Why do speakers recommend amp wattage?


My Usher speakers recommend am amp with 80 watts per channel. Ive heard amp wattages differ significantly, so why bother with a recommended wattage? What would happen if I used 200 watt mono amps (obviously overkill), or a 7 watt tube amp? Thanks.
tbromgard

Showing 1 response by 6550c

Probably a rough estimate of the power needed to drive the speaker to max. sound pressure level for extended periods of time over the full frequency band for most recorded music. Amps that are underpowered may not be able to produce enought power at peaks resulting in clipping and speaker damage.

A 200W amp will be okay, not much chance for speaker damage.

A 7w amp might be okay if you don't play very loud (but SETs are effected by so many other factors, so I would avoid using them unless you are really shure)