I looking to buy some in-wall speakers that are rated for Max 100W. I don't want to invest in a whole-house distribution amp just yet, as I only want to hook up the speakers in one room for now. I have an old receiver that I believe was rated for 140W/channel. Would it be dangerous to hook up the receiver to these 100W speakers? What if I didn't turn the volume up too high, or used a impedance matching volume control at the wall panel location?

Besides buying a new amp, what would be the best way to hook these up and not damage them or the amp?

Thanks in advance.

Simple as keeping the volume managed properly.

There is no real mis-match between 100 and 140W to begin with. It's a 1.5 dB difference, perhaps a single tic mark on your volume control. And that if both the 100W and the 140W are accurate to begin with.

So what you are saying is that the jump from 100W to 140W is not that loud, but will the wattage itself damage the speakers or is it volume that is the damaging force?

I mean that the difference is small enough that it's hard to be sure that the real numbers will even be 100 and 140 W that they could be considered to be the same.

In any case, you would hear it if you overdrive the speakers, and then just turn it down (as whoaru99 said).

The wattage produced by the amplifier will increase as you turn the volume up, I don't know how loud you play your music how efficient your speakers are or how large the room is. As stated if you turn it up to much you will hear the distortion from the speakers so in that case just turn it down.

Ok, thanks guys. The receiver is the Denon 5700 and the speakers are the Polk RC85i's. They're rated at 90db efficiency. The room is 17x20x20.

As this will only be a temporary solution, I'll just control the volume in one location and avoid turning it too high. Once I get my end of year bonus, I'll be dumping that straight into a whole-house audio amp.

The amp should be larger than the speaker. When it is smaller that is when you run into issues. Your fine.

Especially if you like a little volume; it's easier to damage speakers with too little power than too much.