lunxbox
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Im an idiot and dont understand wattage ratings very well please help
jackfish
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Speaker power ratings are a guideline to determine appropriate power to drive them. I don't see anything which indicates your speakers will not work well with the amplification you are using. What exactly are the labels of the outputs and inputs on the Sony and Denon that you have connected with RCA cables?

lunxbox
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I have rca cables coming from the md/tape output on the sony and in the cd input on the denon.

i just noticed there are pre outs on the denon should i use that?

i also have a paradigm cc-350 center channel and i know i have 2 channel amps not 3,5,7,and so on but is there still a way to hook that up safely ?

Id also like an explanation of some sort to understand watts better for future refference for i am always buying new stereo equipment (my dad usually helps me with this sort of thing).

I am a little confused that its okay because my mini monitors say 80 watts max and the sony is 100 watts per channel.

thanks in advance.

absolutepitch
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lunxbox,

it would help us understand why you want to hook the Sony into the Denon. What I get so far is that you have each of the amps driving a separate pair of speakers. Are you trying to make a home theater setup with two amps and four speakers and separately a center channel and a third amp?

As for the watts, amplifiers are rated for the amount of power (watts) that it can deliver to a load (speaker) of a given impedance rating (ohms) at no greater than some specified amount of distortion (usually in percent). This power rating is determined with both channels operating ('driven'). Note that the amp can deliver much more power at higher distortion of the signal; it does not suddenly stop at 100 watts. It may stop at some higher level, say 110 watts, which depends on the individual amplifier. The amp runs out of power capability when it's power supply cannot give any more current to the circuits.

The speaker rating is how much continuous power (watts) it can take before some damage may occur, however that is defined by the manufacturer. An example of a possible rating is 100 watts continuously, 120 watts for 1 minute, and 150 watts for 10 seconds for speaker brand XYZ. Note that some speakers are rated for 'peak' (short-term music peaks) power, where the continuous power could be as little as of one-tenth as much, or even less depending on the peaks in the program material. You could be sending 1 watt into the speaker on average and you may get 10-watt peaks to the speaker.

Combining the two ideas, a speaker rated at 100 watts 'continuous' means it can accept 100 watts of power from an amplifier for the long term. Higher power delivered to this speaker may cause failure. However, it does not mean you cannot use an amplifier rated at 200 watts or more, just don't turn it up so loud that more than 100 watts go into the speaker.

Note that the peaks are much higher than the average power. If the amplifier runs out of gas for the peaks as you increase the average power level (volume control increase) the peaks get cut off and creates a flat top to the waveform, which can generate a lot of power at the high frequencies (treble) that can damage the tweeters (high-frequency units or 'drivers') in the speaker system. That's one reason for using a higher powered amp with a lower power rated speaker, because most of the time you may be using no more than 1-10 watts continuously for a reasonably loud sound level.

[edit for appending material]

If the amp is too low a power, you will quickly run out of power and hear a lot of distorted sound before the sound is loud enough, and may damage the tweeters. Primarily, it won't let the speaker do what it is capable of sounding like.

lunxbox
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I cant afford a 5 channel and I want to use more than 2 speakers thats why I want to hook my amps together. I am scared to hook all my speakers to the denon through a and b because im afraid of under powering them because its a 100 watt amp 50 per channel so if I had 2 more speakers on b wouldnt it be only 25 Watts per channel ?

jackfish
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What are the models of the Sony and Denon amplifiers?

You can't make a silk purse from a cow's ear. Buy a good 7.1 AV receiver and quit screwing around. Try Accessories4Less.com

lunxbox
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I'm not sure if I stated my initial question right I want to know what the best amplification for these speakers would be ?
Like how many Watts is optimal for these speakers and maybe a suggestion on an amplification setup

absolutepitch
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The simple answer is the amplifier watts range that the speaker manufacturer recommends. You can use more power or less power. It depends on how loud you want to play it and how large a room you are trying to fill with sound, assuming your speakers are typical designs.

I'm still not sure what you are trying to do. It seems like you want to play two-channel music using all four speakers. IF either the Denon or Sony has settings to play speaker pair A, speaker pair B, or speaker pairs A and B, then you could hook up all four speakers to one amp. The selector knob can select either pair A or B or both pairs A and B. The Sony has more power rating to handle more speakers, but don't expect a significant loudness difference despite the Sony being 200 W rating and the Denon as 100 W.

If you want each amp to play only one pair of speakers and have all four playing the same music simultaneously, you can take the Pre-Out from the Sony into the CD input of the Denon, and your music sources go only into the Sony inputs.

Check if the Pre-out is controlled by the volume control of the Sony or not. If it is, then you can balance the volume of the two pairs of speakers by setting both amps' volume to minimum, turn up the Sony to what level you like, then slowly turn up the Denon to match your needs. Then the Sony will increase level of all speakers as long as the Denon volume setting is kept where you set it.

lunxbox
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The Sony crapped out just the left channel but the denon does have a and b speaker terminals but its only a 50 watt per channel so with a and b wouldn't it be only 25 Watts per channel ? And wouldn't that under power my speakers and burn them or the amp out ?

jackfish
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on an amplifier results in a parallel configuration which results in a 4 Ohm load. Most amplifiers will output more power into 4 Ohms, so it won't only be 25 watts per channel. While the article below suggests speaker ratings be twice or even quadruple the amplifier power, Case #2 is probably more important than Case #1.

http://www.prestonelectronics.com/audio/Speakers.htm

http://www.prestonelectronics.com/audio/Impedance.htm

There are two ways in which a speaker can be damaged:

1) Thermal damage
2) Mechanical stress

Thermal damage is often caused by amp clipping where an underpowered amp is being used in an attempt to achieve high volume.

You can damage a driver with much less power than the thermal limits, where mechanical excursion limits are exceeded.

However, both thermal overload and mechanical damage due to over-driving are caused by too much power. A clipping amp all by itself will do no harm to a speaker IF the voice coil can dissipate the heat from the energy being provided. You can drive a speaker with 100% clipping all day long if it can handle the power. Similarly you can bounce a speaker off the Xmech stops all day long if the voice coil can handle the power. It's just that most can't. The bottom line is you can use any speaker with any amplifier as long as you know what you're doing. Don't overload or distort the speaker and you'll be fine.

 

lunxbox
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So with the 50watt per channel denon the mini monitors would be safer at higher volume levels ? Or the titans ?

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Long and short, you're not going to hurt them.  Just hook them up, let 'em fly.  The Paradigms, anyway, are very good (and inexpensive) drivers and the tweeters are vented at the rear of the driver.  The Denon is probably a more "powerful" amp at 100 watt MFG rating than the Sony's 200 watt because power in solid state terms is current and Denon uses better power supplies and if you rip it apart you'll probably see a discreet current regulator for each channel, maybe even each power stage, because Denon isn't a cheap ass company like Sony.  

So, if you far under drive them, you'll warp the voice coil and have to replace the driver which you can do for less than a nice dinner out.  If you replace one, replace two with new or have both rebuilt.

I think you're way over thinking the situation.

Please don't mistake my shortness for lack of humor.  :)  Sometimes you just let 'er rip!

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