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Planning and thinking of a home theater feel fantastic. At first, everybody forgets about the hustle it will bring. The question I am going to answer gives birth to hustle, but don’t worry this guide is created to make everything easier for you. The question. What is a good wattage for a home theater?
At A Glance: As a general rule of thumb, If your room is small then a 525 Watts RMS speakers setup will be good, if your room is of medium size then a 650 Watts RMS is good, and for a large room a 940 Watts RMS power is enough.
Keep reading to know the exact dimensions for each size of room. I will break down the speakers needed for each position in the surround sound. I have calculated the watts for the 7.1 speakers setup because this layout is the most popular one. But when I explain the speakers’ positions, you will know what to use for other layouts.
Needed Wattage Breakdown For Each Size Of Home Theater?
| Room Sizes (Dimensions) | Suitable Watts |
|---|---|
| Small (216X144) | 525 Watts RMS |
| Medium (240X156) | 650 Watts RMS |
| Large (240X180) | 940 Watts RMS |
Check the RMS Watts value for each speaker in its product description.
Note: The values in the table are for newbies and for that system that is just suitable for your room size, but if you want to up the game even more, and you are an intermediate then you can upgrade the watts according to your taste.
Why 525 Watts RMS for a small room?
No matter how small your room is. You need the front three speakers to have good power and good build quality.
Because of the front LCR, three speakers have the most work to do. You don’t want the dialogues to sound unnatural and the stereo transitioning of the sound to be faulty.
That’s why I have given the first 250 Watts RMS power to the front three speakers. You need the two front left and right speakers to have at least 4 inches of woofers and a power handling of 75 watts RMS each. Know the woofer size for each room size in my this guide. What is a good speaker size?
The center speaker is the one that will be used the most. That’s why I have allotted 100 Watts RMS to it.
After that, we shall proceed to the surrounding sides and rear speakers. The surrounding and rear speakers are just used for the surrounding sound effects and for only those dialogues that the character speakers when at one side of the main character on the screen.
As already we have filled the room with good speakers at the front and also the surround speakers have no powerful job to do. That’s why four speakers of 50 Watts RMS each will work fine for a small room. These speakers will go to the surrounding sides and rear sides.
Now, we have cared for the mid and high frequencies. It’s time to bring the bass to the room. You will need a subwoofer from 75 Watts RMS for a small room.
Here for the left and right speakers, I used bookshelf speakers, for the center channel a typical center speaker, and for the surround sides and rear I used small wall mount speakers.
Read my review guide about the best home theater systems. Few here are the best for small room because they are budget-friendly and has good watts.
Why 650 Watts RMS for a Medium room?
We used front speakers of good quality in the small room setup. That’s why I will recommend keeping them as they are and changing other speakers around it with a more powerful subwoofer this time.
Here, the front speakers will have the exact power of 250 Watts RMS. But we will install a 75-watt RMS speaker at each position of the surrounding sides and rear sides. These are four speakers.
Now, we will need one subwoofer of 100 Watts this time. If you are not satisfied with a bass and have experienced dead bass spots in your room. Then you can use 100 Watts dual subs for the room-filling bass.
That’s a total of 650 watts RMS wattage speakers system for a medium room. Here for the left and right speakers, I used bookshelf speakers, for the center channel typical center speaker, and for the surround sides and rear I used medium size, bookshelf speakers.
Know, Does The Size Of A Subwoofer Matter? I have talked in detail about the size of the sub and deep bass.
Why 940 Watts RMS for a large room?
For a large theater room, we will have to upgrade each speaker in the surround sound. The front speakers will be upgraded first.
The front left, and the right speaker should be tower speakers of at least 150 Watts of RMS power each. The center speaker should have 100 RMS power.
For each position in the surrounding sides and rear sides, you will need an 85 Watts RMS power speaker. With this, you will need one subwoofer of 200 Watts RMS. One subwoofer is just to get you started, but I will recommend having dual subwoofers of 200 Watts. That will be a combined force of 400 watts to feel the room with bass.
Here for the left and right speakers, I used tower speakers, for the center channel a typical center speaker, and for the surround sides and rear I used above-medium-size bookshelf speakers.
This guide will help you more. Does Soundbar Size Matter? I have compared it with the TV and room size.
Did you get something out of this wattage for the home theater guide? Hold On We Have Something Exciting To Share.
[the_ad id=”4771″]FAQs
Should speaker wattage be higher than the amp?
It should be the opposite of this. The amp wattage should be 53% higher than the RMS watt of the speaker. In this value, the speakers will be powered better and without distortion or clipping.
The power handling of the speaker should not be higher than the amp but in fact, the amp RMS watts should be greater than it.
Is 100w per channel loud?
You can’t answer this question right away. Because when you are saying this for a small theater room then yes it is loud, but when saying this for a large room then it is not loud.
The speaker watts are relative to the room size. That’s why I recommend not choosing a speaker based on their performance in the showroom. You should check it in your room. Many companies provide 2 days checking warranty for their speakers.
Is 2.1 good enough for home theater?
The 2.1 is only good for music and not for movies. To feel the action happening all around you, for that, you should have at least a 5.1 speakers layout. The higher the layout of the speakers, the better the experience will be.
The 2.1 is just in front of you, but you need the movie to be felt all around you, that’s why the home theater was made. To have that feeling, you should have at least 5.1 speakers set up.
Helpful Resources For The FAQs To Read More
- Know more about it in detail from my this guide. How To Match Amp To Speaker? (Resource for the first answer)
- This was my opinion, read more about it from this Reddit Discussion. (Resource for the second answer)
