Rev. Aug.

31, 2015

Determining
Speaker Power Requirements
for the Integrator
by Joe Ging, E.E.

©2015 Lowell Manufacturing Company

100 Integram Drive, Pacific, Mo. 63069 USA
(636) 257-3400 | www.lowellmfg.com

     
INDEX

1 Introduction pg. 3

2 Rule-of-Thumb pg. 4

3 Sensitivity Specifications pg. 5

4 Examples pg. 6

5 Summary pg. 9

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INTRODUCTION
In this paper, we will discuss how to use simple “ rule-of-thumb” formulas to determine how
much power is required for a loudspeaker to produce the required sound pressure level (SPL)
for a typical distributed speaker system design.

One of the most often asked questions that Lowell Manufacturing receives from customers, is
“What power tap should I use on my speaker transformer?” Whether you are using an
8 ohm voice coil speaker, or a speaker with a 25V, 70V, or 100V matching transformer,
the method to determining how much power that loudspeaker needs for a particular application
is still the same (as long as the insertion loss of the transformer is negligible).

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RULE-OF-THUMB
In order for the sound from a speaker system to be heard and understood, the sound pressure
level (SPL) that a speaker system must be able to achieve is a minimum of 10dBSPL
over the average ambient noise level.

Notice this rule of thumb states minimum of 10dBSPL. Many designers prefer to use 15dB
over the ambient noise level so there is plenty of headroom in their sound system to
handle changing conditions. For the purpose of this paper, we will use the 10dBSPL design
criteria.

So for the integrator that wants to design a sound system, how do you know what the ambient
noise level is?

Method 1: Simply stated, if the sound system is being designed for an existing building where
the acoustic environment and background noise conditions already exist, take a sound
pressure meter to the site and take multiple readings at the listening height during a typical day
and use the average of those readings as your average ambient noise level. Note: Your sound
pressure meter should be set on the A-Weighted scale. A properly designed distributed speaker
system must be able to achieve a minimum of 10dBSPL above that average ambient noise
level.

Method 2: If the building is under construction, or if the inhabitants have not moved into the
building yet, then an educated guess is required. The chart below gives some design guidelines
for “Maximum Sound Pressure Levels Required for Adequate Sound System Performance.”
Note that this table includes the 10dBSPL above the average ambient noise level. Some
judgement on your part will be required to adjust your target SPL design level depending
upon your particular application, so SPL ranges are given. If your sound system design can
achieve greater than these SPL levels, you can be even more confident that your customer will
be satisfied with the performance of the system that you have designed.
         

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 SENSITIVITY SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturers (including Lowell) give the average sensitivity of a speaker driver or a
complete speaker system on their specification sheets. Note: Never use a sensitivity that is
stated as “peak sensitivity.” That is a meaningless specification that describes the
sensitivity at only one frequency. Always use the average sensitivity specification.

The average sensitivity specification is typically given measured with a 1W input to the
speaker and with the measurement microphone at 1 meter directly on-axis (directly in
front of the speaker). In reality though, you are interested in the sound pressure level at
some distance greater than 1M. That calculation requires the use of the “Inverse-Square
Law.”

The Inverse-Square Law is based on the fact that a sound wave emitted by a
loudspeaker travels as a sphere away from the loudspeaker. The formula for the area of a
2
sphere is 4πr . That means that as the distance from the speaker (the radius “r”)
doubles, the area of the sphere that the sound from the speaker has to cover is 4 times
as large because the radius term in the formula is squared.

In the formula for sound pressure level, the sound energy from the speaker is divided by
the area of the sphere to find the SPL at a certain point. Note that if X = Y/Z, that is the
same mathematically as X = 1/Z times Y. In math terms, 1/Z is called the inverse. In the
2
sound pressure level formula, the sphere area 4πr is in the denominator of the formula, so
that is mathematically the same as an inverse. In other words, the squared radius term is an
inverse in the SPL formula and that’s where the Inverse-Square Law gets its name.

Inverse-­‐Square  Law:      SPL2  =  SPL1  –  20  log  (D2/D1)  

• SPL1 is the sound pressure level at the first location.
• SPL2 is the sound pressure level at the second location.
• D1 is the distance from the speaker at the first location.
• D2 is the distance from the speaker at the second location.

The Inverse-Square Law says that every time you double the distance from the speaker,
the sound pressure level decreases by 6.02dB (most sound guys just round that off to 6dB).

Because sensitivity specifications are given in metric at 1 meter, an inexpensive metric

conversion calculator is a must for any sound system designer.

The Inverse-Square Law formula can be simplified even further for use in SPL calculations for
speaker sensitivity.

D1 in the formula above will be 1 meter since sensitivity specs are given at 1 meter, so it does
not affect the formula.

SPL(1 watt input) = S – 20 log (D)

• SPL is the SPL at the listening height with 1 watt input to the speaker.
• S is the manufacturer’s specified average sensitivity with 1 watt input at 1 meter.
• D is the distance from the speaker in meters to the average listening height.

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 EXAMPLES
Example 1: The average sensitivity of a speaker is given on the specification sheet as 95dB
1W 1M. My speaker will be mounted 4 meters above the 4’ average seated listening height.

SPL = 95dB – 20LOG(4 meters) = 83dB

The sound pressure level at the 4’ listening height will be 83dB with 1W input to the speaker
as shown in the detail below:

So what if we adjust the input power to more than 1W? The formula for SPL as is relates to
input power is:

SPL(at 1 meter) = S + 10LOG (P)

• SPL is the SPL at 1 meter.
• S is the manufacturer’s specified average sensitivity at 1 watt 1 meter.
• P is the input power to the speaker.

Example 2: The average sensitivity of a speaker is given on the specification sheet as 95dB
1W 1M. My speaker will be mounted 1 meter above the 4’ average seated listening
height, but the speaker will be tapped at 2 watts.

SPL(at 1 meter) = 95dB + 10LOG(2W) = 98dB

The sound pressure level at the 4’ listening height will be 98dB with 2W input to the speaker
(as shown in the following illustration).

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 These formulas can be combined so that both input power and distance calculations can
be done at the same time. This formula handles any power input at any distance.

SPL = S + 10LOG (P) - 20LOG(D)

• SPL is the resulting SPL at the listening height.
• S is the manufacturer’s specified average sensitivity with 1 watt input at 1 meter.
• P is the input power to the speaker.
• D is the distance from the speaker to the average listening height.
• Note: Seated listening height = 4’ (1.2192M) and standing listening height = 5’ (1.524M)

You may have heard sound guys using the old rule of thumb:
• Double the input power adds 3dB to the SPL.
• Double the distance from the speaker lose (subtract) 6dB from the SPL.

Let’s see if that rule of thumb works out in the following example.

Example 3: Speaker is mounted 4M above the average listening height. The speaker
transformer is tapped at 4W. The speaker sensitivity is given on the specification sheet as
92dB 1W 1M.

Using the formula: SPL = S + 10LOG(P) - 20LOG(D) = 92 + 10LOG(4W) – 20LOG(4M) = 86dB

Using the rule-of-thumb: 92dB(1W1M) 95dB(2W1M) 98dB(4W1M) 92dB(4W2M) 86dB(4W4M)

Same result !

So far we’ve talked about the input taps of transformers (notice that we’ve ignored
transformer insertion loss). What if your design includes an 8 ohm speaker without a
transformer? All of the formulas work the same as illustrated in the following example.

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 Example 4: Design is for a convention center distributed sound system. The speaker is
mounted 44’ above the floor. The design assumes a seated average listening height of 4’.
Distance from the speaker to the average listening height is 40’. I use my handy metric
conversion calculator and determine 40’ = 12.192 meters. The speaker has a maximum input
power of 250W. The speaker sensitivity is given on the specification sheet as 98dB 1W 1M.

Using the formula: SPL= S+10LOG(P) – 20LOG(D) = 98 + 10LOG(250W) – 20LOG(12.192M) =

100.26dB

So with the system delivering the maximum 250W to this speaker, there will be 100.26dB
of sound pressure level at the 4’ average listening height.

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 SUMMARY
Calculating the expected sound pressure at the average listening height simply requires
the average sensitivity from the manufacturer’s specification sheet, the proposed input power
to the speaker, and the distance from the speaker to the listening height (in meters).
Plugging those figures into the formula gives the resulting SPL.

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