How to amplify a tweeter and midrange

[nickvda]

Hey guys, I got a question regarding how to power my channels in the surround system I want to build.

My channels will consist of a 35 Watt RMS Mid range woofer and a 25 Watt tweeter. I was just wondering what would be the best option to power these? Would you guys recomend a 40 Watt amp used for the midrange and a 25 Watt amp used for the tweeter or would you recommend 1 amp for both drivers??
I plan on building the amplifiers myself, so any schematics are welcome

Thanks in advance

[wintermute]

I'm not going to try and post any advice, but here is some reading material

http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm
http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp2.htm

will probably take some time to digest

Rod has a heap of amp projects too.....

Tony.

[paulspencer]

I assume that you are talking about an active speaker?

We can't answer that without knowing more info. All you need you will find on those links.

You must consider:

*driver bandwidth
*power handling of drivers (thermal and excursion limited)
*driver efficiency

I'd say the tweeter probably needs less than you are thinking, and the mid probably could benefit from more. The tweeter is probably fine with 15w and the mid would probably be well served by a 50w chip amp. You could even use a tube or a class A amp for the tweeter.

[nickvda]

Well I had asked Rod for an opinion about this and he suggested a 40w amp for the midrange and around 20w for the tweeter.
I just wanted to check for a second opinion to be sure, since most seem to agree I'll stick with that plan

Thx guys

[paulspencer]

Last night I reconfigured my MTM mains to active and was surprised at the extra dynamic range I have all of a sudden. The amp driving the mids (2 x 6.5") is about 40 or 50 watts, and I have a chip amp on the tweeter with about 50w. With them crossed at 80 Hz to the sub I was able to measure 105db peaks at the listening position 3m away. You may not realise how loud this actually is, since most people talk about SPL @ 1m but it would be about 114 db in this case to reach 105 at the listening position.

My point: the amp goes quite a bit further when it's active.