Can i run a pair of 10" loudspeakers of 80 watts each to my amplifier of 55 watts output per channel ?

Question

i have an amplifier of 55 watts output per channel of 8 ohms impedence and it is connected to a pair of 8" woofers/ loudspeakers of 50 watts r m s per channel of the same 8 ohms impedence. i plan to connect it to a pair of 10" 80watts r m s per channel woofers of 8 ohms imp. will the bass / depth of the sound increase? will it harm my amp or the speakers? also what should be the ideal matching in watts of an amp to a pair of speakers, should the speaker's wattage be of same, slightly less or more than the amp output ? please help

Answer 1

The wattage rating of your amplifier is the maximum amount of power it will produce.  At low volume, you're not producing full wattage, or power.  The wattage rating of a speaker is the maximum amount of power it can handle before being damaged.  For example, if you're rated at 55 watts out of your amp, and you crank it full blast, a speaker rated for 40 watts will pop the voice coil and go dead.  But if you use a speaker rated for 500 watts, it will just be a speaker, no matter whether you're feeding it the full 55 watts or just 5 watts.  It's like a doorway; if it's 6 feet wide, it doesn't care if you're 2 feet wide or 5 feet wide when you pass through it.

The power rating of a speaker has little to do with the bass or depth of sound capability of the speaker.  8" or 10" is going to be hardly noticeable.  It depends more on the crossover network and the box design of the speaker.

The only time that speaker rating is affected by amplifier rating is that many high-powered speakers are designed to be operated at loud volumes.  They aren't very efficient at low levels, but that's a function of speaker design, not just the power rating.