help noob, chosing speakers and cable?

Hi!

I need to select speakers (2 pairs), nothing fancy, but I'd like to put my
OLD Reciever to the best possible use. My Amp is a old Technics SA-200K (35W
RMS/Channel 8 ohms, 2 separate stereo pairs) (speccs found at:
http://www.vintagetechnics.com/receivers.htm).
I'd like to learn suggested minimum and maximum wattage speakers to use
(gonna have two pairs) and what effect to low or high wattage speakers might
have on the amp, on the sound and on the speakers.
Also, speaker cables, what gauge to get (millimeters please) and what
difference the different gauges have on things.

Links to resources explaining all this would also be apreciated!


TIA
Best Wishes
Thomas

"Thomas Andersson" wrote in message
...
Hi!

I need to select speakers (2 pairs), nothing fancy, but I'd like to put my
OLD Reciever to the best possible use. My Amp is a old Technics SA-200K
(35W
RMS/Channel 8 ohms, 2 separate stereo pairs) (speccs found at:
http://www.vintagetechnics.com/receivers.htm).
I'd like to learn suggested minimum and maximum wattage speakers to use
(gonna have two pairs) and what effect to low or high wattage speakers
might
have on the amp, on the sound and on the speakers.
Also, speaker cables, what gauge to get (millimeters please) and what
difference the different gauges have on things.

Links to resources explaining all this would also be apreciated!

Wattage ratings for speakers just tells you what they'll stand. You'll
probably be hard pressed to find any half decent hifi speakers with a rating
of less than 80W. I currently have a 40W amp and I believe the speakers are
rated at 100W. Sensitivity has an effect on the sound level you get out, and
impedence AFAIK has an effect on the amp, but my electronics isn't up to
much . Speaker cables are much of a muchness IMO, I've never noticed any
difference. Just pick up some fairly cheap stuff. £1 a meter should be
plenty to get you some decent cable.

"Thomas Andersson" wrote in message
...
Hi!

I need to select speakers (2 pairs), nothing fancy, but I'd like to put my
OLD Reciever to the best possible use. My Amp is a old Technics SA-200K
(35W
RMS/Channel 8 ohms, 2 separate stereo pairs) (speccs found at:
http://www.vintagetechnics.com/receivers.htm).
I'd like to learn suggested minimum and maximum wattage speakers to use
(gonna have two pairs) and what effect to low or high wattage speakers
might
have on the amp, on the sound and on the speakers.
Also, speaker cables, what gauge to get (millimeters please) and what
difference the different gauges have on things.

Links to resources explaining all this would also be apreciated!

Wattage ratings for speakers just tells you what they'll stand. You'll
probably be hard pressed to find any half decent hifi speakers with a rating
of less than 80W. I currently have a 40W amp and I believe the speakers are
rated at 100W. Sensitivity has an effect on the sound level you get out, and
impedence AFAIK has an effect on the amp, but my electronics isn't up to
much . Speaker cables are much of a muchness IMO, I've never noticed any
difference. Just pick up some fairly cheap stuff. £1 a meter should be
plenty to get you some decent cable.

Doki wrote:

Wattage ratings for speakers just tells you what they'll stand. You'll
probably be hard pressed to find any half decent hifi speakers with a
rating of less than 80W. I currently have a 40W amp and I believe the
speakers are rated at 100W. Sensitivity has an effect on the sound

I'm looking at 2 different pairs, they don't give RMS but rather short/long
term effect, the cheaper is 2 way bass reflex 200W short/100W long, the
other pair is 3 way bass reflex, 300W short 150W long. (I was thinking one
pair of each, the bigger oines for the living room and the smaller ones for
the computer/sleeping room). You think my oldie reciever could handle that.
As I won't be able to push them by far, might I not get the best sound out
of them?

level you get out, and impedence AFAIK has an effect on the amp, but
my electronics isn't up to much . Speaker cables are much of a

From what someone said in this group the Reciever I ahve is pretty
flexible/good when it comes to the impedance

muchness IMO, I've never noticed any difference. Just pick up some
fairly cheap stuff. £1 a meter should be plenty to get you some
decent cable.

Wasn't planning on going fancy on the cable, just wondered about the
different thicknesses, if something was better suited for the situation.

Thanks!
Thomas

Doki wrote:

Wattage ratings for speakers just tells you what they'll stand. You'll
probably be hard pressed to find any half decent hifi speakers with a
rating of less than 80W. I currently have a 40W amp and I believe the
speakers are rated at 100W. Sensitivity has an effect on the sound

I'm looking at 2 different pairs, they don't give RMS but rather short/long
term effect, the cheaper is 2 way bass reflex 200W short/100W long, the
other pair is 3 way bass reflex, 300W short 150W long. (I was thinking one
pair of each, the bigger oines for the living room and the smaller ones for
the computer/sleeping room). You think my oldie reciever could handle that.
As I won't be able to push them by far, might I not get the best sound out
of them?

level you get out, and impedence AFAIK has an effect on the amp, but
my electronics isn't up to much . Speaker cables are much of a

From what someone said in this group the Reciever I ahve is pretty
flexible/good when it comes to the impedance

muchness IMO, I've never noticed any difference. Just pick up some
fairly cheap stuff. £1 a meter should be plenty to get you some
decent cable.

Wasn't planning on going fancy on the cable, just wondered about the
different thicknesses, if something was better suited for the situation.

Thanks!
Thomas

Thomas Andersson wrote:

I need to select speakers (2 pairs), nothing fancy, but I'd like to
put my OLD Reciever to the best possible use. My Amp is a old
Technics SA-200K (35W RMS/Channel 8 ohms, 2 separate stereo pairs)
I'd like to learn suggested minimum and maximum wattage speakers to
use (gonna have two pairs) and what effect to low or high wattage
speakers might have on the amp, on the sound and on the speakers.
Also, speaker cables, what gauge to get (millimeters please) and what
difference the different gauges have on things.

Gotta correct myself, it's 25W RMS 8ohm, not 35W :/

Best Wishes
Thomas

Thomas Andersson wrote:

I need to select speakers (2 pairs), nothing fancy, but I'd like to
put my OLD Reciever to the best possible use. My Amp is a old
Technics SA-200K (35W RMS/Channel 8 ohms, 2 separate stereo pairs)
I'd like to learn suggested minimum and maximum wattage speakers to
use (gonna have two pairs) and what effect to low or high wattage
speakers might have on the amp, on the sound and on the speakers.
Also, speaker cables, what gauge to get (millimeters please) and what
difference the different gauges have on things.

Gotta correct myself, it's 25W RMS 8ohm, not 35W :/

Best Wishes
Thomas

In article , Thomas Andersson
wrote:

I'm looking at 2 different pairs, they don't give RMS but rather
short/long term effect, the cheaper is 2 way bass reflex 200W short/100W
long, the other pair is 3 way bass reflex, 300W short 150W long. (I was
thinking one pair of each, the bigger oines for the living room and the
smaller ones for the computer/sleeping room). You think my oldie
reciever could handle that. As I won't be able to push them by far,
might I not get the best sound out of them?

To see what sound levels you might get, use the quoted 'sensitivity' rating
for the speakers and combine this with the power for your amp. TBH Unless
you want very high power levels, or have a very large/small room, I doubt
this will matter much with most moderate-price speakers, though.

level you get out, and impedence AFAIK has an effect on the amp, but
my electronics isn't up to much . Speaker cables are much of a

From what someone said in this group the Reciever I ahve is pretty
flexible/good when it comes to the impedance

How long are the runs of cable that you will be using? The longer the runs,
the more desirable it would be to have a low series resistance and
inductance. If the runs are only a couple of meters this probably won't
matter much.

Have a look at the cables offerred by Maplin on their website. They have a
reasonable variety of speaker cables. They quote the strand diameters, etc,
so you can see how much copper you're getting for your money. :-)

I've used various of the types they supply, and they seem fine to me. Worth
going for the fatter, more expensive types, if you have long cable runs
and/or speakers than dip to a low impedance. Otherwise, the thinner ones
are likely to be fine in my experience.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

In article , Thomas Andersson
wrote:

I'm looking at 2 different pairs, they don't give RMS but rather
short/long term effect, the cheaper is 2 way bass reflex 200W short/100W
long, the other pair is 3 way bass reflex, 300W short 150W long. (I was
thinking one pair of each, the bigger oines for the living room and the
smaller ones for the computer/sleeping room). You think my oldie
reciever could handle that. As I won't be able to push them by far,
might I not get the best sound out of them?

To see what sound levels you might get, use the quoted 'sensitivity' rating
for the speakers and combine this with the power for your amp. TBH Unless
you want very high power levels, or have a very large/small room, I doubt
this will matter much with most moderate-price speakers, though.

level you get out, and impedence AFAIK has an effect on the amp, but
my electronics isn't up to much . Speaker cables are much of a

From what someone said in this group the Reciever I ahve is pretty
flexible/good when it comes to the impedance

How long are the runs of cable that you will be using? The longer the runs,
the more desirable it would be to have a low series resistance and
inductance. If the runs are only a couple of meters this probably won't
matter much.

Have a look at the cables offerred by Maplin on their website. They have a
reasonable variety of speaker cables. They quote the strand diameters, etc,
so you can see how much copper you're getting for your money. :-)

I've used various of the types they supply, and they seem fine to me. Worth
going for the fatter, more expensive types, if you have long cable runs
and/or speakers than dip to a low impedance. Otherwise, the thinner ones
are likely to be fine in my experience.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

"Thomas Andersson" wrote in message
...
Hi!

I need to select speakers (2 pairs), nothing fancy, but I'd like to put my
OLD Reciever to the best possible use. My Amp is a old Technics SA-200K
(35W
RMS/Channel 8 ohms, 2 separate stereo pairs) (speccs found at:
http://www.vintagetechnics.com/receivers.htm).
I'd like to learn suggested minimum and maximum wattage speakers to use
(gonna have two pairs) and what effect to low or high wattage speakers
might
have on the amp, on the sound and on the speakers.
Also, speaker cables, what gauge to get (millimeters please) and what
difference the different gauges have on things.

Wattage on speakers is not very significant - it simply tells you the
maximum power they will handle - there is no correlation between the wattage
of the speaker and hold loud they will sound with a given amplifier. You
need to make sure that the speakers are rated (continuous RMS) higher than
the output of the amp, and that is all you need.

The figure that tells you how loud a speaker will sound is the sensitivity -
usually given in dB/W. Typically this will be in the range 80-90 dB/W for
conventional speakers (though much higher figures are possible). 25W is
comparatively low by modern standards so you should be cautious about
anything less than mid 80's (say 85 plus). NB sensitivity is measured on a
log scale, so 82 isn't a little less than 85, it is half as sensitive.

However speaker matching is a complex business so I would recommend ensuring
that you have to opportunity to hear the speakers driven by your amp in your
system while you still have the chance to change your mind.

Gauge of speaker cable will not be an issue, it will only be carrying a
couple of amps so any cable rated over 2-3 amps will do fine, that equates
to about 0.5mm2. For longer runs you may benefit from thicker cable.