Differentiating Between Speaker Systems and Wattage

[EaglePerception]

I have looked in numerous places on the internet but to no avail. I just get long mathematical equations and numbers that will provide some insight but not entirely what I am looking for. My questions is as simple as this, Would a 500w speaker system outperform a 75w system in terms of quality solely based upon the wattage difference. I have links to two systems that may help in explaining this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121044
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121050

Above are two logitech products; I understand that the 500w system has better technological components that will provide for a crisper sound quality. The question is though, Will a higher wattage provide better sound quality solely based on that factor, and does it allow for a wider range of frequency response.

 

[lurkingshadow]

Wattage refers to the amount of power the inbuilt amp has. A 100 watt amp will be about twice as loud as a 10 watt. Wattage does not really play a part in quality. What is important is build quality of the speaker and its diameter/size.

For instance my bass amp (bass and guitar amps are basicly the same as a pc sound system just with more grunt to boost the guitar.) my bass amp is 10 watt and has a 10" speaker and my guitar amp is 25 watt and has an 8" speaker. In theory putting 10w through each speaker the 10"speaker should outshine the 8" one, although my bass speaker is of a low quality it cant handle more then 10w for my bass where as the guitar amp can handle 20w from the bass. to through more confusion into it my 6" 15w guitar amp is better then the 8" 25w (better quality at same volume).

So as you see it all gets very complex. Now from experience the Z506's are shit. you will be lucky to be able to get more then 50w of sound out of them so the z906's (assuming you will be able to get the full 500 out without blowing them) will be twice as loud. Being "THX Certified" the z906 should be far far better then the z506's.

TL;DR:
wattage dosen't determine quality.
The z906 should be twice as loud as the z506's in practice and 1.667 times as loud as the z506 in theory.
Speakers are whats important not watts.

 

[TheUnnamedNewbie]

Diameter is not necessarily a factor in quality. Neither is wattage.
And volume is not purely linked to wattage (more on that later)

It is wrong to compare a instrument amplifier with a hifi/stereo one, for the simple reason that a instrument amplifier is designed specifically to shape the sound of the instrument (it does not provide a perfect copy of the input), whereas hifi amps (this is not 100% true, they still slighly shape sound) are designed to not do this at all.

Lurkingshadow is incorect that only the speakers matter, in fact, when you come to the real high end audio, the amps start to become a way more important part, and he is talking about instrument amps, totally unrelated to hifi.

What is important is the perfection of the amp. A good amp will not distort the sound. This means the following:
-It will not clip: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_%28audio%29
-It will have a very low THD (total harmonic distortion: it will amplify all frequencies equally. a bad THD is why cheap systems tend to sound "thin" and/or "sharp", or overly boomy.

the same goes for speakers, tho its mainly THD there (to get a speaker to clip you need to push it far outside of its operational range).

The thing you mainly need to conciser is how loud you truly need. If you have 500 watts of power, and it really is 500 W (guys like logitec like to do "illegal" additions, like adding the wattage of the sub to the total), you will never be able to push it any where near to maximum volume (unless you are hosting raves).

hope this makes some sense and helps, if not, feel free to ask more info.