How many milliamps are used by a small speaker?

Question

I want to build a volume control for a small speaker (1") and I was wondering how many milliamps does a speaker like this use so I know how big of a resistor to put on it along with a potentiometer.

Answer 1

Those speakers usually run less than 200 milliWatts and can range from 8 to 32 Ohms impedance.  So, the current will be around 150 mA for an 8 Ohm speaker; 80 mA for a 32 Ohm speaker.

150 mA is still a bit much for a normal 1/2 to 1 Watt potentiometer, so I suggest using this:

http://radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?...

It is designed for your application, anyway.

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