Electrical – Is high current in a speaker the same as high voltage

impedancepowervoltage

I'd like to build my own Amplifier, and because I know that the current creates the magnetic field, I don't understand, how amplifying the voltage makes it louder. I mean with high voltage doesn't automatically come high current. For example if an Amp can only deliver 100V at 1A (I don't know whether such an amp exists but ok) (the reason for that is the Load Resistance RL, right?) , then the Output Power is 100W.

Would that make the same sound on the same speaker in same Conditions, like if I put 100A with 1 V through it?

EDIT:

Ohh thank you guys for that many answers in that short time :_D

How could a class D amplifier amplify with ~90% Efficeny, if 4,5W is the Maximum amount, you can get out of a 12V PSU? (4,5W/0,9 = 5W -> 5W / 12V = 0,417 A) That would mean, the PSU has 0,417A of output current, and so, because the output current can be calculated, the current doesn't play a role… How could that be? Or is that the reason, why you wrote "Rough Calculations"?

In case, higher Impedance means the Voltage of the Power can be higher: If i want to build a Subwoofer with Amplifier out of a Car-subwoofer with 4Ω , is it a must, to have relatively low Voltage audio signal and relatively High current? Then, depending on Phil G's Explanation, i have to build an Amplifier with high Current Output? How to calculate the Current and Voltage I need to achieve the wanted Power of 200W through that 4Ω Subwoofer?

My plan is, to RC Low-pass filter the Pure Audio Signal, amplify it and put it out on my Subwoofer, any Ideas? Ty for Answers in advance!

Best Answer

For a given voltage, the impedance of the speaker determines the current.

For a given current, the impedance of the speaker determines the voltage.

In order to get a given current with a given voltage, you need just the right impedance. So you can't drive 100A at 1V into an arbitrary speaker -- you would have to find a \$\frac{1}{100}\$-ohm speaker (and some really thick speaker cable).

So for a single 8-ohm speaker, the power you can drive into it depends on the voltage -- if you want more power, you need more voltage. This is why car speakers are often 4-ohms -- it's an easy way to get twice the power that you could with 8-ohm speakers, from the 12V that's available in the car.

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