Quick watts question

[antknee]

Ok. I'm puting together a monitor system. I planning on daisy chaning 2 monitors into each channel of my power amp untill I can afford another amp. I'm wondering if I have 2 400 watt speakers daisychaned do I need 8oo watts or 400 to power them correctly

 

[titan amps]

The power rating of the monitors is a maximum, not a minimum requirement.

You could use up to 800W of power to push them.

 

[antknee]

Anyone esle care to add to this? Id really like to be sure before buying an amp.

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

400 or 800 will both be fine, sounds like 800 per channel would be fine too if it's 4x400watt cabs (2 on each side).

Like titan said, you could run the cabs with 2 watts. as long as you don't go over the maximum speaker wattage, you are running at "proper" wattage.

so basically the real question is "How many watts can i afford, but no more than 1600"

 

[GunpointMetal]

don't forget to account for the change in impedance when you daisy chain speakers....two 8 ohm speakers hooked up in series would only be a 4 ohm load

 

[antknee]

I get the rules of ohms and how over powerering and underpowering can b bad. I guess what I'm asking is how is the power distributed to the daisy chained cabs. I have 4. 400 what 8 ohm cabs. 2 per channel. So aslong as I have anp that puts out 800 watt's per channel at 4 ohms. They shud be correctly powered?

 

[Imbrium998]

Actually you could under power them by using a 100 per channel amp, or bridged to 200 if you are going to run the monitors in series. The 400 rating is a rating that manufacturers put on their gear to give you an idea about what it will take under constant load. I doubt that you would want to push 400 constant into the monitors in any case.

Dont forget that adding multiple cabs in series is going to drop the impedance and make the amp work harder. Said 200 watts output bridged will double in a series circuit. I don't know what impedance you will be dealing with on the monitors you are planning on, but that is the general idea.

Also...the more power you give it, the cleaner they will sound. Up until the point that you are giving them what they are rated for and you are pushing them to their limits. Under powering cabs is a great way to cause damage.

 

[antknee]

I'm not planning on running my amp bridged. Like I said I understand. The ohm concepts. My cabs are rated at 400 watts cont. So when daisychaning 2 400 what cabs do I need 2 supply them at most 800 watts? Or will that over power the first cab in the chain?

 

[glpg80]

don't forget to account for the change in impedance when you daisy chain speakers....two 8 ohm speakers hooked up in series would only be a 4 ohm load

Wrong.

Series would be 16. parallel would be 4. Either would depend on how the jacks are wired, given the speakers have the ability to daisy chain themselves.

Wattage is a measurement of work, where a byproduct is heat due to inefficiency. If you have 400W cabinet and a 25W cabinet the highest you can safely go is not 425. It is 25W.

If you have two 400W speakers and two 25W speakers all in series, the highest you can safely go is not 850W, it is 50W. Power is additive no matter series or parallel, but the minimum value is what dictates the safety level, not the total overall.

 

[antknee]

Thank u very much for actually reading my post and answering my question without replying with stuff that has nothin 2 do with it

 

[GunpointMetal]

whoops...good catch. I know that and I still wrote it.

 

[wlfers]

Thank u very much for actually reading my post and answering my question without replying with stuff that has nothin 2 do with it

See first reply by titan amps.

 

[glpg80]

See first reply by titan amps.

Its raw elementary fundamental electronics theory. As long as all monitors are the same rating at 400W then could you run a maximum of 800W per channel for each set of monitors making four monitors total as stated. However that is not always the case. People often make this very common mistake when mixing wattage ratings of different reactive devices.