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How do you properly size a speaker?

I have a 40x2 watt 4 or 8 ohm tube amp. I am very inexperianced when it comes to proper set up. I literally just bought the cheapest vintage speakers I could find with a name I knew they had no ratings i had to find that info later. I noticed some speakers have a span for wattage like 30 to 75 watts for example. I bought a pair of cerwin vega L7s for 50$ I saw that they are rated 75watt and 8ohm, there is no spectrum on the wattage that I could find. Does that mean I am running them under powered with a 40 watt amp? These are like smaller monitor speakers, would it make a difference to run the bigger floor speakers? Seems like I have seen bigger floor speakers with bigger woofers and more tweeters with wattage ratings from 30 and up? Correct me if I'm wrong I'm just curios because I will be buying a home soon and I was thinking about getting some bigger speakers when I have the room for them.
gguy767
gguy767 OP
44 posts
 
I think he means db
luisma31
516 posts
 
Like others have stated look for good sensititvy above 94 / 96 at the very least
But also and this is important with any SS amp not only tube amps like yours, the nominal impedance at the very minimum 8 ohms, if 10 ohms even better and 16 ohm you won't find many speakers on this range. Key word BTW is nominal which is the entire impedance including drivers, crossover etc presented to your amp
mesch
3,510 posts
 
It seems to me that this is a two step situation. First is how does your amp drive the Cerwin Vega speakers you currently have? Likely the 75 watt rating is the high recommendation and your 40 watt amp drives them fine. Are you getting the volume you require without straining your amp?

Once you move into your new home, then you can reconsider what speakers you need based on budget, room size, and volume levels required. As aforementioned by others, the wattage ratings means little, the impedance rating should be known across the frequency range and should not stray below 4ohms therein, and the sensitivity requirement is largely determined by room size and volume requirements.

Once you make the move initiate a new thread indication specific needs for your situation.

Good luck in your search.
b_limo's avatar
b_limo
2,277 posts
 
Tape measure
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