[mariogonzalezzz]

not noticing much difference in volume.


i thought my new 100 watt amp would blow the 50 away.
after some reading the 100 is only 3db louder than the 50, is that correct?

 

[DonH50]

Yes, at maximum output the difference is 3 dB. If you were only using 50 W before then there won't be any difference in volume. Many folk buy amplifiers without really needing them IME/IMO.

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html

 

[PioManiac]

not noticing much difference in volume.


i thought my new 100 watt amp would blow the 50 away.
after some reading the 100 is only 3db louder than the 50, is that correct?

For sound to be "perceived" as Twice as loud, you actually need about 10x more wattage (not Twice as much)

Link: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-levelchange.htm

 

[head_unit]

i thought my new 100 watt amp would blow the 50 away. after some reading the 100 is only 3db louder than the 50, is that correct?

Yeah, what they said.

Another big factor is that those ratings may not be at the same distortion point, or even into the same impedance. And ALL the ratings are into resistors, but speakers are not resistors, not even close. So a very "beefy" 50W amp might actually play louder than a "wimpy" 100W amp into real speakers with real music. Some amplifiers clip (limit) gracefully, others do all kinds of nasty stuff like suddenly spike from negative to positive.

There was a cool device called the Power Cube which showed power into different impedances, but it didn't catch on widely due to expense.

 

[Worf]

You're also probably not even using much power. 1watt is actually a lot of power into a speaker, so you might only be using a small amount of power and due to speaker efficiency, get a lot of sound out if it. If your 50 watt amp was loud enough, changing it to a 100 watt amp won't make a difference. After all, if you were using it at 15 watts, you'd still be using it at 15 watts.

What a higher power amp gets you is more maximum volume. And headroom, if you are playing something with high dynamic range, it lets the loud parts get louder without the amp reaching it's limits.

Think of it this way. Those dinky $20 speakers are around half a watt of power, and can fill a room with sound. Not very good sound since many will top out and clip first. Invest in a better speaker able to do a couple of watts and it will sound much better as it can handle dynamics better (and be able to handle bass better, where power is usually needed). The base volume level doesn't require much power,but peaks in the sound do, as well as decent bass (which is why many subs contain their own amplifier - to offload the main amps from having to drive them).