Understanding Wattage????

[brttlt]

I'm fairly new into building my HT piece by piece so I've got a question. If I'm buying a new receiver, between 90-125/watts per channel, is there any point in buying front speakers that hold 250 watts? I can save by $180 by dropping down to the Axiom M50ti's that have a 200 watt max!
What really is that extra wattage going to get me if the receiver only goes to 125?

[RedBaronF2001]

Originally Posted by brttlt

I'm fairly new into building my HT piece by piece so I've got a question. If I'm buying a new receiver, between 90-125/watts per channel, is there any point in buying front speakers that hold 250 watts? I can save by $180 by dropping down to the Axiom M50ti's that have a 200 watt max!
What really is that extra wattage going to get me if the receiver only goes to 125?

The most important thing for you is to find out how efficient those Axioms are. Speakers are often rated at say 90db @ 1 watt input - this means that they can produce 90db with only 1 watt of input.

It is fine to buy an amp/receiver that has a rated output lower than that of the speaker's maximum input.

[Chromy]

And now to change the topic completely

Is there any reason that you are looking at tower speakers in particular? IMHO unless you do a lot serious 2 ch music listening, the additional bass that you'll get from a tower speaker will be wasted in most home theater environments. In a multichannel system, your main speakers will be crossed over somewhere around 80 hz, because 99% of the time your subwoofer will be better able to handle the lower frequencies. Saving your receiver from having to struggle to push bass out to towers also will allow your entire system to play louder and cleaner.

I have towers currently at the front of my home theater system, and not a day goes by that I wish I didn't spend that extra money on either better bookshelves, or invest it somewhere else in the system.

Chromy

[snipsnapsappy]

The Max power for the speakers is just that, the max power recommended from a reciever. If your reciever/amp puts out power in between the speakers power specifications, you will be fine. Some people own amps that have 400 watts per channel, that is why some speakers, (such as all of Axioms top of the line Epic 80 system) go all the way up to 400 watts of power. I own the VP150, QS8 and M22's, but my reciever is only 90 watts per channel.

Brttlt, the people at Axiom are very friendly and knowlegable, if you have questions about thier speakers or what amps to buy for their speakers, give them a call or an email. Trust me, they know more than anyone around this forum and beyond about their own speakers as well as other brands of speakers. They are also very humble and accomodating. Give them a call, you will likely be very impressed by their customer service, it is better than any company I have ever dealt with.

[brian]

Originally Posted by brttlt

I'm fairly new into building my HT piece by piece so I've got a question. If I'm buying a new receiver, between 90-125/watts per channel, is there any point in buying front speakers that hold 250 watts? I can save by $180 by dropping down to the Axiom M50ti's that have a 200 watt max!
What really is that extra wattage going to get me if the receiver only goes to 125?

The difference between the m60, and m50 speakers are more than just watt measurements. They're built different, have a different arrage of speaker drivers, etc. I suggest you follow snipsnapsappy's advice, and give the folks at Axiom a call.