The important question is what is driving the new system? What is the output of your system (amplifier/hifi etc).Upgrading 5W speakers with 10W speakers is not beneficial if your system is only outputting 5W. Ideally you want the RMS speaker power paired to the output of your device to get a reasonable performance without spending too much money.
Must be a model number of your current system you can look up and it will tell you the specs.I'd be surprised if upgrading wires on speakers that small would make any difference at all either.
You should be able to extend the speaker wire on the current speakers without much hassle (might need to open them up mind).It’s hard to say for sure if you can run the new unit with the old speakers (as you don’t really know what power the driver is rated to, only the tweeter at the top?). I would imagine it is fine but then if the speakers are 15 years old as well you probably won’t be getting the best out the new system either.If it was me I would be trying to extend the wires on the new speakers and run with them. You could probably splice an extension o to the current wires without stripping the speakers part. For the amount of wattage running through them a simple soldered joint should be good enough).
Aye. That’s what I’m getting at. You’ll lose any benefit over the “thicker wire” which as Dazza said is negligible at this kind of power anyway. Might be worth thinking about cutting the wire short rather than coiling it. You can try coiling it like that but if you get bad interference odds are that’s where it will be coming from.
After 15 years use in a kitchen environment the old speaker cones are probably getting a bit soft, but I’d do a side by side comparison before deciding which pair to use.
They are very low end speakers, the wire will be virtually irrelevant at that sort of power level, you could use mains cable and not know any difference. In fact at 5w i can see the cable you're using is probably complete overkill.
The matching of power ratings between amp and speakers is not a precise science. Loudspeaker distortion is not as unpleasant as amplifier clipping so I prefer to err on the side of having a beefier amp (within reason). Any modern amp will have protection circuitry that cuts the output in the event of an internal fault, so the chances of the speakers bursting into flames is not worth worrying about.
Quote from: Fazerider on 28 May 2019, 12:22:01 pmThe matching of power ratings between amp and speakers is not a precise science. Loudspeaker distortion is not as unpleasant as amplifier clipping so I prefer to err on the side of having a beefier amp (within reason). Any modern amp will have protection circuitry that cuts the output in the event of an internal fault, so the chances of the speakers bursting into flames is not worth worrying about.Ok so I can have a more powerful amp than speakers but what about if the speakers are more powerful than the amp - would that damage the amp. I any case the equipment is either 5 10 or 20 W
Quote from: fazersharp on 28 May 2019, 12:38:36 pmQuote from: Fazerider on 28 May 2019, 12:22:01 pmThe matching of power ratings between amp and speakers is not a precise science. Loudspeaker distortion is not as unpleasant as amplifier clipping so I prefer to err on the side of having a beefier amp (within reason). Any modern amp will have protection circuitry that cuts the output in the event of an internal fault, so the chances of the speakers bursting into flames is not worth worrying about.Ok so I can have a more powerful amp than speakers but what about if the speakers are more powerful than the amp - would that damage the amp. I any case the equipment is either 5 10 or 20 W Either way it will probably distort the sound so you will no doubt turn the volume back down anyway.
Quote from: darrsi on 28 May 2019, 01:50:15 pmQuote from: fazersharp on 28 May 2019, 12:38:36 pmQuote from: Fazerider on 28 May 2019, 12:22:01 pmThe matching of power ratings between amp and speakers is not a precise science. Loudspeaker distortion is not as unpleasant as amplifier clipping so I prefer to err on the side of having a beefier amp (within reason). Any modern amp will have protection circuitry that cuts the output in the event of an internal fault, so the chances of the speakers bursting into flames is not worth worrying about.Ok so I can have a more powerful amp than speakers but what about if the speakers are more powerful than the amp - would that damage the amp. I any case the equipment is either 5 10 or 20 W Either way it will probably distort the sound so you will no doubt turn the volume back down anyway. I do like it turned up to 11
Speakers do not have any power - hence do not have a power rating. The quoted wattage figure is a nominal power handling figure.Amplifiers have a power rating, typically quoted as an RMS figure, standing for root mean square. Sound waves (generated by an amplifier in terms of current) go up and down, so measuring these peaks and troughs meaningfully becomes difficult, hence taking an RMS approach, think of it as about 0.6 of peak or so, hence a 6W amplifier might actually produce 10W when run hard.Clipping is what damages or 'blows' speakers. If the volume is turned so high that the amplifier cannot reproduce the required current peak then a prolonged 'flat top' peak is generated. Speakers react to peaks by vibrating - a peak will push a speaker driver outwards. A clipped signal asks the speaker cone to travel outwards and not return, something speakers don't like - hence damaging it. Think of it like taking a slap or a prolonged hard press against a cheek...Given the above it should be clear that a higher rated (or bigger) amplifier is far less likely to damage speakers than a smaller one as it has more head room to produce accurate peaks without clipping.In any case, just don't turn volume controls up beyond distortion levels and all should stay well.Regarding your choice of system and budget, that money, if spent wisely and with some patience, will yield a little used separate amplifier and (say) tuner which will be night and day difference in sound quality. I have a really good tuner spare you can have for free for starters.