Suitable speakers

[admin_exported]

My hi fi system consists of Rotel stereo amp RC 1070, Rotel power amp RB 1070 and Rotel cd player RCD 1072. I now need to find suitable speakers. The advice i've been given suggests that the amp should be more powerful than the speakers. The speakers i'm looking at are the Paradigm S20 at 100 watts and Paradigm S40 at 140 watts. The rotel amp pushes out 130 watts per channel. So, in theory which will be the better suited speaker?

 

[Anonymous]

nobody got some advice for me?

 

[Craig M.]

i'm not sure whoever advised you the amp should be more powerful then the speakers rated power handling was correct, or maybe you mis-interpreted the advise. a more powerful amp will have better control of your speakers then a weedy one. i think pushing a weedy amp past its limits, so it starts hardening/distorting, is more likely to break speakers then feeding them with a bit too much power. the issue with too much power could be the cones running out of travel, although that is just a guess.

do you listen at full volume very often? i think you should be able to let your ears guide you, as the sound should start to change if your pushing something too hard.

so, assuming i'm not talking rubbish (which is possible), i think the better suited speakers will be the ones you prefer the sound of.

i've just re-read your post, theoretically, the better suited is the 140 watt version as your amp is within their rated power limits.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Craig,

Thanks for the advice. I'll be getting the S40's.