How many watts do I need to power my speakers?

Most homeowners find 20 watts sufficient enough. A speaker for larger gatherings can be 50 watts or 100 watts. Such high power will not be ideal for home use. There is so much more that affects the wattage and its importance in a speaker, including sensitivity.

How do I connect multiple speakers to my amp?

There are only really two ways to connect 2 speakers to one amplifier – either in parallel or series. If each speaker has an impedance of 8 ohms or more, then you can generally connect them in parallel.

Do I need a bigger alternator for two batteries?

The alternator registers these two batteries as a single large battery and charges them the same. The batteries self-regulate the amount of current they take as they charge. This means that a single alternator is effective for multiple batteries.

What size power amplifier do I need to connect two speakers?

You could use a power amplifier of 500 watts per channel. Connect two loudspeakers in parallel on each channel. That way, each speaker will receive 250 watts (not considering the change in amplifier power at different impedances, and not considering cable losses). Note that if you parallel two speakers, their total impedance is halved.

Can I use a 1000 watt amplifier to power a speaker?

A speaker’s peak power handling is typically 4 times its continuous power handling. So the speaker can probably handle 1000 watts peak. That means you can use a 1000 watt amplifier to drive that speaker — as long as you use that power for peaks, and do not drive the speaker continuously with 1000 watts.

How many watts do I need to make my speakers louder?

For example, suppose you need 1000 watts to achieve the desired average loudness, but your speakers power handling is 250 watts continuous. You could use a power amplifier of 500 watts per channel. Connect two loudspeakers in parallel on each channel.

How long will a 500 watt amplifier run a yellowtop battery?

If you had a 500 watt amplifier and an Optima YellowTop® battery with a Ah rating (amp hours) of 75, using our formula above we can calculate a run time of 1.5 hours with the engine off (750/500 = 1.5 hours). If you plan on playing the stereo for longer than the resulting number from this equation, then you will need to add another battery.