Speaker power specs

Lev

Does anyone know a rule of thumb for specifying the power rating small audio speakers?· I am working on a Stamp project that uses a LM386-1 audio amp.· It is rigged up exactly as the former Parallax audio amp AppMod, with a 220 uF cap between the amp output and an 8 ohm mini speaker (2-3 inch size).· I am driving the amp with 9V.· The datasheet says the amp output voltage will vary about 6 V peak to peak (before the cap).· I am not sure what I should specify for minimum speaker power rating.· Is the standard 0.4W to 0.6W·speaker OK for this, or will it eventually burn out?· I have not been able to find small 8 ohm speakers with a greater power rating.

Thanks,

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Rich


"So I hope you can accept nature as she is_absurd"
Richard P. Feynman, Quantum Electrodynamics

RDL2004

At 9 volts with an 8 ohm speaker the power output is 700 mW at 10% THD. If you keep the volume at reasonable levels I don't think you'll have any problems.

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- Rick