My Studio size is 15 square meter What is the ideal range of Speaker wattage to use?

[Dimetre]

just wanna know if theres any difference using a higher wattage of speaker in a 15 square meter studio? Thanks!!!

[knightfly]

Higher than what?

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Higher than what?

No steve, its "higher than watt"
fitZ

[Dimetre]

Since my place is isolated and that a certain range of 80W would be so much noise in a 15sq.m. isolated room. I just wanna know if it would not hurt my ear and what speaker range should i buy ideal for a 15 sq. m. room so I would not have to buy a more expensive speaker since i could only use limited range for my studio.

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Use a smaller wattage amp. The speaker doesn't know it. Or just turn down what you have.

fitZ

[knightfly]

Dimetre, aside from my smart-ass comment (which was mostly because you didnt' give enough information for a real answer) let's start over -

There is a lot more to speaker choice than the size of the room, which you give as 15 square meters - to start with, all acoustic spaces are THREE dimensional, not two. If your ceiling is only two meters high, that's one volume of air - if, however, your ceilings are 4 meters high, that's TWICE the volume of air. That's one variable to consider.

Secondly, you can't measure a speaker's sound level by only looking at the wattage they require (or the wattage they can tolerate before melting) - The defining term for the actual amount of sound pressure a speaker can put out also involves a thing called "sensitivity" - This is rated in decibels @ 1 watt input @ 1 meter distance, and is normally measured in an anechoic chamber (simulating the effect of having the speaker outside, with none of the sound coming back once it passes the test microphone)

Some speakers are so damped by the attempt at getting linear response that they have a considerably lower "sensitivity" than other speakers, which may have been designed more for maximum sound level per watt applied.

For example, I had some "hifi" speakers that were rated at only 85 dB/1 watt/1 meter, and still have a set of PA speakers that are rated at 103 dB/1 watt/1 meter. Both speakers are 8 ohm impedance, yet when hooked up to the same amplifier, if I connected the 85 dB speakers to the amp and turned it down til I just stopped being able to hear it, then changed to the 103 dB speakers, the sound was at a solid listening level.

If you are using active speakers, and they are too loud, you simply reduce the level of signal you're sending to them - that's what output faders/volume controls are for.

If you're using passive speakers with separate amplifiers, again just turn down the volume til it's where you want it.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to buy too small an amplifier for their speakers, thinking they are "saving the speakers" - this actually INCREASES the chance of speaker damage, because a smaller amp has to work harder to put out the same volume. IF this is taken too far, the amplifier "clips", or distorts, and whenever the output is clipped it's putting out a constant DC level of current into the speaker. This can overheat the voice coil of the speaker, which isn't designed to tolerate DC. What the speaker wants to see is AC, within the audio passband. Anything else can cause damage under high enough power conditions.

Bottom line: In order to correctly answer your question, we would need to know what speakers you actually have (or are considering), what your ceiling height is, what sound pressure level you intend to listen at (85 dB "C" weighted is typical for SANE people) , what your budget is (if you've not already bought the speakers) , what type of music you're into (just another bit of info, some types of music might require more headroom)

So, if you can fill in the rest of the information we'll try to help figure this out with you... Steve

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

I thought you were saying 80 watt speakers were too loud for your environment and room. I don't care what size or wattage speakers you have, which wattage has nothing to do with your volume if it is TOO LOUD its too loud, the only way to reduce the volume is turn it down, or use a smaller wattage amp. IF, on the other hand, you are asking if there is a smaller wattage speaker that will put out the volume you require, which sounds like you want some level lower than what a set of 80watt speakers are capable of(OUCH) then you must tell us what level you monitor at. Its kind of like saying, I have a Chevy truck with a 350 horse power engine, but I want to drive slower, so is there an engine capable of letting me drive slow. HUH? Hence the reply. The question is not telling us what you want to know. At least me. As far as your question is concerned, Steve pretty much sums it up. There are many speakers that will put out less volume, but why buy new speakers to do less. Just turn it down. Unless I'm missing something here, but I don't know what it would be

fitZ

[frederic]

I always "overdo" the sizing of the amplifiers simply because more powerful amps don't have to work that hard to produce a lower output, so as Steve said you don't get any clipping.

High frequencies don't need a whole lot of power to be loud, because the speaker cones (usually domes) in tweeters are small and there isn't a lot of mass to move.

Woofers are different because the voice coils and speaker cones actually have some serious mass to them, which is what helps them move at lower frequencies as well as "move air".

Venture into a techno, house, dance type nightclub and often you can feel your internal organs sloshing with the beat. This is because the club has 1000W amps feeding their 18" subs

In a recording studio, loud is not the most important charactoristic of your monitoring system, but rather accuracy... meaning the speakers are faithfully reproducing what you've recorded as exactly as they can.

A hard limiter is a good tool, because its silent and "uninvolved" until something goes wrong, then it vastly compresses the signal to the amp to avoid clipping and overdriving it. Also, fuse your monitors. The monitors I use have a seperate fuse for each driver, at different ratings for each driver. Just in case the crossovers decide to short.

And Rick, there is nothing wrong with a 350 for casual driving - I'm just about the bolt the heads on a 502cid stroker ford engine for my truck. Then, I'll be welding to the exhaust manifolds so I can attach two turbos. The truck is my daily driver and I mostly drive this crew cab unloaded, so this is gross overkill. But the one day when I attach the trailer or load up the bed with patio bricks, its nice to hit a hill and not notice it, other than the coffee sloshes to the backside of the cup

heh-heh

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

I just wanna know if would not hurt my ear and what speaker range should i buy ideal for a 15 sq. m. room so I would not have to buy a more expensive

OK, I give, what the hell is he asking. To me, it sounds as if his existing 80 watt speaker is too loud for the size of his room and he don't want to buy another set of speakers just to turn the volume down. Now what the fuck is wrong with this scenario. DUH! You guys seem to be reading something that is either not there are I'm fucking blind.

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

I just wanna know if would not hurt my ear and what speaker range should i buy ideal for a 15 sq. m. room so I would not have to buy a more expensive

OK, I give, what the hell is he asking. To me, it sounds as if his existing 80 watt speaker is too loud for the size of his room and he don't want to buy another set of speakers just to turn the volume down. Now what the fuck is wrong with this scenario. DUH! You guys seem to be reading something that is either not there are I'm fucking blind. All I've tried to do here is tell him common sense. If its TOO LOUD, what part of "TURN IT DOWN" is wrong here? Man, this is unfucking believeable. It sounds as if someone doesn't understand the meaning of "volume control".

And frederic, you seemed to miss my point here. I don't care if someone wants to drive a vehicle with 1500 hp at 10mph, IF they ask me if another engine will allow them to drive SLOWER, well shit, I'll certainly be the last one to tell them NO. Of course its OK to drive slower with the existing engine. WHAT I'm trying to tell him, is WHY buy another engine to drive slower, when all you have to do is take your damn foot off the gas pedal. What the fuck gives here guys?

I think there is a clarification of the question needed here or I'm moving on.....

fitZ

[knightfly]

Rick, two things - first, you're getting too excited over this to stay objective, and second, we may be dealing with a slight language barrier. Oh, and third (you know how I always lie about "how many things" we're talking about :=) have you noticed that dimetre has been the only one not answering here? Could be we've scared him off...

I'm wondering if the real question here is, "how little money can I spend and still have enough sound to get enough volume in my room, without spending money I don't HAVE to spend?"

Dimetre, is that what you are really asking? It's much easier to answer your question when we actually know what the question is... Steve

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Hello Steve, first off, I thought I was very objective considering my interpretation of the question. Second, the language barrier may be the problem, as well as meters. Third, I have no reason to get excited, on the contrary, I don't really care. I was just trying to simplify an answer to a somewhat unclear question. What I do get, is baffled by answers to questions that seem to 180 degrees out of phase with my own. That tells me I'm either not understanding the question, or I've totally missed something. Hence my curiosity. Fourth, if we/me scared him off by answering before he had a chance to clarify further, I guess the correct answer to his question wasn't that important to him.

So Dimetre, ignor my replys. Steve and Frederic have detailed the correct foundations for speaker/amp/volume/money/size/square meters/ electronic and horse power(hehehe) relationships. Mine were only aimed at common sense, which at this point, seem out of context. Ambiguity of interpretation is my problem. If you could be a little more explicit with your question, you will get an explicit answer. But I think you already have.

Have a great day guys.

Cheers

[knightfly]

"And the question is... " Oh, wait, we're still trying to figure that part out, I guess answers are a little premature at this point... :=)

Hey, Rick, are ya dryin' out just a teensy bit? We lost the tops/branches out of about a dozen trees, including 4-5 carefully planted paper birch - freakin' ice storms SUCK. Now I've got a day or two's chainsaw work and more crap to haul down to the burn pile - I'm freakin' ecstatic... Steve

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

I'm freakin' ecstatic.

Hahahahahah......HA! I bet you are ya ole fart....As far as dryin out? This place NEVER drys out!! I don't know what it is about the rain here, but it gits into EVERYTHING. Then it mildews..and then the whole area stinks Oh well, beats facing 107 in Sac this summer. If summer ever comes here. I'll get used to it eventually, cause I ain't EVER movin again.(well, there will be ONE more time! ) This last one still isn't done. Man, my studio is still piled with boxes, which I don't even want to open till I get this room in some simulance of a "studio", but my plan is almost done. At least untill YOU can tear it apart and point me in the right directions. I'll post the basics tonight. WITH my usual list of questions, ok?


Steve, hope my manner isn't steppin on toes here. I never mean to do that. Well, time to finish an "ebay honey do" fixit project Hope your hours get better Steve, and also hope the ice storms are over for the year. I know you got one hell of a job ahead of you. One more thing to take up precious "studio time" huh?. Ha! I already hauled enough stuff this year to last a lifetime. You should of seen this place when I moved in Spent over $1k at the dump. ARRGGGGGGGRRRRRR!! (2) 24' uhaul truck loads plus at least 15 in my pickup. Never seen so much junk. Ok, I'm done ramblin. Sorry Dimetre. I forget where I am sometimes. Later.

fitZ

[knightfly]

"If summer ever comes here" -

Hey, I lived over there ( a bit north of you) for the first 15 years of my life - on the years when summer happened on a Sunday, we would have a picnic...