How do I determine the drivers I buy max watts to use if I have a 140 watt per channel 7.1 receiver? I would like to buy 1 " High Definition precoated fabric dome tweeter with a wide, soft polymer surround and a rear chamber 2 7" Woofers M6a Bass-Midrange (90 watt max) & 1 10" sub woofer (1000 watts max) Dayton Reference Series sub woofer in a cabinet with the sub facing in front.
Welcome Victor. I suppose I have to ask a few questions myself before offering a response.
How did you come to determine the componants and enclosure that you spec'd out here? Are these parts known to work well in the cabinet that you suggest/ If this is a kit, do you know anyone who has built one siccessfully? There are zillions of kits and DIY sites with lists, I am wondering how you came to your parts question?
A master cabinet builder has a 2 main tower spare cabinets and gave me budget drivers and a high end crossover (don't have model handy) and wanted to know how I can determine if his scheme of speakers and cabinet will be better than your store bought tower speakers.
VM, you can just put them together and see what happens, but don't use glue in parts that you might want to remove/mod. Can you ask the builder where he got the plans for the cab's? Google the drivers and obtain their values etc., and see if there is a known assemblage for them? Some sort of reference is helpful beyond just a blind try, but if you have the parts, give them a go!
If you have the crossovers handy, you can trace the circuit and count the # of componants in line with the outputs, and perhaps determine the order of the circuit, 1st, 4th, etc. That is the important thing to know in determining the compatibility of parts on paper.
Victor, if your question is as I read it in the original post to determine how many max watts you should look for as a driver spec, it doesn't matter. Maximum wattage is quite variable depending on the music played through the driver. Therefore, max watts is more a very rough guide than any strict adherence thing. There is more danger in having not enough watts than there is in having too many.
That's the truth.
Buy drivers that go together - that's the best advice for you at this point. Give either PartsExpress or Madisound a phone call and discuss with them what you have acquired and what you would like to build. Their job is to sell you the best parts for the amount of cash you have available.
Max watts won't enter into the picture, I assure you. Call and talk to the people with the drivers and they'll do a better job of putting together a whole speaker than all the back and forth it would take on this forum for us to go through the entire process.
Just put either name in a search engine and find their contact info.
If your real question is whether what you have will be better than a "store bought"version, there is no answer to that question. You have to determine what you like mostly by listening and you can't listen to speaker parts until they are put together. IMO put the speakers together, what you've described probably has sound equal to or possibly better than a store bought loaf of sliced white bread or what most would call a store bought speaker in the same price range.
Whether you prefer what you build to something else is not an issue we can determine for you. What you describe would appear to be very sellable should you decide there's something else you'd rather have. But you'll have to put together the parts first to really know whether you like these.
If your real real question is you are trying to decide whether to buy the parts or pass, then pass and go buy something you can listen to before buying and return if you don't like it once you get it home. Buying an unknown is never the best advice for someone who has yet to acquire the experience in this hobby to not be swayed by some shiny parts at a reduced price. It is always best to audition anything in audio before you buy it.
Period!
Remember that advice for as long as you live.
As I mentioned earlier this sounds like a PartsExpress kit speaker. If it is, start with them and ask about the generic sound of their kit and go from there. You'll need some parts numbers to get the best advice.