Recommended Power Amp watts vs Speaker Watt power handling ability


What would happen if I connected a pair of 8 Ohm speakers with recommended 100 - 200 watts (Monitor Audio Gold 300) to a power amp of 250 watts per channel into 8 Ohms (Primare A32)? Is it safe? Would the speakers be blown?
mewsickbuff
Only if you get crazy trigger happy with the volume knob.  Under most conditions you will be just fine.

Bill
@mewsickbuff  Agree with willland.  The issue of powering speakers is one of the most misunderstood in all of audio.  Willland is right that the only way you can do damage with a more  powerful amp is if you go nuts with the volume control.

The important truth to note is that speakers are more often damaged by under- powering speakers.  An amp weaker than your speakers need will clip the musical sinewave and in extreme cases damage the drivers in your speakers, most specifically the voicecoils leading to rather expensive repairs.

I just left the monitor audio website.  Looks like a lot of thought and advanced technology has gone into their design.

Good luck with this.

The recommended power range is only a rough guide.  If, as others have mentioned, you play the speakers at reasonable levels, you should be fine.  If, as you push the volume upward, the speakers start to sound really harsh and hashy, cut the volume level; you are into the point where the speakers or the amp are distorting badly.

Even if the speaker manufacturer recommends 100-200 watts, it would certainly NOT be a good idea to play them at anywhere close to 100 watts of power delivered on a sustained basis; that would risk heat damage.  The recommendation is based largely on the momentary peak power.  Even when you are playing the speakers at a pretty high average volume level, the amp output would probably be averaging only one or two watts of output.

The other concern about high power amps is damage from accidental, large pops or noise, caused by such things as either pulling or plugging in an interconnect anywhere in the system when the amp is on, or sudden power cycling/surges when something happens to your electric service.  That kind of short term but powerful impulses can damage speakers if the amp is extremely powerful.

Given that you are not over driving your speakers, I would say that you are doing both speakers and amplifier a favor. Amp will last longer and speakers will be under best control.