Speaker watts

Hi I have recently ordered Klipsch 4.1 speakers as well as Logitech z640. What I want to know is what does watts do?

generally the more watts the louder/more powerful the system is. a 50 watt subwoofer will be less powerful than a 100 watt subwoofer. also just because 100 watts is twice as much as 50 watts doesnt mean the 100 watt subwoofer is twice as powerful. hope i helped some.

--jason

Watts is a measure of Power output. There are several Watts ratings including Watts RMS, Peak Watts, Total Watts, PMPO, and maybe others depending on what the Manufacturer uses to rate it's speakers. More watts usually means the Speakers will play louder although that is also a function of the Speakers sensitivity and that is tied into the Speakers efficiency which is based on speaker type, enclosure type, and internal volume.

as I understand it takes a doubling of power in watts to increase the sound level 3 db. A 3 db increase is about the amount needed for the avg. person to think there is a discernable difference in loudness. If you know your Speakers sensitivity at 1 watt. You can figure out it's loudness(Sound Pressure Level) given the power of your amplifier

as an example: a speaker with 88 db sensivity at 1 watt means the speaker will produce an 88 db signal(Sound Pressure Level) with one watt input usually measured on axis about 1 meter from the front of the speaker. To make the sound just discernably louder you need to double power to 2 watts for a 91 db level, 4 watts for 94 db, 8 watts for 97 db, 16 watts for 100 db, 32 watts for 103 db, 64 watts for 106 db, 128 watts for 109 db sound pressure levels and so on and on.

The Loudest Rock Concert ever recorded is Deep Purples "Made in Japan" album. supposedly SPL levels over 140 db were measured at the gig. assuming about a 90 db sensitivity for the guitar amps that would require about 262,000 watts of power. which they probably had if you've ever seen the pictures of the Marshall stacks on stage.

Hope this helps and I hope you enjoy your new speakers. It's how they sound that really matters. Watts be damned -lol-

RMS is the one to look for - that measures how loud the system can go without distortion.

PMPO is waaay too high : I have a set of "180watt" computer speakers that cringe at the windows DING sound...

On the other hand, my 400watt peak (320watt rms) PA system can quite comfortably handle a lot more than the windows DING (FPS is great when the Missile launcher weapon (whatever it's called) can shake the floor)

its correct that rms is the only mesurment you should look for. However, you should only view it as a value on which to base the loudness.
The speaker sensitivity, it's size and the cabnet size play a much bigger roll than the speakers power handling. for example, i know for a fact that my 12iich Lightning Audio sub powered with 50watts rms is louder in the bottom 3 octaves than just about every logitech or comparable pc sub rated at 200watts rms. (the fact that my 12inch sub sits in a 3.5cubic foot enclosure should give you a clue)
Anyway, My point is, only use it as a basis. you will NEVER know how loud any speaker will be just be looking at its rated max rms.

Thanks all. It might boil down to me listen to both of the set and seeing which sounds better in my room