Speakers supposed to use same amount of watts regardless of being on or off?

[kindest]

Was playing with my watt-a-meteor today for giggles and found out something interesting. On both of my Logitech Speaker sets Z313 and Z4 when the units are off they use the exact same of watts when they are on and full blast. This doesn't make sense to me. If the power is off on the controller why does it not power down the amp/sub. What is the point of a power button on the controller? Do all Pc speakers work this way.. this is crazy for the year 2012. I know it's not a lot of power but now I'm annoyed knowing this.

 

[Howard]

That is indeed strange. You say they use the same amount of power even when off?

 

[kindest]

well on the Z4's they are 15 watts when off, 15 watts when on and full blast. On the Z313's they are 7-9 when off and 9-11 when on full blast.

 

[kornphlake]

probably the result of a very inefficient power supply on the amp.

 

[Howard]

probably the result of a very inefficient power supply on the amp.

I was wondering, but the amp shouldn't be getting power if it's off.

 

[kindest]

anyone have a watt-a-meteor to test on their speakers.. I have a set of klipsh 5.1 pro I'm gonna test later today. What pieces of crap if only my cheapies do it

 

[sdifox]

anyone have a watt-a-meteor to test on their speakers.. I have a set of klipsh 5.1 pro I'm gonna test later today. What pieces of crap if only my cheapies do it

my amp has a power switch And it works

 

[kindest]

well I tested my Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1's and when off it draws 4 watts and when on it "idles" ~35 watts. I didn't realize Pc spears were so energy "ineffecient". My 32" monitor is .1watt when off for pete's sake.

 

[Paul98]

Was playing with my watt-a-meteor today for giggles and found out something interesting. On both of my Logitech Speaker sets Z313 and Z4 when the units are off they use the exact same of watts when they are on and full blast. This doesn't make sense to me. If the power is off on the controller why does it not power down the amp/sub. What is the point of a power button on the controller? Do all Pc speakers work this way.. this is crazy for the year 2012. I know it's not a lot of power but now I'm annoyed knowing this.

Because so little power is actually going to power the speakers, most likely a watt or less.

 

[kindest]

Well its not about the power to the speakers. The standby power (unit off) is = to unit being on. Makes no difference if the speakers/sub/amp is powered on/off as far as the watts being used. I guess they don't have energy star stickers on them for a reason

 

[sm625]

It's the amp. My Onkyo receiver is the same way. It pulls 60 watts when silent, and probably 61-62 watts when about halfway up (which is the upper end of the normal listening range.). My solution? A 5V relay and a diode soldered to a usb connector. When the usb port has power, the relay is on and the amplifier gets power. When the usb port turns off, the relay opens and power to the amp is lost. So when my tv (which has a usb port) gets turned off, the stereo goes off too. Luckily my receiver comes back on all by itself when power is restored.

 

[jankm]

Has anyone found any decent options?

I have (almost 10 year old) Altec Lansing 221s. They use 5 watts when on and 4 watts when off. They should really not use anything when off, but more than 1 watt is really unacceptable. I thought maybe since they were old just buying something new would be much more efficient. However, from this thread I see the Logitechs I was looking at have the same problem.

 

[kornphlake]

The problem is that the power switch is a soft switch that disconnects the power to the amp but the power supply is still connected to the outlet and converting electricity to heat even though there's no electrical load on the power supply. I'm sure the amp was designed this way for a reason, probably to eliminate a thump when the system is powered on at the lowest possible cost to the manufacturer. If you're concerned about the speakers drawing power when the speakers are turned off, plug the speakers into a power strip with a switch and use that switch as a master switch instead of the switch on the speakers, or just yank the cord.

 

[sdifox]

use a power bar for it, problem solved.

 

[KAZANI]

My self-amplified stereo monitor speakers are rated at 90w consumption and in practice draw:
- 0w off
- 9w on
- 40-60w full blast (depending on how hard the woofer cones work)

It's all in the efficiency of the amplifier.