Question about RB-1080 (and amps in general)

[Hoffa]

I have a set of B&W CM4s as my fronts, and i was looking to get a separate amp to power them. I was looking at the RB 1080, but my speakers are rated to 150w and the amp is 200w / ch. What happens if they are run together? I have very poor electrical knowledge, so if someone could explain how the amount of current on the wire & wattage come into play with the volume control , I'd really appreciate that.

If I am going to buy an amp, I’m going to get a really good one so that I don’t have to upgrade again (I hope ), but if my speakers can't take it, well then I will have to reconsider.

[will1066]

Those ratings are for peak passages in music and movies. Most of the time, the wattage in play won't amount anywhere close to those ratings. As long as you don't abuse it with excessive volume for sustained periods, it'd be fine.

[PewterTA]

Yep, what will said.

You'll be fine as long as you don't crank it all the way and try to push them too hard. Most likely you will have to turn down the sound before you'll push them that hard (unless you like it terribly loud where it starts to hurt your ears).

[Hoffa]

With my crap-tastic yamaha 60w/ch receiver ive never had it passed 1/2 (analogue dial) volume and thats loud. So, if I understand you guys correctly, with a large amp, the same loudness wouldnt cause problem. It is only when you crank up the volume do I start to exceed the limitations of the speaker?

[Andrew Pratt]

More or less yes. You're actually far more likely to kill the speakers with your yamaha then a mega watt power amp as the Yamaha will "clip" when pushed to its limits which can fry your speaker voice coils in a hurry whereas the power amp would still be loafing along at the same volume. Now most of the time you're likely not going to approach the clipping point of an amp unless you're really playing it loud but in general the wattage rating on a speaker isn't a factor.

[GosonFletchy]

I think that once your ears start to bleed from the volume then you will need to turn it up. The blood muffles the sound some. This is probably at the point where you may fry your speakers.

G.

:assimilate:

[Marcel B]

no, definitely not.

killing the tweeters in my small surround speakers was very easy once I went from Dolby surround to Dolby Digital / dts.
Only 1 bomb in U-571 did the trick.