Should I get a more powerful speaker amp for my floor standing speakers?

[yob_deeps_ydeeps]

Hi y'all, medium time lurker, first time poster.

I just picked up a pair of JBL Northridge E80 floor standing speakers for cheap on OfferUp. I already have a Wiim Amp hooked up to some passive bookshelf speakers (which I plan to move from the TV into my bedroom) but after doing some research I learned that the Wiim Amp, which outputs 60W per channel @ 8 ohms, will likely not be powerful enough to pair with the new speakers.

My understanding is that I should at a minimum get a speaker amp that outputs the RMS rating of the speakers that I am getting, and getting an amp that lacks the requisite power will be more likely to damage the speakers. In other words, 60W < 100W, which is bad. Additionally, more is usually better, up to about double the RMS rating of the speaker.

According to the user manual the E80s have a continuous RMS rating of 100W, and a max rating of 400W. Therefore, my understanding is that I should get a speaker amp which outputs between 100W and 200W @ 8 ohms and that getting an amp closer to 200W would have some additional sonic benefits due to the extra headroom.

Because I already have a Wiim amp, which I really like, I wanted to stay within the Wiim ecosystem. I saw that the new Wiim Amp Ultra came out this month, and I was planning on getting that. However, according to their website, it outputs 100W per channel @ 8 ohms, and most people seem to suggest getting an amp thats outputs at least a bit more than the RMS rating (i.e. ~120-150W per channel @ 8 ohms) for some extra headroom. I have been cycling between three plans:

1. Buy the Wiim Amp Ultra. Hook it up to the speakers. Call it a day.
2. Buy the Wiim Ultra or one of Wiim's other streamers, hook that up to another budget speaker amp (Topping PA 7? Douk Audio A5? One of 500 seemingly identical SMSL amps?). I do actually like to change the volume level from my phone on the Wiim app, so I was wondering if this would be possible with an external amp? I would also prefer not to exceed the $530 that the Wiim Amp Ultra costs.
3. Buy a powered subwoofer and the Wiim Amp Ultra. My understanding is that a powered subwoofer would reduce some of the power draw of the speakers and give the amp some extra headroom. I just don't want to piss off my downstairs neighbors, and its an extra ~$300 I have to spend.

I am pretty much a novice when it comes to this stuff, so I would appreciate any input. Thanks so much!

 

[staticV3]

My understanding is that I should at a minimum get a speaker amp that outputs the RMS rating of the speakers that I am getting

You should get a speaker Amp that can drive your speakers to your desired playback levels without distortion or clipping.

That's it. No need to match any numbers, exceed the speaker's power rating, etc.

As long as the Amp can reach your desired playback levels without audibly distorting, you're not missing out.

At that point, buying a more powerful Amp but running it lower won't achieve anything. The resulting sound will be identical.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

My understanding is that I should at a minimum get a speaker amp that outputs the RMS rating of the speakers that I am getting

There is simply no engineering rule that claims power amplifier must match or exceed the speakers' rated power. For example, if the speakers are efficient enough, you might find a 20W amplifier with sufficient gain goes as loud as you can stand even if you have speakers rated at 250W

Similarly, even if you have speakers that are rated at 200W, a 2,000W amplifier is perfectly fine as long you don't turn it up so high it melts the speaker coils!

 

[yob_deeps_ydeeps]

Thanks fellas. Will test and listen for what happens.

 

[JeremyFife]

Sensible approach: just try your WiiM.
Worth adding that your speakers are pretty efficient - 91 dB - so unless you are filling a large space or partying very hard it'll probably be fine.

 

[TheKoC]

A large floorstanding speaker will often be more efficient than a bookshelf speaker, so if the Wiim can drive your existing bookshelfs loud enough you should not have a problem.

 

[Holmz]

Hi y'all, medium time lurker, first time poster.

I just picked up a pair of JBL Northridge E80 floor standing speakers for cheap on OfferUp. I already have a Wiim Amp hooked up to some passive bookshelf speakers (which I plan to move from the TV into my bedroom) but after doing some research I learned that the Wiim Amp, which outputs 60W per channel @ 8 ohms, will likely not be powerful enough to pair with the new speakers.

My understanding is that I should at a minimum get a speaker amp that outputs the RMS rating of the speakers that I am getting, and getting an amp that lacks the requisite power will be more likely to damage the speakers. In other words, 60W < 100W, which is bad. Additionally, more is usually better, up to about double the RMS rating of the speaker.

According to the user manual the E80s have a continuous RMS rating of 100W, and a max rating of 400W. Therefore, my understanding is that I should get a speaker amp which outputs between 100W and 200W @ 8 ohms and that getting an amp closer to 200W would have some additional sonic benefits due to the extra headroom.

Because I already have a Wiim amp, which I really like, I wanted to stay within the Wiim ecosystem. I saw that the new Wiim Amp Ultra came out this month, and I was planning on getting that. However, according to their website, it outputs 100W per channel @ 8 ohms, and most people seem to suggest getting an amp thats outputs at least a bit more than the RMS rating (i.e. ~120-150W per channel @ 8 ohms) for some extra headroom. I have been cycling between three plans:

1. Buy the Wiim Amp Ultra. Hook it up to the speakers. Call it a day.
2. Buy the Wiim Ultra or one of Wiim's other streamers, hook that up to another budget speaker amp (Topping PA 7? Douk Audio A5? One of 500 seemingly identical SMSL amps?). I do actually like to change the volume level from my phone on the Wiim app, so I was wondering if this would be possible with an external amp? I would also prefer not to exceed the $530 that the Wiim Amp Ultra costs.
3. Buy a powered subwoofer and the Wiim Amp Ultra. My understanding is that a powered subwoofer would reduce some of the power draw of the speakers and give the amp some extra headroom. I just don't want to piss off my downstairs neighbors, and its an extra ~$300 I have to spend.

I am pretty much a novice when it comes to this stuff, so I would appreciate any input. Thanks so much!

Ok how does it sound at the moment?
What seems like it could/should be better?
Is there anything to fix other than some FOMO?

 

[Oddball]

Hi y'all, medium time lurker, first time poster.

I just picked up a pair of JBL Northridge E80 floor standing speakers for cheap on OfferUp. I already have a Wiim Amp hooked up to some passive bookshelf speakers (which I plan to move from the TV into my bedroom) but after doing some research I learned that the Wiim Amp, which outputs 60W per channel @ 8 ohms, will likely not be powerful enough to pair with the new speakers.

My understanding is that I should at a minimum get a speaker amp that outputs the RMS rating of the speakers that I am getting, and getting an amp that lacks the requisite power will be more likely to damage the speakers. In other words, 60W < 100W, which is bad. Additionally, more is usually better, up to about double the RMS rating of the speaker.

According to the user manual the E80s have a continuous RMS rating of 100W, and a max rating of 400W. Therefore, my understanding is that I should get a speaker amp which outputs between 100W and 200W @ 8 ohms and that getting an amp closer to 200W would have some additional sonic benefits due to the extra headroom.

Because I already have a Wiim amp, which I really like, I wanted to stay within the Wiim ecosystem. I saw that the new Wiim Amp Ultra came out this month, and I was planning on getting that. However, according to their website, it outputs 100W per channel @ 8 ohms, and most people seem to suggest getting an amp thats outputs at least a bit more than the RMS rating (i.e. ~120-150W per channel @ 8 ohms) for some extra headroom. I have been cycling between three plans:

1. Buy the Wiim Amp Ultra. Hook it up to the speakers. Call it a day.
2. Buy the Wiim Ultra or one of Wiim's other streamers, hook that up to another budget speaker amp (Topping PA 7? Douk Audio A5? One of 500 seemingly identical SMSL amps?). I do actually like to change the volume level from my phone on the Wiim app, so I was wondering if this would be possible with an external amp? I would also prefer not to exceed the $530 that the Wiim Amp Ultra costs.
3. Buy a powered subwoofer and the Wiim Amp Ultra. My understanding is that a powered subwoofer would reduce some of the power draw of the speakers and give the amp some extra headroom. I just don't want to piss off my downstairs neighbors, and its an extra ~$300 I have to spend.

I am pretty much a novice when it comes to this stuff, so I would appreciate any input. Thanks so much!

Get a sub for sure. I would not really worry about the neighbours too much as long as you observe quite hours and common curtesy. Living in flats has its own advantages and disadvantages.

You need bigger amp if you hear distortion. Distortion is really easy to hear, even if you have not heard it before, you will hear that something is wrong. That does not really happen often though. Headroom, on the other hand, you can't hear, but enables you to crank up your system to the max if you want to - which seems you don't given the neighbours situation.