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Using 200w amp with 300w rms speaker

I have a McIntosh MC202. I currently have a pair of B&W CM9 S2s. I was looking at the 804 D2s but heard the 702 S2s and 804 D3s today and the 702 S2s sounded MUCH better than the 804 D3s. This makes me want to upgrade to the CM10 S2s instead of the 804 D2s instead. However the CM10 S2 have an rms of 300w whereas the 804 D2s have an rms in 200w. My layout will not allow me to upgrade my amp so I’m stuck at 200w. My question is if you think 200w is enough for the CM10 S2s. I’d also seen a pair of Focal 1028 Bes on USAudioMart so was interested in those too but again they are 300w rms. Love to hear some thoughts on this...
jnelso61
mattmiller's avatar
mattmiller
1,555 posts
 
Hey just because there rated at 300w dosent mean you cant drive them with 450w! My Dynaudio speakers are rated at 200w and I drive them with a 350w per channel amp no problem they sound fantastic and I love the extra power (so do the speakers). Sure your 200w will drive the more power hungry speakers but if you listen fairly loudly then you will be seeing your amps power guard lights glow a lot! Not the best situation.

Matt M
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Sensitivity is correct because we are measuring how sensitive the speaker output volume is to the input signal. This is not the same as efficiency, which relates to how efficient the speaker is at doing work vs heat. The same driver has the same efficiency no matter where it is. In one speaker its used as a horn driver, in another its ported, while in a third its sealed. Same driver, same efficiency, different sensitivity in each case.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,477 posts
 
Sensitivity is correct because we are measuring how sensitive the speaker output volume is to the input signal.
My bad.  Thank you millercarbon for explanation.

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