Hi All,
Please help, I have a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 Speakers, 75 Watts with 6 Ohms impedance and I have a couple of oldish Stereo Power Amps and am not sure which is best suited for the speakers.
The first and oldest Power Amp is a Hitachi HA-3800 and according to the info on the back, it's 300 watts with connections for up to 4 speakers; A or B - 4 Ohms to 16 Ohms per speaker or A and B - 8 Ohms to 16 Ohms per speaker.
The second Power Amp is a Kenwood KA-660D, 200 watts also with connections for up to 4 speakers; A or B - 4 Ohms to 16 Ohms per speaker or A and B - 8 Ohms to 16 Ohms per speaker (exactly the same as above).
I've been trying to get my head round this as there is a lot of conflicting information on the net regarding the mysteries of correct power output and impedance matching from your power amp to your speakers. I'm sure I've got something wrong here but from what I've read the power amp should provide about twice as much wattage per channel (at the speaker's nominal impedance) as the continuous power rating of the speaker. Therefore as my speakers are 75 watts with a nominal impedance of 6 Ohms I will need a power amp that can produce 150 watts per channel into 6 Ohms. Does this therefore mean that I need a 300 watt stereo power amp? Presumably I would also need to connect my speakers to the A or B connections as the 6 Ohms of the speakers falls within the 4 to 16 Ohms impedance provided by the A or B connections. However I have also read that you should try to match as closely as possible the Power Amp impedance with that of the combined impedance of the speakers. Well according to the formula for calculating combined speaker impedance (I have two 6 Ohm speakers therefore 6 (Ohms) divide by 2 (number of speakers) = 3 Ohms, the lowest impedance either of my power amps will deliver is 4 to 16 Ohms which means that since the combined speaker impedance is lower than the output impedance rating of the power amp I could damage my power amp.
Any suggestions gratefully received.
Please help, I have a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 Speakers, 75 Watts with 6 Ohms impedance and I have a couple of oldish Stereo Power Amps and am not sure which is best suited for the speakers.
The first and oldest Power Amp is a Hitachi HA-3800 and according to the info on the back, it's 300 watts with connections for up to 4 speakers; A or B - 4 Ohms to 16 Ohms per speaker or A and B - 8 Ohms to 16 Ohms per speaker.
The second Power Amp is a Kenwood KA-660D, 200 watts also with connections for up to 4 speakers; A or B - 4 Ohms to 16 Ohms per speaker or A and B - 8 Ohms to 16 Ohms per speaker (exactly the same as above).
I've been trying to get my head round this as there is a lot of conflicting information on the net regarding the mysteries of correct power output and impedance matching from your power amp to your speakers. I'm sure I've got something wrong here but from what I've read the power amp should provide about twice as much wattage per channel (at the speaker's nominal impedance) as the continuous power rating of the speaker. Therefore as my speakers are 75 watts with a nominal impedance of 6 Ohms I will need a power amp that can produce 150 watts per channel into 6 Ohms. Does this therefore mean that I need a 300 watt stereo power amp? Presumably I would also need to connect my speakers to the A or B connections as the 6 Ohms of the speakers falls within the 4 to 16 Ohms impedance provided by the A or B connections. However I have also read that you should try to match as closely as possible the Power Amp impedance with that of the combined impedance of the speakers. Well according to the formula for calculating combined speaker impedance (I have two 6 Ohm speakers therefore 6 (Ohms) divide by 2 (number of speakers) = 3 Ohms, the lowest impedance either of my power amps will deliver is 4 to 16 Ohms which means that since the combined speaker impedance is lower than the output impedance rating of the power amp I could damage my power amp.
Any suggestions gratefully received.