How many watts amplifier

Yes, just three. Double it again and you get three more decibels. Three decibels is not much. The reason is that in all kinds of ways our hearing it logarithmic. Each octave is double the frequency range of the one before.

Each doubling of power is barely perceptible. Now, it turns out that loudspeakers are appallingly inefficient. The average high-fidelity loudspeaker will have a sensitivity of around 89dB, measured at one metre for an input of 2. Why 2. The efficiency of such a loudspeaker is 0. That is, Each 3dB increase in sensitivity represents a doubling of efficiency.

You can go all the way up to, as far as I can determine, dB sensitivity. Back in those days watts were hard to come by and rather expensive, so efficiency was vital. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products.

List of Partners vendors. Gary Altunian. Gary Altunian was a freelance contributor to Lifewire and industry veteran in consumer electronics. He passion was home audio and theater systems. Updated on October 12, Tweet Share Email. In This Article. Match Power Requirements. Power and Volume. Measuring Power Output. The 6 Best Klipsch Speakers of Was this page helpful?

Wattage and volume are related exponentially, rather than equally. To get double the volume, you'd have to multiply the wattage by So, there isn't a big difference in volume between an amp with 18 watts and an amp with 36 watts. When you're looking for a new amplifier for your electric guitar, be sure to take wattage into account. We can help you find the perfect amp that bests suits your unique needs as a musician.

Subscribe to be the first to hear about our exclusive offers, new arrivals, what's on sale and upcoming events! We're always looking to improve Tell us what you love or what we need to fix. Leave Feedback. Buy Online, Pick up In-Store. I'm playing folk music in a coffee shop. How much amplifier power do I need?

Our rock group will be playing in a seat concert hall. How many watts will we need? I just bought some PA speakers. I want to play them as loud as they can get without blowing them up. Which amplifier should I get? First, define your goal. Do you want to power some loudspeakers so they play as loud as possible without burning out? If so, all you need to read is the section below. Do you want to achieve a certain loudness in a certain venue? If so, skip to the section called Power vs.

You can determine this by looking at the speaker's data sheet. Look for the Nominal Impedance spec. Typically it will be 2, 4, 8 or 16 ohms. It might be called IEC rating or Power capacity.

If you can prevent the power amp from clipping by using a limiter , use a power amp that supplies 2 to 4 times the speakers continuous power rating per channel. This allows 3 to 6 dB of headroom for peaks in the audio signal.

Speakers are built to handle those short-term peaks. If you cant keep the power amp from clipping say, you have no limiter and the system is overdriven or goes into feedback the amplifier power should equal the speakers continuous power rating. That way the speaker wont be damaged if the amp clips by overdriving its input. In this case there is no headroom for peaks, so youll have to drive the speaker at less than its full rated power if you want to avoid distortion. If you are mainly doing light dance music or voice, we recommend that the amplifier power be 1.

The amplifier power must be rated for the impedance of the loudspeaker 2, 4, 8 or 16 ohms. Here's an example. Suppose the impedance of your speaker is 4 ohms, and its Continuous Power Handling is W. If you are playing light dance music, the amplifier's 4-ohm power should be 1. If you use much more power, you are likely to damage the speaker by forcing the speaker cone to its limits.