so far working good with a hi pass filter but can't go lower than 4ohms because I'm running my amp in bridge mode, my Amp has built in speaker protection so it will cut off if the speaker can't handle the power...planing to get bigger speakers soon so my question is, how loud can I get if I'm putting that same 400w into a pair of 8ohm 1200w speakers

[@Connor420ge]

CAN I USE A 100 AMP ON 600W SPEAKER ?

[@JayJay-jx3zg]

What if you are running a 7.2 home theater setup and the they are all 6 ohms, but different sensitivities? The bookshelf speakers are 85db, LCR are 90db. Same line of speakers. Should I get one amp for the bookshelves and another for the LCR?

[@FriendM2010]

Excellent info for my brain.👍👍👍

[@Mrlimabean01]

Ok so how do I know the efficiency? I had no idea this would be such a headache :(

[@mixedpawlh1850]

This is so helpful. Thank you so much

[@arthuryu1905]

Thanks for the explanation of the concept. May I ask a more practical question,say, what is the minimum and maximum watt output the ideal Amp should have for a pair of loudspeakers 25-200 watts RMS with sensitivity of 90db (impedance 4ohms)? Just wondered if your reader actually asking a formula that we can input the variables you mentioned to obtain the best output range of the Amp (when 20 watts Amp could play a 300watts speaker well, there must be some sensible way to measure, mustn’t there?)

[@einarht21]

Hello Paul! What about the impedance? Many 8 Ohms Speaker can go down to about 3 Ohms at certain frequencies and it will influence some amplifiers performance, resulting in a “bad match” experience for the listener

[@bobsnocks3656]

Thankyou so much sir, simply put

[@332ARA]

Is sensitivity similar enough to efficiency to use the terms interchangeably? I just bought some speakers that have a Sensitivity rating of 90dB. Is that more less equivalent?

[@davebarone506]

Iv never seen any Eficiency rating on a speaker, only watts and ohms. Where would that be found?

[@bernarddussault2365]

I have 91.5db speakers . 3 way Focal . can I hook up a single ended 8 watts tube amp ?

[@TrinidadTrinidad-r7z]

Hi I have a American audio 3001plus ,I want to use it for bass ,I want to use a pair of 15inch speakers, how much wattage should these speakers have

[@joetesta9123]

Hey Paul I have a pair of Infinity Kappa 8s I just inherited. Have no idea what amp and preamp I should get to drive these bad boys. Any suggestions that don't break the bank?