200 watt amp + 100 watt speakers = trouble? Or not?

[Bill222]

I'm thinking of "upgrading" a 7.1 home theater room next week.

For fronts, mid-surrounds, and rear-surrounds, it's running 6 full-sized speakers from the late '90s (Klipsch KG 5.5 - http://www.klipsch.com/products/discontinued/details/kg-5-5.aspx#specifications). They have 10" woofers, and are rated at 100 watts continuous / 500 watts peak.

The center channel is also from the late '90s - a Klipsch KLF-C7 http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/klf-c7.aspx#specifications with 8" woofers, rated at 150 watts continuous / 600 watts peak.

The receiver driving them at the moment is a Yamaha RX-V663 http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=567571&CTID=5000300 which rates at 95 watts per channel, 7 channels.

I'm planning on "demoting" the Yamaha from being a full-blown receiver/amp to basically being a pre-processor. I picked up a 7-channel Aragon amplifier - http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/2007.aspx - which is rated at 200 watts per channel.

Is something going to blow up if I run the 100 watt KG 5.5's using the 200 watt Aragon amp?

I've heard that damage to speakers usually happens from too little power, not too much power. Or that speaker damage comes from distortion - which usually happens when an amp is trying to drive more than it can handle. I expect the big, hefty, single-purpose Aragaon 2007 amp to be able to handle a lot more than the small, light-weight, multi-purpose Yamaha integrated amp/receiver.

So - opinions? Guesses? Facts? Am I going to blow a few old speakers next week? Or are they going to sound better than ever?

Advice?

Thanks,
Bill

[Brac]

We call it headroom and it's a good thing, the less you have to push your amp the better. As far as damage, just stop turning it up, when your ears start to bleed.

Amp ratings are not as acurate as you would think. Unless you are talking about good tube gear or a select few manufactures.

You should hear much improvement with your new setup.

[Jeff Matthews]

Also, keep in mind that while you might think it will start sounding bad at the point you're getting ready to burn a speaker, that is not true when you have a good amp. It will sound good until you stop hearing sound - usually out of the tweeter. Other than that, like he said.... don't turn it too loud. Add fuses?

[Frank1938]

So - opinions? Guesses? Facts? Am I going to blow a few old speakers next week? Or are they going to sound better than ever?

I'm running Heresy and forté as center and side and rear surround with a 2007 with no problem. Klipsch speakers are so sensitive that it is no problem.

Frank

[Islander]

I used a 500 Wpc amp for a year with my 100-watt La Scalas with no problems. Then I converted the speakers to bi-amped JubScalas and added a second 500 Wpc amp, so now each woofer has 500 watts available to it and each tweeter has 500 watts available to it.

"Available" is the key word. Most of the time the amps are putting out 1 watt or less, with the extra power just being used on musical peaks for a split-second. With the very high sensitivity of Klipsch speakers, even deafening sound levels probably use less than 10 watts, so there's not much chance of ever using full power and putting the speakers at risk, unless some drunk decides to see how loud they'll go. Not too many of those fools in my living room.

The only things to be really careful of are making sure the volume is turned way down before powering off the system, so you don't get a loud surprise the next time you turn it on, as well as turning down the volume when switching inputs, because the volume is turned up somewhat higher when listening to LPs than CDs or TV, since phono cartridges put out relatively low power compared to the other audio inputs.

Finally, your speakers should sound better than ever, since the headroom that the high powered amp provides will give you more realistic transients, even at low volume, along with a greater sense of the actual presence of the musical instruments in your listening room.

If you don't go crazy with the volume knob, you should be fine.

[Colin]

the key is "rated at 100 watts continuous / 500 watts peak."

you are not feeding them 500 watts peak, they will be fine

never use more than half the power on amps, the last half of the power is dirty and ruins drivers

[SWL]

I used a 500 Wpc amp for a year with my 100-watt La Scalas with no problems. Then I converted the speakers to bi-amped JubScalas and added a second 500 Wpc amp, so now each woofer has 500 watts available to it and each tweeter has 500 watts available to it.

I'm doing the same with my RF-7's. [Y]

[jacksonbart]

not