Looking at some of the technical specs of today's wireless speakers, one cannot help but be at a loss in trying to compare different models. I am going to explain the term "speaker wattage" a bit more in this article. "Wattage" is one of the most fundamental terms describing speaker performance. However, it is often misunderstood. Some manufacturers also in the past have used this term in a confusing manner to hide the real performance.
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" is sometimes also known as "Power" or "speaker output power". To put it in a nutshell, "wattage" relates to how much power your speaker can tolerate without damage. The higher this number usually the louder your speakers. You want to pick the speaker wattage based on how large your listening environment is. Most speakers will have increasing audio distortion as output power increases. Therefore, you want to pick a speaker that has higher output power than you will actually need. This will assure that you will never drive the speaker into areas of high distortion.
There are two common ways to display speaker wattage. These are "peak power" and "rms power". "Peak power" describes how much power the speaker can tolerate for a short burst. On the other hand, "rms power" describes how much power the speaker can tolerate for a prolonged amount of time without being damaged. In the past, vendors have usually preferred listing the "peak power". This number is higher than the average or "rms" power. However, "peak power" can often be misleading since there is no standard showing the amount of time that the speaker has to be able to tolerate this amount of power.
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" is sometimes also known as "Power" or "speaker output power". To put it in a nutshell, "wattage" relates to how much power your speaker can tolerate without damage. The higher this number usually the louder your speakers. You want to pick the speaker wattage based on how large your listening environment is. Most speakers will have increasing audio distortion as output power increases. Therefore, you want to pick a speaker that has higher output power than you will actually need. This will assure that you will never drive the speaker into areas of high distortion.
There are two common ways to display speaker wattage. These are "peak power" and "rms power". "Peak power" describes how much power the speaker can tolerate for a short burst. On the other hand, "rms power" describes how much power the speaker can tolerate for a prolonged amount of time without being damaged. In the past, vendors have usually preferred listing the "peak power". This number is higher than the average or "rms" power. However, "peak power" can often be misleading since there is no standard showing the amount of time that the speaker has to be able to tolerate this amount of power.
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.
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