Higher wattage= Louder?

[SQL4Life 10+ year member]

Kinda noob question but wanna get this cleared up

Considering two different sets of speakers have the same sensitivity but one is 150 rms and the other is 65 rms would that correlate to the 150 rms being louder?

Now lets change it alittle and say that the 150 rms set has a sensitivity of 87 while the 60 watt rms set has a sensitivitiy that is significantly higher ( 93 or whatever) is the 150 set still louder?

Give they are on the same amplifier.

One reason i ask is that it seems like wattage for speakers(components) does not seem to have the impact as the rms wattage on the subwoofer ( 1000rms vs 500 rms etc.) when people buy. Why is it that many overlook the rms wattage on speakers? Given there are peak wattages or whatnot but why does their seem to be a different perception with wattage rms on speakers (components) and subwoofers.

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[Tehgregzor 10+ year member]

the one with the higher sensitivity will get louder with the same amount of power. but with a high sensitivity, you often give up low end excursion...so your midbass is lacking.

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

Higher wattage huh... Maybe I should mount my amps higher, or hold it above my head

 

[Ed Lester 10+ year member]

wattage of a speaker or sub has to do with how much it can handle. Not how much it will put out.

So a 65w RMS speaker will be just as loud as a 150w RMS apeaker when they are both on the same amp. (given all other specs are similar.

 

[SQL4Life 10+ year member]

so then what specs decide how loud a speaker can get if its not wattage...sensitivity?

 

[yanks fan 10+ year member]

The install/box will determine how loud it is.

 

[Ed Lester 10+ year member]

There is no spec that can tell this since there are so many variables like

enclosure, listening space, signal clarity, power, etc....

Sensitivity can give an idea but this is usually measured at 1w and 1m distance. So with more power, certain characteristics of the speaker will change.

I am afraid that the only way to have an idea of what speaker will be louder, is trial and error.

Although, when it comes to full range speakers, with the same power input you will almost never tell the difference in loudness. The main difference you will be able to tell is how well that speaker works in the enclosure (door, kick pod).

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

Now lets change it alittle and say that the 150 rms set has a sensitivity of 87 while the 60 watt rms set has a sensitivitiy that is significantly higher ( 93 or whatever) is the 150 set still louder?

Hypothetical correlation:

1w = 87dB

2w = 90dB

4w = 93dB

4x the power to get +6dB of output.

IIRC, if you double the distance, you loose 6dB.

The RMS rating on speakers is more of a thermal tolerance than anything. Amps don't put out continuous, average power if they are driving dynamic music. Which makes their RMS rating kind of silly, too.

 

[canyouhearmatt 10+ year member]

no.

 

[SQChevy 10+ year member]

Higher wattage huh... Maybe I should mount my amps higher, or hold it above my head

I mounted mine on a tower that rides in the back of my truck for that same purpose.

 

[qkassidyw 10+ year member]

Hypothetical correlation:
1w = 87dB

2w = 90dB

4w = 93dB

4x the power to get +6dB of output.

IIRC, if you double the distance, you loose 6dB.

The RMS rating on speakers is more of a thermal tolerance than anything. Amps don't put out continuous, average power if they are driving dynamic music. Which makes their RMS rating kind of silly, too.

I think its 3dB, but you may be right. Also, with all things being equal for those two speakers, the higher sensitivity speaker will get louder...but like it was said before you will probably lack in midbass.

 

[Tehgregzor 10+ year member]

. Amps don't put out continuous, average power if they are driving dynamic music. Which makes their RMS rating kind of silly, too.

I wouldn't go so far as to say silly... RMS means Root Mean Squared...which is a very accurate way to ascertain an average amount of output from an amp. You are very correct in saying that Music wattage is dynamic, so it doesn't always push out exactly its RMS rating every cycle...but its a good guess its pretty close.

 

[mikey7182 10+ year member]

Another thing to keep in mind is impedance vs. sensitivity. There is a great write-up on this over on DIYMA. According to the writeup, most 4 ohm car speakers' sensitivity are rated at 2W, not 1. So something with an efficiency of 87db is at 2 watts, making its sensitivity at 1w roughly 84db. Take the same speaker in an 8 ohm configuration, which are usually rated at 1w/m, and say it has a sensitivity of 90db. Theoretically, it will be 6db louder than the 4 ohm speaker at any given wattage. It will not draw as much from the amp, but let's say you're running 150w per channel at 4 ohms. Assuming halving is correct, your 8 ohm speaker will be seeing 75 watts. But, because of how efficient it is in comparison to the 4 ohm speaker with a sensitivity 6db less than the 8 ohm, the 8 ohm will be 3db louder off half the volume. Even if the 4 ohm driver was rated at 87db 1w/m, the 8 ohm driver would still be as loud off half the power. Hopefully that made sense. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Ed Lester 10+ year member]

Hypothetical correlation:
1w = 87dB

2w = 90dB

4w = 93dB

4x the power to get +6dB of output.

IIRC, if you double the distance, you loose 6dB.

The RMS rating on speakers is more of a thermal tolerance than anything. Amps don't put out continuous, average power if they are driving dynamic music. Which makes their RMS rating kind of silly, too.

Thats all theoretical.

the 3db increase for a doubling of power is rare.

Things like power compression and heat comes into play.

I have tested many times with subwoofers that a sub rated with less sensitivity can play louder in reality.

 

[qkassidyw 10+ year member]

Thats all theoretical.the 3db increase for a doubling of power is rare.

Things like power compression and heat comes into play.

I have tested many times with subwoofers that a sub rated with less sensitivity can play louder in reality.

True, I think mathematically with everything equal in an ideal situation it is supposed to be 3db...but its all about real world...not math. The math is just a good reference/starting point.