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First everyone needs to know that I know nothing (nada) about stereos
and speakers . I am doing really good to put the CD in the player
correctly....
I have my Ex's nice technics stereo/no speakers that I wanted to set up for just some basic sound. My budget is tight so I bought $50 sony bookshelf speakers.
Now I see that they say max input power 120 watts
The receiver says output 500 watts.
Should I return the speakers.. I haven't hooked them up yet..
If you're careful, you shouldn't have a problem, but I can see it being easy to accidentally blow the speakers. As long as you don't turn the volume up to the point where the sound starts to distort, they should be fine.
There are a couple of down n dirty ways that offer some protection. The first would be a 2 amp fast acting buss fuse in series on each speaker line. The second would be using 80 watt light bulbs in series on those speaker lines. The problem is that while these protect against loud passages, they don't do well protecting against the super-fast transients that can occur when an input line is shorted. MOVs act fast but like the light bulbs can add distortion.
You could return the speakers, but I fear you would find speakers able to handle that power very expensive. I would probably do the buss fuse thing and also put a detent on the volume/loudness knob that prevented turning it more than halfway. Detent - think matchstick and super glue on face of knob and something to block it glued to the face.
This is an interesting question. I have wondered about how amplifier power is rated in these days of 5 channel, surround sound, etc. During the 70's we were very serious about our systems so we could listen to the Hendrix and the Stones, etc. loud and as faithfully as possible. With a $50 cartridge in the turntable, a big Kenwood amplifier, and Advent speakers we had something that would approach studio sound. The amplifier was rated at 50 watts RMS per channel and the system was literally capable of causing the house to tremble. Now days we hear of 400-500 watt systems They don't seem to be any more powerful. I suspect that power is specified differently today than it was in the past
First everyone needs to know that I know nothing (nada) about stereos
and speakers . I am doing really good to put the CD in the player
correctly....
I have my Ex's nice technics stereo/no speakers that I wanted to set up for just some basic sound. My budget is tight so I bought $50 sony bookshelf speakers.
Now I see that they say max input power 120 watts
The receiver says output 500 watts.
Should I return the speakers.. I haven't hooked them up yet..
The key issue here isn't watts it's ohms. The speakers must match the stereo for speaker ohms or all will not be well. Look to see if the speakers are 2,4,6,8 ohm since that determines if they match the stereo output electronically.
It also helps to remember that most sound above 1 full watt is painful LOUD! At most 10 watts will cause you to go deaf so the Ohm match is most important.
First everyone needs to know that I know nothing (nada) about stereos
and speakers . I am doing really good to put the CD in the player
correctly....
I have my Ex's nice technics stereo/no speakers that I wanted to set up for just some basic sound. My budget is tight so I bought $50 sony bookshelf speakers.
Now I see that they say max input power 120 watts
The receiver says output 500 watts.
Should I return the speakers.. I haven't hooked them up yet..
The power is probably rated out of 5 channels, that is my guess (5 x100 Watts). Which would mean it is only about 100 W per speaker channel. If there are 5 sets of speaker connectors on the back then that would be the case.
Even if it is not and it's a 2 channel receiver, just don't turn up the volume knob past about 2 or 3 (if it is scaled on 1-10), at this level you would be using around 1-10 Watts. It will be very loud anyway, you wouldn't want to go that high. As long as you don't turn it up too loud it shouldn't be an issue, of course it depends on the quality of speakers too, some can take very high power for short periods of time.
RMS (root mean square) power is the stingiest, and is the only spec that I rely on. "Music power" is usually a way to bump up the claimed power. I have to laugh when I see small, cheap stereos with outrageous claims.
Also, how loud a given wattage sounds depends on how efficient the speakers are. I had a friend who had Klipschorn folded-horn enclosures, and they were painfully loud at one watt because they had an efficiency of 105 dB SPL at 1W! Many (if not most) speakers are in the low 90s.
If your budget is tight, return the speakers and go on CL. You will find a pair of nice used speakers for less than $50. Most of the speakers in my home is used (15-20 years old) that I got used.
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They don't seem to be any more powerful. I suspect that power is specified differently today than it was in the past 
