Audio Innovations

Car Stereos, Auto Customizing, Mobile Electronics

1105 Jim's Lane, Conway, AR 72032 501-358-6545
  • Home
  • Services
    • Car Audio
    • Driver Safety Systems
    • Marine Audio
    • Motorcycle Audio
    • Radar and Laser Detector Systems
    • Remote Starters
  • About Us
  • Location
  • Customer Reviews
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
You are here: Home / ARTICLES / Is it Possible to Underpower a Speaker?

Is it Possible to Underpower a Speaker?

Underpowered Speakers

One common misconception about speakers is that underpowering them can cause damage. This fallacy is supported by minimum power ratings from several manufacturers, which adds to the confusion. Never fear, we’re here to explain why you simply can’t damage a speaker by providing it with only a little bit of power, and we’ll clarify how this myth originated.

What Damages Speakers?

Underpowered SpeakersOther than poking a dust cap or punching a hole in the cone or surround with a screwdriver, only two things will damage a speaker: too much power and too much excursion. Too much power will cause the adhesives that bond the voice coil winding to the voice coil former to fail, subsequently allowing it to unravel and get jammed in the motor. Too much excursion can cause the spider to be damaged or the voice coil former to smash into the backplate and become deformed.

Why Do Speakers Need Power?

Underpowered SpeakersIf you want to produce sound, you need to send some amount of power to your speakers. How much power you send determines how much sound is produced. More power is fine, up to the physical or thermal limits of the speaker design.

If you feed a speaker with 1 watt of pink noise, it will play pretty loud. Depending on the size and design, a pair of conventional coaxial speakers getting 1 watt of pink noise can easily produce more than 95 dB of output in a typical vehicle. From a theoretical standpoint, an additional watt of power will increase the output to 98 dB, and doubling the power again to 4 watts produces roughly 101 dB. The process continues until the speaker cones can’t move any farther or the driver fails.

Underpowered SpeakersGoing the other way, those same speakers will provide 92 dB with 0.5 watts of power, and 89 dB with 0.25 watts. With only 0.125 watts you get 86 dB, 0.0625 watts would be 83 dB and 31.25 milliwatts produces 80 db. That’s about the same noise level as a modern sedan cruising at 65 mph. Power and output levels continue to decrease at a logarithmic rate until you simply can’t hear the music. Clearly, less power won’t cause any damage to your speakers.

Underpowered Speakers
A chart showing the increase or decrease in output of a speaker rated at 95 dB efficiency relative to the amount of power supplied from an amplifier.

What About The Myth of Not Having Enough Power?

The myth about not having enough power and damaging speakers is based around what happens when you drive an amplifier into clipping. Let’s say you have a radio with a 20-watt amplifier rated at 1% distortion. You “can” get a lot more power out of that amp, but it will include a LOT of harmonic information. If you were playing a 1 kHz tone at a total output level of 30 watts, you would hear significant 2 kHz, 4 kHz, 8 kHz and 16 kHz energy being produced. This addition of high-frequency energy can strain the thermal capabilities of the tweeters in your system.

Underpowered Speakers
A graphical representation of how an amplifier behaves when driven into distortion. You can see significant harmonic content alongside the 1 kHz fundamental frequency.

If you don’t have a powerful enough amplifier to reach the volume levels you want, you can damage the speakers by feeding them too much high-frequency energy by driving the amplifier into clipping. It’s the extra power in these harmonics that damages speakers.

Choose the Right Amp for Your Speakers

If you’re considering upgrading your car stereo system, visit your local specialist mobile enhancement retailer so you can audition different speakers for your vehicle. Choose speakers with a smooth and accurate response and an amp with excellent noise and distortion specs and that can produce as much power as the speakers are rated for. This combination, when installed and configured properly, will sound amazing and last for years.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Related

Filed Under: ARTICLES, Car Audio, RESOURCE LIBRARY

About BestCarAudio.com

BestCarAudio.com is a showcase for the very best mobile electronics retailers in the world and a place to educate and inform interested consumers about existing and emerging technologies.

Recent Articles

KICKER LX1200.5

Product Spotlight: KICKER LX1200.5

July 11, 2025 

If you’ve been paying attention, then you’ll know that DSP-equipped car audio amplifiers are pretty common these days. KICKER introduced a new series of amplifiers called LX. These … [Read More...]

Compustar Pro 2WG18 LTE

Product Spotlight: Compustar Pro 2WG18 LTE

July 7, 2025 

At their heart, most remote car starters are the same. When you press a button on a wireless remote, a remote start controller integrated into the vehicle will start the engine. In … [Read More...]

A dashcam and batteries hovering over a car engine

Dashcam Battery Upgrades: Extend Parking Mode and Protect Your Vehicle

July 6, 2025 

Undoubtedly, having a dashcam in your car or truck is one of the best ways to protect yourself from false accusations. Whether you experience a hit and run or are involved in a … [Read More...]

various subwoofers and speakers

Features That Improve Subwoofer Performance

June 29, 2025 

We spend significant time pondering helpful content that will educate consumers about the options available to upgrade their car audio system. We’ve written dozens of articles … [Read More...]

Customer Reviews

Subscribe to Our Website

Enter your email address to subscribe to our website and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Location


Get Directions to Audio Innovations

Audio Innovations

1105 Jim's Lane
Conway, AR 72032
Phone: 501-358-6545

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Services

  • Car Audio
  • Driver Safety Systems
  • Marine Audio
  • Motorcycle Audio
  • Radar and Laser Detector Systems
  • Remote Starters

Store Hours

SundayClosed
Monday9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
SaturdayClosed

Copyright © 2025 Audio Innovations · Privacy Policy · Website by 1sixty8 media, inc. · Log in

 

Loading Comments...