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Can I hook up a 600 watt DVD player to speakers that belong to a DVD player with lower wattage?

Only onfo I can find on old dvd player specs is: power consumption(dvd unit) = 116 W. If I hook those old speakers up to the new 600W player will is affect the sound quality?

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    The wattage is important when you are considering volume. If you turn up a 600 Watt DVD player to a very high volume on 116 Watt speakers you will blow the speakers.

    Sound quality, on the other hand, is not related to wattage. While it is normally true that high wattage speakers tend to be higher quality, that is not always true. Great speakers may not always be high wattage speakers.

    On another note, 600 Watt DVD players normally put out multiple channels. That is to say that each speaker will receive a separate signal from the DVD player. So most likely your 600 Watts are put out at 100 Watts per channel for six channels. That would cover two rear speakers, two front speakers, a center channel and a sub-woofer. That is the standard surround sound stereo system.

    The answer to your question is that there is no reason that you cannot use the old speakers with the new DVD player. If you liked the quality of the sound with the old DVD player and speakers, you will most likely like the new DVD player and old speakers just as much if not more.

    Take care,

    Troy

  • 1 decade ago

    Yes if the speakers have the same impedance as the originals or higher. I cant believe some of the things people write for answers here. No one knows what they are talking about. Impedance is Ohms on the actual speaker. Most home audio speakers play around 8 ohms give or take. For example lets say your "600" watt dvd player is able to support 8 ohm speakers to the front channel and your other speakers you plan to connect are 16, it will work. But if the impedance is lower on the new speakers then your DVD player will have to work much harder to play stable down at that lower impedance. Also, when you add a higher impedance speaker, your power to the speakers will be cut in half. So if you connect a 16 ohm 20 watt speaker to an 8 ohm output from the DVD player that puts out around 40-50 watts it will work because since you cut the ohms you also cut the power.

    Also, dont look at wattage, especially from these crappy home theater in a box systems. Im sorry to say its crappy but they make these things with the cheapest parts possible. You will be lucky to get 20-30 watts each at maximum volume to the front speakers. If the speakers you are connecting to your unit are much older, then the wattage rating will more likely be accurate on the speakers. Also one important rule is to never look at maximum wattage. Its part of marketing. Always look at RMS wattage.

    Now your sound quality. A lot of sound quality is preference past a certain point. Most likely your sound quality will be better but then again that depends if your speakers are efficient because most likely they can take a lot more power and what volume levels you listen to your music at.

  • 1 decade ago

    .

    Yes, but there is a catch.

    First of all I assume you are talking about the AUDIO power output NOT the power consumption of the DVD itself. The power rating of the appliance as a whole has no direct connection to the power rating of the speakers. So make sure you didn’t get the numbers mixed up.

    If your audio source claims that it gives out 600W of REAL power (not pmpo/rms and other perceptual numbers that they put to make the product look good) then it is ok to connect that directly to a speaker with a power rating with only 116W as long as – and this is very important – you do NOT turn the volume higher than it can handle. In this situation roughly about 1/6 of the full volume. This is just an estimation and there is always a possibility of the speakers getting damaged.

    You can tell when things get over the limit when the sound get distorted and the whole box start shaking and rattling – in which case the QUALITY of the sound is obviously bad.

    Also, make sure the speakers you are connecting are taking speaker level input and NOT line level input. If your speakers need a power source of its own then that’s a sign that it has a built in amplifier and it takes line level audio. On the other hand your audio output has to be speaker level.

    On the other hand, if you do have powered speakers and you are getting a line\headphones level output from the DVD, then the power ratings in the speaker is totally irrelevant.

    .

  • 1 decade ago

    600 Watts is the total power consumption of the home theater system. I'm assuming that it is a 5.1 dolby digital receiver. This means that you are sending 125 Watts to the front speakers, 100 Watts to the center channel and 75 watts to the rear speakers. The other 100 watts is going to the sub woofer. Look at the back of the speakers that you want to connect to the receiver and make sure they are rated for the wattage I listed above. If not, you'll blow your speakers out if you turn your system up too far.

    I always recommend that you use the speakers that come with a home theater system to avoid speaker blow-outs. They are designed to handle the maximum output of the receiver without any problems. If you think the speakers are nicer with your old system, just make sure they can handle the output of your new receiver before connecting them.

    Source(s): I am an expert in TV's, home theater systems, cameras, camcorders, appliances and vacuums.
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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    power consumption spec. is how much power the unit takes from the AC outlet. I can't imagine that a DVD player would consume much more than 20 W or so.

    Therefore, I have to guess that this unit is part of a system that includes an audio amplifier.

    What you need is the power handling spec for the speakers and compare that to the power output spec. of the unit in question.

    Without additional info, I would say you can safely use the speakers but only at moderate listening levels.

  • janski
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

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  • 1 decade ago

    Yes, but high volume for long periods will melt the voice coil. Usually higher wattage means less distortion. Just do not crank it too loud for too long.

    Source(s): Some who use to be too cheap to buy new speakers.
  • 1 decade ago

    i wouldnt it might blow the speakers.

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