I’ve got two power amplifiers for the candidates: a 5-channel Soundstream Reference 405 and a 2-channel Nakamichi PA-302. I’m going to employ both of them to my speaker sets.
Here is the list of my speaker system:
Front speakers: 4” Boston Acoustics CX-4
Rear speakers: 5 1/4” Boston Acoustics Pro 5.0
Subwoofers: 10” MB Quart QM250 SUB
Definitely, the MBQ subs will be driven by the SS amplifier, as the SS is 3/5-channel and provides a subwoofer channel.
I have two options for the combination of the speakers and amplifiers:
Option A)
Front: Nak + CX-4
Rear: SS 405 + BA 5.0
Option B)
Front: SS 405 + CX-4
Rear: Nak + BA 5.0
It seems to be an easy question for somebody but there’s a little complexity, for me, there.
The CX-4 is labeled power capability of 20W nominal and 40W peak. While the Nak is rated power output at 80Wpc and the SS is rated at 40Wpc in 3-channel mode (bridge). All values are based on 4 Ohms impedance car audio standard.
So, I’m not sure if option A, using the CX-4 with two times power amplifier (the Nak), would harm them or not. And, for option B, the SS has lower power but in practice it’s recommended to set the gain of the front amplifier higher than the rear amplifier, thus, the front amplifier should have more power than that of the rear.
Which option do you prefer?
Here is the list of my speaker system:
Front speakers: 4” Boston Acoustics CX-4
Rear speakers: 5 1/4” Boston Acoustics Pro 5.0
Subwoofers: 10” MB Quart QM250 SUB
Definitely, the MBQ subs will be driven by the SS amplifier, as the SS is 3/5-channel and provides a subwoofer channel.
I have two options for the combination of the speakers and amplifiers:
Option A)
Front: Nak + CX-4
Rear: SS 405 + BA 5.0
Option B)
Front: SS 405 + CX-4
Rear: Nak + BA 5.0
It seems to be an easy question for somebody but there’s a little complexity, for me, there.
The CX-4 is labeled power capability of 20W nominal and 40W peak. While the Nak is rated power output at 80Wpc and the SS is rated at 40Wpc in 3-channel mode (bridge). All values are based on 4 Ohms impedance car audio standard.
So, I’m not sure if option A, using the CX-4 with two times power amplifier (the Nak), would harm them or not. And, for option B, the SS has lower power but in practice it’s recommended to set the gain of the front amplifier higher than the rear amplifier, thus, the front amplifier should have more power than that of the rear.
Which option do you prefer?
If you use common sense and are, in no way abusive, you could use a 1.2 gigawatt amplifier on any speaker.
The crossover points as well as the frequencies that will be sent to passive crossovers will make a difference.
I would prefer to have more power (more headroom) but if you're not going to hear when the speakers are at their limits, lower power is less likely to cause speakers to fail.
You seem to be looking for a way to make blowing the speakers impossible. Unless you're going to limit the power going to the speaker to about 1/3 or 1/2 of the rated/actual RMS power handling for the speaker, you can't have that.
The crossover points as well as the frequencies that will be sent to passive crossovers will make a difference.
I would prefer to have more power (more headroom) but if you're not going to hear when the speakers are at their limits, lower power is less likely to cause speakers to fail.
You seem to be looking for a way to make blowing the speakers impossible. Unless you're going to limit the power going to the speaker to about 1/3 or 1/2 of the rated/actual RMS power handling for the speaker, you can't have that.
Do you already have the 20W RMS speakers (CX-4)?
With that low of a power rating and your concern for blowing them, I think I'd suggest investing in an oscilloscope. The cheapest thing you can find on ebay (like the DSO138, which is good for nothing else but looking at audio signals, just an example, don't go buy one) could be an option but there are better options if you have a laptop computer and a bit higher budget. Using the scope you can see how much power you're sending to the speakers and train yourself not to exceed that level.
With that low of a power rating and your concern for blowing them, I think I'd suggest investing in an oscilloscope. The cheapest thing you can find on ebay (like the DSO138, which is good for nothing else but looking at audio signals, just an example, don't go buy one) could be an option but there are better options if you have a laptop computer and a bit higher budget. Using the scope you can see how much power you're sending to the speakers and train yourself not to exceed that level.
Higher SPL is usually preferred with the front system, but this is a personal choice.
I think that calculating the power of the amplifier compared to that which the speaker can support is generally a waste of time, but if the difference is very large perhaps it is worth asking whether it is worth using a powerful amplifier on light speakers, it could be an underused amplifier.
On the other hand, as i was saying, the calculation could be of little use, and instead a good tonal match between amplifier and speaker would be more useful, which is something i prefer.
For example, if i prefer to hear Nak+CX-4 playing, it's sufficient to act on the gain to have the right SPL without distortion, and it doesn't matter if the PA-302 is underused.
In my opinion, for this thing you should do some tests and calmly decide which configuration you like best.
This way you are safe.
My respects to MB Quart.