Both Channels Driven.............

[smoothedge69]

Hi, I am new here. Just have a quick thing to ask about.

 

 

Ok, my Behringer PMP6000 has a rating of 300Watt RMS @1% THD Both Channels Driven @ 8 Ohms. One is what does "both channels driven" mean?

 

and Two: Ok, I replaced my woofers, which were Behringer 150 RMS with Peavy 200 RMS woofers. Will there be much of a difference? Is this going to become Clipping Hell? This is a temporary thing until I can afford a set of powered speakers. But will I be able to use this combo, for a couple of months?? Thanks.

 

I have been reading stuff all night. I need laymen's terms. . All this technical stuff is giving me a headache.

[Craig Vecchione]

Welcome to the forums!

 

"Both channels driven" means that the spec was measured on one channel while the amp was running with inputs on both channels. Driving both channels instead of just the channel being measured puts a greater load on the power supply, which in many cases is shared by both channels, and in nearly all amps is fed by one AC mains circuit.

 

Your second question; All other factors being equal, increasing power handling (of a speaker) does not cause or increase the likelihood of clipping. A signal is clipped in the electronics before the speaker... the preamp(s), EQ, effects and amplifier. Increasing the power handling does not effect a speaker's output...that spec is described most often as the SPL @ a given power level (typically 1w), possibly at a given frequency or range @ a given distance from the speaker (typically 1 meter). It's entirely possible to have a 300 watt speaker rated for 90dB @ 1w @1m, and a 200 watt speaker rated for 105dB @ 1w @1m. The 200w watt speaker will be louder up to the point of max power, and then the 300w speaker will begin to catch up as power to it reaches its max. But that extra 100 watts of power to the 300w speaker won't be enough to get it louder than the 200w speaker. That's due to how speakers react to power and a more advanced topic for another time.

 

You'll read a lot about "underpowering" and that it damages speakers. This isn't true. Putting 100 watts into a 150 watt speaker won't damage it. But note that amplifiers can be overdriven (put a hotter signal into it than what's needed to drive the amplifier to max rated output), and that doing this will increase the output to perhaps double the max rating. Note too that overdriving causes distortion. The distortion doesn't damage the speaker...the increased power does the damage. So the 100 watt amplifier being overdriven hard will output 200 watts into that 150w speaker, and THAT can damage the speaker. But again, you'd need to be a total idiot to do this, as the amp will sound like crap. Do people do this? Yep. And they damage speakers, then get told they "underpowered" the speaker, buy a much larger amplifier, and then drive that speaker too hard and blow it up too. The real problem is that they don't have enough speaker, not that they didn't have enough amplifier power. You only get so much sound from a speaker. If the room or the genre requires more volume than a given properly-powered speaker set can deliver, get more speakers or speakers that have higher SPL rating, not more amplifier power.

[wesg]

Your amp power is now 1.5 times your speaker power. That's as big an amp as you want to go with those speakers. Provided you don't blink your "clip" lights too often, and you don't run your speakers loud enough that they sound bad, you're going to be fine.

 

If you need more volume, you'll want more amp AND more speaker.

 

By the way, the main reason I like powered speakers is because you are pretty much guaranteed that the amp, speaker, and limiter are sized and configured to work together properly.

 

Wes

[dboomer]

Ok' date=' I replaced my woofers, which were Behringer 150 RMS with Peavy 200 RMS woofers. Will there be much of a difference? ....All this technical stuff is giving me a headache.[/font']

 

Much of a difference in terms of what? Power handling will be relatively the same (if your numbers are actually correct ... but that's a different subject). Difference in SPL? That will depend on the speakers and not the amp.

 

My suggestion to avoid headaches is to start to learn some of the technical stuff. Otherwise your head and your wallet will hurt.

 

[smoothedge69]

Thanks. I run a karaoke show. The reason I had to change the woofers to begin with was that they got wet at a party. Florida and their sudden rain storms. I couldn't get them down and packed fast enough. They haven't sounded right since.

[Shaster]

Thanks. I run a karaoke show. The reason I had to change the woofers to begin with was that they got wet at a party. Florida and their sudden rain storms. I couldn't get them down and packed fast enough. They haven't sounded right since.

 

 

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. Next time you do an outdoor show, bring some plastic garbage bags. At the first hint of rain, or hopefully before, you can bag your speakers. I've seen guys run this way for hours in drizzle. However, I'm assuming that in a karaoke show, once the rain starts, the show is over. At least I would hope so...

 

Welcome to the forum btw.

[agedhorse]

So THAT'S how you stop a karaoke show!!!

[smoothedge69]

Well, tonight was there first night out. They performed quite well. I do have to run my board a bit differently, so as not to clip. I figured it out pretty quick. No clipping, no screechy highs, nice deep bass, happy patrons.