How many watts are too much?

[Mike19]

I have a pair of Yamaha BR12M 12" floor monitors. According to the Yamaha Manual, their power capacity @ 8 ohms is:
> noise (whatever that is? pink noise?) 150 watts
> program 300 watts
> max 600 watts

I would like to buy a Yamaha powered mixer which would, among other things, drive the floor monitors. Ideally, I would like to have 300 watts output @ 8 Ohms, but the 2 Yamy mixers I'm looking at have either 190 watts (the EMX312SC) or 350 watts (the EMX512SC).

I am concerned that 190 watts is not enough to properly drive the monitors at high volume and that 350 watts may be too much.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[peterpalmieri]

350 watts will not be to much

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Seconded, 350W won't be too much.

As always, Your ears will tell if & when the speakers start to complain.

Regards
Sam

 

[walterw]

more is better than less.

as long as you're not cranking the speakers to where you hear distortion, you'll be fine.

 

[Mike19]

Thank you all for your replies.

I may end up using the Yamaha floor monitors (on pole stands) as PA speakers and driving them with a seperate 300 watt stereo amp (a Yamaha or maybe a Crown).

I would then get a pair of smaller/less powerful floor monitors and drive those with the powered mixer.

 

[Munjibunga]

When I had my EAW PA, I had 8,200 watts for the mains and subs, and another 1,600 watts for the monitors. Nobody in the band realized it until I told them, and they're all, "That's WAY too much power." "Really? You never said anything about it at the last ten gigs. You don't have to turn it all the way up, you know." Now my mains are 1,000 watts and subs 1,000 watts. I don't think I'd want to gig with anything less.

 

[Mike19]

When I had my EAW PA, I had 8,200 watts for the mains and subs, and another 1,600 watts for the monitors. Nobody in the band realized it until I told them, and they're all, "That's WAY too much power." "Really? You never said anything about it at the last ten gigs. You don't have to turn it all the way up, you know." Now my mains are 1,000 watts and subs 1,000 watts. I don't think I'd want to gig with anything less.

I agree that there is no substitute for watts.

My problem is one of money; specifically, the lack thereof.

 

[Zooberwerx]

I read somewhere that the ideal power amp rating is X 1.5 - 2 times the enclosure rating. For example: a Carvin LS1503 is rated 400 watts RMS. I power each cab with an RMX 1450 in bridged mono / 800 watts @ 8 ohm. Needless to say, this requires some restraint on the part of the operator and the judicious use of those slider and attenuator thingys. The extra power also gives me the flexibility to add speakers and/or swap-around components as our PA rig evolves.

Watts is cheap!

Riis

 

[Mike19]

I read somewhere that the ideal power amp rating is X 1.5 - 2 times the enclosure rating.
Riis

This is also true in high end home hi-fi stereo (which I've been into since 1969).

If I'm using speakers that are rated at 150 watts RMS, then I'll want to drive them with at least 200 watts but not more than 300 watts. Speakers sound thier best when they are pumping in/out near their max. You need sufficient watts to do that.