How to wire a powerful amp with two speakers to avoid damage


I have read that it is possible to use a pair of speakers as a "resistance" to prevent damage from overdriving speakers that are to be low powered. How can this be done?
I have a pair of BC2 Class A hybrid mono amps at 75 watts per channel and would like to experiment connecting them to very efficient speakers such as the Soliloquy 2A3s, but I am afraid that it might be an overkill....2A3s rated at 25 watts max.

PAUL
bemopti123
Speakers or their internal components are typically damaged from either being WAY underpowered or WAY overpowered. As such, using them under normal listening conditions will probably not harm them in the least. Even though the amps are capable of WAY more power than what the speakers are rated for, the speakers will only play ( absorb or dissipate ) as much power as you feed them. So long as you don't crank the volume up on a continuous basis, i would NOT worry about it. Besides, speakers that are rated for 25 watts are either EXTREMELY conservatively rated or not designed for real world operating conditions. Sean
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PS... i understand that the drivers may be operating full range with no internal crossovers to protect them. As such, that is still NO excuse.
Sean, would the amp be working really hard at NOT feeding the current? Would it then be running really hot? If so, you may want to pack ice around the amp (kidding) and don't allow small kids or animals near it(not kidding).
Or just the opposite and barely be breaking a sweat?
Paul (& Angela) the amp would barely be working hard at all & probably wouldn't get much warmer than it runs at idle dissipation. You can in fact operate very high powered amps into low-wattage speakers without doing any harm at all, provided that you exercise reasonable restraint. We once drove some 100-watt-rated B&W speakers with a Mac2500 amp (500 w/ch. conservative) with no problems. In fact since the Mac never went into clipping, we were able to drive the B&W's at about 300 watts before they were audibly straining to handle that amount of power. At any higher power level we would have gotten in trouble burning up a voice coil, but as long as you're even reasonably careful then there is no problem in doing this.
Sean is correct. More speakers get damaged from underpowered amps than from overpowered ones. The amount of power delivered to the speakers is dependant upon the voltage delivered to the speaker, which is dependant upon the volume control. If you play the speakers at a comfortable level the big amp will not harm them in any way.

The heat generated by an amp is mostly caused by the current in the output stage. In a pure 'Class A' design the output current is at a very high level all the time and thus the amp is hot all the time. In a 'Class AB' design the output current is at a low level unless a lot of current is being delivered to the load. Under low listening levels or with very efficient speakers the output current is small and the heat being generated is also small.
Chris