how to use low watt speaker with high watt amplifer

Dont let the rms volts over several seconds get up above whatever volts causes the voice coil to smoke. Have a several second time constant RC averaging filter connected to a meter. Set the red line

Huhhh.... Maybe try lowering the power supply voltage to the amp module. Don't go too low..see amp specs for Vmin supply. D from BC

On a sunny day (Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:17:36 -0000) it happened ruleworld wrote in :

Perhaps a resistor attenuator.

Don't turn the volume up over about 16%. ;-)

Cheers! Rich

can i limit the volume somehow. maybe placing a resistor in series with the volume control variable resistor?

Just don't turn it up too loud - ever - and it should be OK.

The power ratings on many consumer audio products are complete lies anyway, so depending on whether the speaker manufacturer or the amplifier manufacturer was the bigger liar, the real power capabilities of the two devices could be very different from what they are rated at.

If you will not be in control of the volume knob yourself at all times, but rather someone else like a child or a careless person will be using the setup, then you might need a way of limiting the output of the amplifier. One way to do this would be to connect a "Polyswitch" in series with each speaker. The size of the polyswitch will need to be chosen appropriately for the speaker. The polyswitch might get hot under fault conditions and so it should ideally be installed in a metal enclosure (perhaps inside the amplifier box) to prevent the risk of fire.

Chris

How about glue a peg on the volume knob and glue another peg on the face. That way when the knob is turned, it'll stop at the pegs. D from BC

thx. from your comments i found an idea. i will try put a resistor in series and add a switch parallel to it to disable it so when i need more volume i can get it by turning the switch on.

Possibly, but if you have different signal sources like CD player, MP3, etc. that put out different sized signals, then it might be hard to find a limit that is always appropriate. It also depends on what circuit is used for the volume control of your amplifier, in some cases just a resistor in series might not work well.

You could just not turn it up too loud, as I said before.

Chris

Heavens, yes! There's nothing to it! Find out the resistance of the pot, and make a voltage divider.

The arithmetic, as usual, is left as an exercise for the student. ;-)

Cheers! Rich

OK - if you're taking a survey, put me down in the "Yeah - do this" column. ;-)

Cheers! Rich