my car stereo - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

gen4cam · 11-11-2001, 09:32 PM

because of the amount of money i have saved up right now, i am planning on buying a separate amp to power my speakers. how powerful should it be?

bzride · 11-11-2001, 09:56 PM

It depends on the power handling of the speakers. And remember that the power ratings on amps are always MAX power and not the actual RMS power. It makes them look like they put out more power than they really can.
The quality of the amp is key as well. It is better to buy a good amp with a low power output than a crappy cheap amp with a high "claimed" power rating.

***EKam*** · 11-11-2001, 10:41 PM

And don't forget to get an amp that (nearly) matches the rating for your speakers. Correct me if I'm wrong: RMS power of the amp should be less than the power of the speakers.

88 LE · 11-12-2001, 05:32 AM

Quote:

On 2001-11-11 22:32, gen4cam wrote:
because of the amount of money i have saved up right now, i am planning on buying a separate amp to power my speakers. how powerful should it be?

What are you planning to run with the amp? Subs? Components (mids & tweets)?

88 LE · 11-12-2001, 05:43 AM

Quote:

On 2001-11-11 23:41, KaMuRi wrote:
And don't forget to get an amp that (nearly) matches the rating for your speakers. Correct me if I'm wrong: RMS power of the amp should be less than the power of the speakers.

It doesn't really matter. Just don't go overboard and run like a 500 watt amp to components or something.

I rather have to much power then not enough.

If you have a 100 watt amp and you beat the hell out of it asking it to do more then it can its gonna clip, sound like s**t, and you'll end up f**king up the amp and speakers.

Now if you have a 300 watt amp and your only asking it to do 100 watts thats 200 watts of room you get to play with.

Thats my theory on more power is better. :grin:

gen4cam · 11-12-2001, 10:24 AM

i want to run two sets of components and 2 6x9s.

igloo · 11-12-2001, 05:12 PM

true about the watts to speakers.headroom is cool to have as long as you keep your gains low, and dont try to push out too muihc, than you are more lible to blow them.

speedemn · 11-12-2001, 05:37 PM

Quote:

It doesn't really matter. Just don't go overboard and run like a 500 watt amp to components or something.

Actually I have a 600 watt RMS amp for my components (mids, tweeters) and 6x9s but those 6 speakers add up to about 450 watts RMS max. :smile:

speedemn · 11-12-2001, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Correct me if I'm wrong: RMS power of the amp should be less than the power of the speakers.

I think its the other way around isn't it? You want your amp to be more powerful capacity than your speakers so that your speakers aren't distorted when it tries to pump out more power from the amp which it doesn't have.

tmanana · 11-13-2001, 12:39 AM

The last poster was correct. I just took back one of my JL W3s....which are rated about 300 watts RMS. When I took it back the shop tested the sub and said I was underpowering them. However, I know my amp is pushing about 500 RMS....so I don't think that was the problem. However, he did go into a 10 min lecture on how underpowering a speaker is worse than overpowering. Of course if youre pushing 1000 watts to a 500 watt speaker...you will have problems. However, especially with the high end, high power handling speakers, underpowering can be quite damaging. Spend alittle extra and get an amp thats rated at the speakers rms level....or maybe go up a few watts and give yourself some room to work with....all you really have to do is turn down the gain...and if you decided to upgrade later, you will be able to utalize the amp you already have.

***EKam*** · 11-13-2001, 08:35 AM

Which W3 were you using? In the site it saids continuous power handling for 12W3 is 250W. I have a Kenwood Excelon 201 which is a 2-channel 200W RMS amp so it's only a 50W difference between them.

tmanana · 11-13-2001, 10:12 AM

Hey.....yes I am running the 12 W3 DVC....and you might be right about the RMS handling. However, I am pushing an Autotek 500.2 to each of my W3s....so on average 500 watts RMS per sub. I know its a bit overkill...but I have been pritty satisfied with JL in the past and think they have the construction to handle that. Plus, I rarely have the gain turned up that high, except at car audio comps. I saw a person with my same amp setup, but pushing 2 W3 15s...so I am sure with turning down the gain and only really pushing the subs when necessary, that my setup will be sufficient. Also....after hours of playing, the amps remain cool, which puts me at ease.

88 LE · 11-13-2001, 10:41 AM

Quote:

I know its a bit overkill...but I have been pritty satisfied with JL in the past and think they have the construction to handle that.

Yeah the JL's are nice. I had a 12W5-D8 powered by a PPI A200. I still have it, but I don't use it anymore.

My buddie has 2 15W1's powered by a Linear Power 8002 (800watt mono block). Its overkill, but hes a bass head so its all good.

gen4cam · 11-13-2001, 12:30 PM

i want my entire system to consist of kicker

tmanana · 11-13-2001, 12:47 PM

Well Kicker makes a good product. Some live by Kicker Solobarics. I've tried Kicker subs in the past...were reasonably satisfied with those. However, I would say for your highs and whatnot....you might want to look otherplaces. Don't see many people running anything made by the company besides subs and amps. Of course its your choice in the end. Hell I love JL....but I am running a Sony deck, C.Vega highs, and Autotek and Rockford Fosgate amps...bout a big of a mix as you can get :razz: Well good luck!