# Drivers Power Handling capability?



## shops2k (Jan 31, 2009)

Is there any way to increase a speakers power handling capabilities safely and without affecting it's sound qualities. Example.. Tang bands W3-881SJ mid/full range rated at 15-30Watts. Other than attenuating with an L pad.:scratch:


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## ISLAND1000 (May 2, 2007)

You can create/use a high pass filter to minimize the amount of low frequency energy that is allowed to pass to the voice coil of the driver.


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## shops2k (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanx for the reply Phil. I was planning on crossing this speaker at 600hz and 5000hz to be utilized as a midrange. I was wondering if there was another way to make it less efficient. Mark:scratchhead:


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## ISLAND1000 (May 2, 2007)

The current carrying capability of the voice coil is limited by the gauge of the voice coil wire/conductor. The voltage is limited by the dielectric/insulating applied to the voice coil wire. There is no practical way to change that. 
Low wattage speakers IE: 15 watts, can be doubled up for more volume and/or watts capacity or even quadrupled such as in a line array. Some guys are doing that.


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## Pinhead-227 (Dec 24, 2008)

A while back I was browsing the internet and found a website where someone home-built a huge heatsink for the back of the driver. IIRC they custom-machined an aluminum insert that fit inside the pole piece. This was then attached to a huge aluminum or copper disc that helped to dissipate the heat much more efficiently. It was used on subwoofers, though, that had a vented pole piece; I donn't know how you could make the idea work on a non-vented driver. I'll see if I can find the link.

EDIT: *HERE* you go.

The heatsink will increase the RMS power handling but won't help with peak, excursion-limited power handling.


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## ISLAND1000 (May 2, 2007)

Looking at the "Heat Sink' apparatus, I question whether or not the device actually makes a difference in the cooling of the driver motor. Obstructing the free flow of air within the driver vent and the possibility of creating chuffing or whistling noises through the device's port holes has me raising my eyebrows.
The TB speaker crossed over at 600hz used as a midrange in a three way would seem to be an optimum use for that speaker. I'm guessing in that application the 3 way would be rated for 150 watts or more.
I don't know what making it less efficient would accomplish . . . . it's sensitivity is already low @ 88.6db 1W1M
Looking at the Frequency response plot I'd use the speaker as a simple computer speaker. It's best usable range 100hz to 10,000hz would make it excellent for voice intelligebility. Or a second thought would be to use (4) in a box for a middle speaker in a 5.1 surround.
So here's the final analysis:
it has three limitations

1) low watt rating 15
2) low sensitivity 88.6db 1W1M
3) teansy XMAX of .5mm


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## shops2k (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks for the info guys. I don't think the heat sink option is viable for this application. I think I'll stick to keeping it as a midrange only for my purpose. It is being wired in to an L pad as is the tweeter so I can fine tune the sound.I may upgrade it at a later date if it causes any problems.onder:


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## looneybomber (Sep 20, 2006)

shops2k said:


> It is being wired in to an L pad as is the tweeter so I can fine tune the sound.I may upgrade it at a later date if it causes any problems.onder:


You know that doesn't do anything for the power handling of the speaker, but instead wastes power as heat. You can fudge a driver's power handling ability by limiting it's bandwidth. It doesn't change it's thermal handling capabilities, it just receives a decreased percentage of the total input power. That would mean either raising the low XO point or lowering the high XO point, or both.


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## WmAx (Jan 26, 2008)

You would be surprised how much power some low power rated driver can actually take with music signals if you band limit it to prevent substantial excursion. In many cases, I have tested drivers that were rated at 40-50 watts at 200 plus actual watts music program(at the clipping point of 200 plus watt amp) with no damage 10-15 minutes minimum. So, really, considering that you only really need to have this ability on transients that are momentary, these example drivers can easily be used at much higher levels for music program than the rated power would suggest. But, you need to buy and test a sample unit under the intended conditions before committing it to a design. That's what I do, and then scrap the 'abused' driver, as after my extreme tests, it's not something you would want to trust in the long term.

-Chris


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## Ricci (May 23, 2007)

WmAx said:


> You would be surprised how much power some low power rated driver can actually take with music signals if you band limit it to prevent substantial excursion. In many cases, I have tested drivers that were rated at 40-50 watts at 200 plus actual watts music program(at the clipping point of 200 plus watt amp) with no damage 10-15 minutes minimum. So, really, considering that you only really need to have this ability on transients that are momentary, these example drivers can easily be used at much higher levels for music program than the rated power would suggest. But, you need to buy and test a sample unit under the intended conditions before committing it to a design. That's what I do, and then scrap the 'abused' driver, as after my extreme tests, it's not something you would want to trust in the long term.
> 
> -Chris


+1. 

Drivers are much more likely to fail mechanically than thermally frying the vc's IME. It can be done of course, but as Chris mentioned many times a driver will handle much more than even the peak rating with typical program material and without damage, if the right range of freq's is specified for it.


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## 1Michael (Nov 2, 2006)

Yes on the tweeter you can double the value of the resistor, use two of them, wire in parallel and it will handle more power. However You Will Blow Up The Tweeter Doing This so don't do that...:R


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