Watts in speakers

Joy0003

Estimable
Jan 17, 2016
1
0
4,510
Hi guys.
just wondering on what is the difference with watts in speakers especially going from a 40 watt soundbar to a 75 watt surround sound 5.1 sound system.
cheers.
 
Solution
Ah yes, watt in speakers.

First of, it can mean two things. That is the power you put in it, or the power it generated.
Generally they mean the same, but it gets confusing if you switch from a single speaker to mulitple speakers. And it sounds like you're going from stereo to 5.1?

Then there is what it means in loudness.
So watt is a linear metric.
Loudness, is usually measured in dB which is a logarithmic metric.
Meaning that your speakers of nearly double power will give you . . . . . 3dB? extra [strike]loudness[/strike] sound intensite. This is measurable and noticable. But it generally requires 10 dB to double the perceived loudness.

So 75 will mean more power drawn and a bit more loudness.

Maarsch

Honorable
Sep 14, 2012
59
0
10,610
Ah yes, watt in speakers.

First of, it can mean two things. That is the power you put in it, or the power it generated.
Generally they mean the same, but it gets confusing if you switch from a single speaker to mulitple speakers. And it sounds like you're going from stereo to 5.1?

Then there is what it means in loudness.
So watt is a linear metric.
Loudness, is usually measured in dB which is a logarithmic metric.
Meaning that your speakers of nearly double power will give you . . . . . 3dB? extra [strike]loudness[/strike] sound intensite. This is measurable and noticable. But it generally requires 10 dB to double the perceived loudness.

So 75 will mean more power drawn and a bit more loudness.
 
Solution

turbopixel

Estimable
May 18, 2015
39
0
4,610


Not exactly. To double the loudness, it needs 3 dB, not 10. More on this
"
Practically, this means that, armed only with the knowledge that 1 dB is approximately 26% power gain, 3 dB is approximately 2× power gain, and 10 dB is 10× power gain
"
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel
 

Maarsch

Honorable
Sep 14, 2012
59
0
10,610
Yeah, I wanted to mark that difference. And then messed up by calling it loudness instead of power.

So twice the watt is twice the power, also twice the accoustic intensity or power. Or, in this case, 3 dB.

However, loudness is a subjective measure that takes into account sound pressure level, frequency range and indeed accoustic power.
3 dB translated to 23% loudness increase and to actually be twice as loud an increase of 10 dB is needed.

And the "2*Watt" vs "2*loudness" is what i wanted to compare.
 

ien2222

Distinguished
It's a rather meaningless spec that's published with active speakers such as powered soundbars, etc. It really doesn't tell you much, other than a very rough estimate on how much more your electric bill will be if played at max volume for a given length of time.