Alright guys...

I'm a little confused atm... I've got a Response 4x130WRMS amp to power speakers. Currently running Pioneer 6x9's (they're fine) and Pioneer TS-E1695 6" up the fronts.

The 6" are rated at 60WRMS... Was it such a waste to buy a 4x130WRMS amp? How can I find speakers with an RMS wattage over 75W?

I've been looking at some competition splits on Ebay and still, they're only 60WRMS and retail around $600 :shock:!!!!

Can anyone shed some light for me?
Cheers! :)

As a rule it is better to overpower your speakers slightly and conservatively set the gains on the amp than to underpower the speakers and crank the gains right up. As long as you are conservative with setting the gains on the amp your setup should work quite well.

So no, in effect its not a waste to run your pioneers of the Jaycar, in fact its probably just the right sort of power to be giving them :)

Is 75WRMS the most you can get out of a speaker though?

umm, ebay? :confused:

You can feed a lot more than 130wrms into your speakers and they'll be fine. Your amp isn't producing the full 130wrms all the time anyway.

It is better to have some headroom on ur amp and overpower speakers. Phoenix Gold, Diamond, DD, Hertz, JL....u can feed 130wrms into anything from them easily without any trouble.

Headroom is always good, your amp has a good rating for the speakers, as the amp will never be stressed so will always put out clean power.

Ok.. I understand the head room concept...

The issue that I'm having is I regularly turn the HU up to approx 75-80% of full scale. This has caused one of my 6" to lose mid bass... And I was wondering what sort of things to look at to stop this happening in the future.

I was looking at the Jaycar splits which are 75WRMS, or the Pioneer competition splits which are 60WRMS. Any better suggestions?

Whats the budget, there are many better alternatives.

Umm.... Not really fussed atm. I just want some decent speakers that I'm gonna be able to crank up. prolly somewhere around $400....

Don't know if they're still around or how much, but a few years ago I bought a pair of Boston Acoustics Rally series splits for $500. They were the shizzle. Awesome sound quality and best bang for buck by a long shot. Have a hunt around and see if they still make them or if they have a successor for them.

Boston have just updated their product line. I think my price list is out of date now, but their SL65's are RRP'd at $445. Great all-round performer.

Hertz HSK-165's are $385 RRP. Great speaker. Get the 3-way version HSK-163's (Tim's gunna kill me for saying it) and pay $532 RRP. You will probably need to have those 3-ways installed, no easy way about it, but my ears were ringing for a week after I steped out of that car with them installed. F***ing loud and I recommend them for bass-heavy stuff like house, trance, D&B.

Focal 165KV2's are $449 RRP and have a massive following in audioland. You could do much much worse, and probably best SQ and SPL at this price bracket. The 3-ways are considerably more.

Diamond M661's sneak in just under $400, and also could be worthwhile.

Vibe SA-K 60's are $280ish and very nice to listen to is you aren't into the heavy doof doof

Otherwise you will be looking at JL (VR600-CSi), JBL (GTO606 or higher), RE Audio (RE6.5), MTX (do they even make splits???), Audiobahn etc etc for the speakers you can crank hard....

I heard the top-end Cadence splits last week and was mighty impressed with them SPL wise...SQ was not as good as those mentioned up top of this post, but better than the Pioneers, Clarions or Kenwoods.

Alpine R-Types are also worth considering, but they have generally been going downhill the last couple of years. Still great for Head units though.

As always, deaden your doors, Dynamat, Sound-off etc. Put the speakers on MDF mounts. Ask Tim for pics on how to do it. Allow at least what you spend on the speakers for the deadening, de-rattleing etc.

EDIT: FHRX Website currently has the following on special:

Boston Pro6.5 (6.5" & 1" components) $650 (RRP$999) - Ex-demo
If you can stretch the budget to these, you will be going up to the next level.

Morel Elate 6 / Supremo set (6.5" & 1" component set) $899 (RRP$1327) - Ex-demo
Tim will comment on these, but very high end. Probably outta the price possibilites :(

Rainbow CS 365 Profi Kickbass (6" & 4" & 1" component set) $999 (RRP$1488) - New
:drool: these are freaking awesome drivers, and an awesome price, although it is probably outta the question.

Add the MB Quart reference series splits to that list of mitsimonsta's, awesome splits, can handle plenty of power and retail for less than $500.

Cheers for the info... But the question still lives...

How do I get around the 60 - 75WRMS limit? lol

That's the thing that's holding me back... If I go out and spend **** loads on new splits, what's gonna stop them melting coils and stuff when i crank the HU (ie: >75WRMS outta the amp)

Sounds like you need to buy your Fronts, then get your System Level Set and Tuned.. Most Competent Car audio stores can do this..
They will tune the Gains on the amp and your Deck to play nice and Clean and Loud..
Depending on your Location, I am more then sure any of the Helpful Car audio Guys on here could also do it ...


I would Write up how to level set your system but it would take awhile and I am short on time..

Here is a site that may help you a little..

http://www.caraudiohelp.com/car_audio_system/car_audio_system.htm has level setting for Beginners..

Just coz your amp is 75WRMS does npt mean it constanly puts out that figure. Most of the time it will be averaging 50WRMS or so during normal listening.

All those splits mentioned in my post, if they are rated at 60WRMS, then they will happily swallow 100WRMS peaks in your signal. As long as your amp output is a sine wave and not clipped in any way (DC current), your speakers will be fine.

But turning down the gains on your amp is like a dimmer switch.... you are manually turning down the power of the amp so it doesn't blow your speakers.

Trust us.. it's all good. My coaxials in thr front are rated 35WRMS, and they are getting about 50WRMS of clean power and no problems! They are only pioneers... and fairly low end at that.

Where are ya mate?

He is in South Aus... a little too far for us to do a System tune unless he offers to fly us First Class Return Trips..

Gains on an Amp are like the Flood Gates to a Dam,

Open them alittle and the Music power is released a bit at a time Open them Full and you will be Flooded with power which combined with a Clipped Signal can Equal to wiping out a Small Villiage..
Once the damage is done it is time to replace and rebuild..

Amplifiers are never 100% capable of popping out their Max Rated Power, there are variations..
If you run your Amp with Max Gains and Max Bass then the Signal Can clip resulting in the amp putting out a Huge amount of Power which inturn Fries speakers Voice Coils..

The Best way to Provide an Amp with a Clean signal is to have a Deck with High RCA Voltage, Proper wiring an making surew the Amp has access to a Good Clean Power supply...

yeah, hadn't looked.

If you ever drive to Sydney Travis, do drop in on the way. I'm an hour east of Dubbo, but not on the main highway. It's a more scenic route, same distance :D

These are plenty of writeups about how to tune your gains, there involves a couple of ways (one requires a multimeter or even an ocilloscope if your are really crazy), but the best way is with your ears.

Turn everything right down, head unit, amp(s)... the lot.

Turn up your head unit a couple of notches. Turn up the gains on the amp a tiny amount, so you can hear the music or test tones or whatever you are using.

Turn your head unit up. Not to max, but until you can hear distortion. This is head unit distortion, and it's so you know how loud you can have the HU. So, on my HU... max volume is 35 (alpine) but it starts distorting at 31, so 30 is my maximum HU level - i never go abouve this.

now, with your head unit as loud as it will go without distortion, very slowly turn up the gains on your amp (or amps). You really should do this as one speaker (faded left & front, then check right & front) at a time, then as both speakers. turn it up until you hear distortion again. This is the limit of the speaker. turn it down a smidge and that's it. Gains set.

Repeat with the rears (if any) and the sub or subs.

If you have any queries, take it to a reputable audio shop and get them to set the gains and do a basic EQ. They may even do an SPL run for you!

Thats the Good thing about the JVC KDG 615 , it has Two Amp settings on the Deck High and Low, the Deck distorts at Approx Volume 35 , so I set mine onto low and it Cuts the Volume off at 30, Way Loud enough to get the Whole car Cranking without the Fear of sending a Clipped signal even with the Loud Button on !!

So you mean they should be labelled 'loud' and 'SPL burp'???:bowrofl:

Yes, I'd love to be able to set max HU output on my Alpines.... but they are getting old now.

Interesting.. Cheers for that guys! Much appreciated..

I'm looking to get a monoblock amp soon, so I'll probably get that, then head into Autobarn of something and get them to tune it for me! :D