I cannot tell you the number of times I have heard a conversation about amplifier power go like this: “I hear that B&W speakers need at least 400W,” or, “I heard that Paradigm speakers are very power-hungry.”

The fact is, there IS a way to figure out how much power your speakers will need and how to pair an amplifier with the speakers you already own or are looking to purchase.

To determine the amplifier power, you will need the following items:

Speaker sensitivity specification (typically dB SPL /1W /1m)

Number of speakers you are using

Distance from the speaker(s)

How loud do you want your music to sound, for general reference

--- 70-80dB for speech only

--- 80-95dB for light music

--- 95-110dB for heavy music

Rules to Remember

Every time you double power or double the number of speakers, you increase the sound pressure level (SPL) by 3dB. Every time you double the distance from the speaker, you decrease SPL by 6dB. A speaker specification of 95 dB SPL/1W/1m means that at 1W of power, the speaker will deliver 95 dB SPL when you are located 1 meter away from the speaker.

Power Calculation Example

Let's use the B&W 703 S2 speaker, which has a specification of 89dB spl /1W/1m.

Most people will be using two speakers. This means double the power so it effectively makes the speaker specification 92dB SPL /1W/1m, or 3dB higher, as per rule #1.

Now let's look at how rule #2 works. Every time you double the distance from the speaker, SPL decreases by 6dB. The table below shows how our 92dB from earlier decreases with distance.

Let's say we will be sitting 12 feet away from the speakers. We can see how power will affect SPL, using the table below.

My personal opinion is that 100dB SPL should be more than plenty. Consider for example that movie theaters aim for an average of 85dB SPL (1). To allow for some headroom add 3dB.

With this, you can see that an amplifier needs to be able to provide somewhere around 250W per channel.

Summary

Don’t just listen to somebody about how much power you need; figure it out properly.

Orchard Audio’s high-performance BOSC GaN amplifiers produce a peak power of 300W and should satisfy most people.

(1) https://www.ecoustics.com/articles/ideal-spl-home-theater/