Multable speakers-crossovers and wattage?

[xr680r]

400watt RMS 8 ohm sub cut off at 150hz
500watt RMS 8 ohm mid-range 150~2000hz band-pass
300watt RMS 8 ohm Driver/Horn 2000~8000hz band-pass
300watt RMS 8ohm Tweeters 8000hz

This is Pro Audio cabinets. 18" Madison subs, (4) 8" Madison mids, 18X10" Horn and (6) Ti super tweeters. What is the true wattage to run these? What wattage amp will I need to drive two sets of these. I am being told that this is a 1200 watt RMS cabinet but, I can't see running 1200 watts into this.....wouldn't it blow a speaker if you ran this thumping an amp with drum bass trigger?

[peanut123]

This is what I have been told.....
RMS is what the speaker can contstantly take. So what I would do is take the lowest watts rating and use that.

[BlueWizard]

The problem is power isn't distributed evenly across the spectrum. It is quite common to have mids and tweeters of lower power than the woofer, and still maintain the power rating of the woofer as the power rating for the whole system.

As an illustration, you might combine a 100 watt woofer, with a 50 watt mid, and a 25 watt tweeter and be able to call this a 100 watt speaker system.

I think the peak musical power band is in the 250hz to 500hz range. Though for hard rock music, it might be slightly lower.

So, in your case, I think, but can't guarantee, that you could rate this system as 500 watts. Also, keep in mind, that power rating is power applied over time. You might be able to take 1000watt short transient music surges. If the amp goes into a feedback loop, eventually the sustained 400 or 500watts is going to damage it.

In addition, if you are using a 500watt amp, you are not likely using those 500watt to their fullest. In other words, while you have 500 watt capability, you are not likely sustaining 500watt all the time.

I don't recall seeing a formulated means of figuring this out, though I would like to find one.

But considering the components you are using, I would say your speaker can take LOTS of power.

Given your crossovers, I would say the critical power handling is in the Sub and Woofer. Above 2,000hz, the music power demand is about 1/10th what it is in the 500hz and below band.

For what it's worth.

Steve/bluewizard

[Dr. Ram]

Originally posted by xr680r
400watt RMS 8 ohm sub cut off at 150hz
500watt RMS 8 ohm mid-range 150~2000hz band-pass
300watt RMS 8 ohm Driver/Horn 2000~8000hz band-pass
300watt RMS 8ohm Tweeters 8000hz

If I calculate power according to the IEC 268-5 power distribution (which is what speaker manufacturers use to rate their systems - so please check whether the power figures you have are "raw" or IEC-268), this is the distribution of 1200 watts of power with 12 dB/oct slopes:

(i) <150Hz: 345 watts
(ii) 150-2000 Hz: 565 watts
(iii) 2000-8000 Hz: 260 watts
(iv) >8000: 30 watts

Hope this helps.

-Ram

[Cal Weldon]

Can you post links to the drivers for us?

On the surface, I see a 400 watt system but I'm confused about the tweeter ratings. It will become more clear if you post those links.