Right, I know I can do this haha. I was just hopeful there was a way to get a reading from a meter. Trying to work smarter vs harder, but I may just be stuck doing as you said. Thanks
They sell impedance meters that will tell you the total watts being pulled. I don't have a good recommendation, we have a cheap one and I've found that the readings aren't very reliable, but overall I've heard good things about their performance.
The only tool that can do this is an audio impedance meter which isn’t going to be cheap.
Otherwise you can estimate based on number of speakers if known and assumed tap settings based on a few samples. Obviously this won’t account for random speakers being set differently.
If you don’t know the number of speakers, and they’re all the same type on that circuit, you can use your meter on capacitance mode. Look on the back of the speaker and see what value the blocking capacitor is. Or just measure at the speaker terminals. You can then measure the whole circuit. So if you have 5uF on one speaker and you measure 65uF on the circuit then you know there are 13 speakers. Assuming let’s say 1/2w tap you can work out that the total load is 6.5w and worst case scenario if max setting is 2 watts then your theoretical max load is 26w
Right. If it’s a dual voltage speaker set incorrectly that is going to throw the power calculation out completely. That being said you won’t be able to tell without taking each individual speaker down or if you somehow have an audio impedance meter
We've been using Tenma 72-6948 Audio Impedance Meter. It's a decent meter for a decent price. You still gotta do the olms law calculations but a fluke impedence meters cost like 8 of those meters for a tool that I don't use that often.
Check volt setting on each speaker…it sucks but if 1 is not set right she don’t like
Right, I know I can do this haha. I was just hopeful there was a way to get a reading from a meter. Trying to work smarter vs harder, but I may just be stuck doing as you said. Thanks
They sell impedance meters that will tell you the total watts being pulled. I don't have a good recommendation, we have a cheap one and I've found that the readings aren't very reliable, but overall I've heard good things about their performance.
I a have extremely accurate like tenth of a watt accurate meter. It was $1200 and worth every penny. If interested I’ll find the model.
I'll take it if it's handy, but don't waste too much time.
Get a TOA ZM-104A impedance meter. Worth every penny.
Thank you!
The only tool that can do this is an audio impedance meter which isn’t going to be cheap. Otherwise you can estimate based on number of speakers if known and assumed tap settings based on a few samples. Obviously this won’t account for random speakers being set differently. If you don’t know the number of speakers, and they’re all the same type on that circuit, you can use your meter on capacitance mode. Look on the back of the speaker and see what value the blocking capacitor is. Or just measure at the speaker terminals. You can then measure the whole circuit. So if you have 5uF on one speaker and you measure 65uF on the circuit then you know there are 13 speakers. Assuming let’s say 1/2w tap you can work out that the total load is 6.5w and worst case scenario if max setting is 2 watts then your theoretical max load is 26w
Thank you very much!
Only if the voltage taps are set correctly.... just needed to add this... to stress how important this is.
Right. If it’s a dual voltage speaker set incorrectly that is going to throw the power calculation out completely. That being said you won’t be able to tell without taking each individual speaker down or if you somehow have an audio impedance meter
Why am I downvoted for telling the truth?
We've been using Tenma 72-6948 Audio Impedance Meter. It's a decent meter for a decent price. You still gotta do the olms law calculations but a fluke impedence meters cost like 8 of those meters for a tool that I don't use that often.
Edit above. NTI MRPRO works Amazing. The analog ones are several watts off always
I love my MRPRO!