Stereo system

N

nhzoso

Guest
I am trying to piece together a system I can play to CD's with. I have a set of speakers that are 200w rated and am thinking of buying a receiver that is rated for 70watts per channel. What will be the limiting factor the receiver or the speakers as to how loud it will be? I also have a CD player that will plug into the receiver but I dont think that has any affect on the sound.

Thanks
 
The amp is the limiting factor. The speakers determine the maximum load they can take based on the amp's output. The CD player should work at line level, so no, that will have no effect on the volume output. A good CD player can make a difference to subjective sound quality, but in this day and age CD Players are largely all good quality.

You may also need to check the impedence of the amp and speakers. 8 Ohm (denoted by the 'Omega' sign) is standard and most amps will drive 4-16 Ohm speakers. Older units tend to drive a smaller range, typically 4 or 8. I have an old pair of speakers that run at 4 Ohms, but most run at 8. Without going into too much detail, the wattage denotes the power of the 'drive' how much 'push' the amp gives and the impedence denotes the 'amount' being pushed (actually this is technically incorrect, the impedence is related to the current and is not the current itself). The best analogy is actually of a water pipe. The Wattage is the power which the water is pushed by and the impedence is the bore of the pipe, which is directly related to the amount of water that can be pushed through it.
 
The amp is the limiting factor. The speakers determine the maximum load they can take based on the amp's output. The CD player should work at line level, so no, that will have no effect on the volume output. A good CD player can make a difference to subjective sound quality, but in this day and age CD Players are largely all good quality.

You may also need to check the impedence of the amp and speakers. 8 Ohm (denoted by the 'Omega' sign) is standard and most amps will drive 4-16 Ohm speakers. Older units tend to drive a smaller range, typically 4 or 8. I have an old pair of speakers that run at 4 Ohms, but most run at 8. Without going into too much detail, the wattage denotes the power of the 'drive' how much 'push' the amp gives and the impedence denotes the 'amount' being pushed (actually this is technically incorrect, the impedence is related to the current and is not the current itself). The best analogy is actually of a water pipe. The Wattage is the power which the water is pushed by and the impedence is the bore of the pipe, which is directly related to the amount of water that can be pushed through it.

so, like, how do you acquire so much knowledge?
 
so, like, how do you acquire so much knowledge?

A/S Music Technology, BTEC Diploma in Music Technology (with Awards in composition, performance and... something else I think) and the first term of my Degree in Music Technology.

And lots of books. And the Internet. But there's guys on here who know a lot more than me. This is quite simple stuff really, just do some reading.

www.soundonsound.com is a good place to start. It's a great magazine - although a bit daunting when you first look at it.
 
Thanks for the tips MFB, I think you should start your own search engine.. MFB.com : )
 
Why not a set of headphones and the CD player of your choice. I would have to turn my stereo up too loud to hear it over the drums. My neighbors are cool right now with just drum sounds and wouldn't want to take a chance with loud music.
 
also keep in mind that some speakers are more sensitive than others, meaning they need less power to get to a high volume while others require more power to get to the same volume.

That's the impedence rating.
 
Back
Top