I bought some home Speakers, but I was wondering on the Watts "peak Power"?

Question

Its a pair, (2 speakers total) and each of them says 100 Watts. Does this mean 200 watts total per pair or just 100 watts per pair? Please help, as i always had this doubt

if it matters they are Mitsubishi Speakers (NOT FOR CAR) HOME SPEAKERS

Answer 1

Each speaker can handle 100 watts.

Answer 2

if those speakers are fairly skinny and tall, i had a pair with my last theater system. 100 watts per speaker can handle 200 total watts. that's why a surround sound can handle 600-1000 watts and not sound like you are in the club or something. because it distributes the power to each separate speaker.

Answer 3

as noted by previous answers, each speaker can handle 100 watts of power.  speakers are rated at peak power.  the ideal sound for any given speaker will be to use an amplifier rated at 125% of the speaker peak power.  So, in your case, an amp that is rated at 125 watts per channel will give you optimum sound.  No, it won't blow your speakers any easier than an amp rated at 100 watts per channel.  

Answer 4

If each of them says 100 watts then each can handle 100 watts. A 100 watt per channel amplifier would then theoretically put out 200 watts through two of these.

You mention "peak power" in the question. If it is 100 watts "peak" then it means they can only handle the full power for brief pulses. Because music and video sound is dynamic, (e.g. voices are not nearly as loud as explosions or cymbal crashes), many speakers are designed to take peak power greater than they that power they could handle continuously (aka RMS power).

If you were playing a pure tone that didn't vary in level (which no one would do in home use) then the speakers would not actually be able to take a full 100 watt signal without excessive distortion.

The power rating is generally not worth worrying about if you are not playing music at concert hall volumes. The way the human ear works means that when power making a sound is doubled, it is only barely perceptibly louder to our ears, not "twice" as loud. This may seem counter intuitive but what it means is that the volume you normally listen to is only a few watts at most.