Hi guys,

I went into autobarn and was sold cheaper stuff then I thought i'd get, anyway this is basically what I was told.

Speaker watts, you don't actually even use all of this as the head unit only puts out 4x 50W (is this true for my JVC unit?)
Thus I shouldn't bother with anything too good, I ended up buying like

Clarion 16cm 2 way 180watt speakers for the front (35watt continuous)
Clarious 6x9 2 way 200watt for the back (40 watt continuous)

He basically said RMS is approx the wattage divided by 3

Thus my door speakers are 60w RMS approx
and the backs are like 65w RMS approx

Something about an AMP will double the head unit output (400W clarion amp he showed me, 4 channel) would change the 4x 50w output to 4x 100w output.

Thus there was no reason to get anything better then the speakers I got unless I got an amp and he said even then the speakers would handle the amp.

*is confused*
It made so much sense at the time but can anyone confirm or express what he was telling me. I ended up just trusting him (knowing before hand clarion is pretty good) and going for the gear i got for about 158 all up on special (normally maybe 200+)

I guess I did what he said as why would he have lied to me when I went with the intention and told him I was happy to pay like 400$ (I was lookin at like 189$ clarions at the front when I first entered)

:doubt:

Sounds like an ok deal and what he said is pretty much right.
RMS is the wattage the speaker will take before any distortion begins, whilst studying physics its usually the max divided by 2.something. But it isn't always, depends highly on the speaker quality.
Example my pioneer 6x9's are 200watt max, but can only handle 35/45w rms cant remember which). Headunit put out 4x50w MAX, translate this to RMS and it'd be probably around 20-30w rms per channel depending on the quality of the head unit. So what he was saying was correct, if you only plan to run them off the head unit, theres really no point in getting huge power handlers. But then later if you decide to get serious and want to go amp them, they wont take alot of power (4x100w amp would probably be the biggest, but will sound nice).

Dont buy speakers based on wattage. Factors like sensitivity are far more important, as this will determine how loud your speakers will play.

The Speakers you have Bought are fine... Nothing wrong with Clarion..

How ever The Advice on the Head unit is not quite True....
Your JVC Head unit is 4 x 50W, Meaning Approx 17 W RMS x4...

If You buy an amplifier It does not Amplify the Headunits Power Output..
Amplifiers are run off RCA's which have a Pre-Amp only.. No Amplifications is applied to the Signal.. They are Voltage Dependant.. The Higher the Voltage the Clearer the Signal..

So if you run a 100W x4 Amp then the Power is only what the Amplifier is Capable of Doing EG 100W x4..
Not 100 W x4 Plus Headunit Power..

If Your Headunit has 4 Volt RCA then the Signal will be Cleaner then say a 2 Volt RCA Headunit allowing the Amplifier to Boost the Signal Louder without Distortion..

Dont buy speakers based on wattage. Factors like sensitivity are far more important, as this will determine how loud your speakers will play.


Well said Tim!

It doesnt matter if its a speaker that has a handling of 5W RMS, if you like how it sounds, get it! Even at the top of the range people will have very different opinions just based on personal taste/hearing etc.
Just a quick note on head decks....its pretty rare to see any normal head deck (No built in MOSFET amp or something) put out more than about 10-15 W MAX.....simple electronics/efficiency principles would indicate that a head deck would probably have to be fused at 50 Amps + to put out 50x4 RMS.
Dont be mislead with speakers not being able to handle an amp...its a lie! Most 50W RMS speakers should handle (and will quite often perform better) about 100W RMS.....unless you listen to sine wave test tones (and im sure you dont) it is always FAR better to have more power than needed.....so many systems have been sacrificed by UNDER powered amps clipping into subs...say hello to burnt coils

If Your Headunit has 4 Volt RCA then the Signal will be Cleaner then say a 2 Volt RCA Headunit allowing the Amplifier to Boost the Signal Louder without Distortion..
My head unit box says the following :
2 Line out gold (5v)
Is that the RCA thing? :redface:
Also what would the head unit saying : Subwoofer (5v) mean?

I was about to buy the 400W 4 channel clarion amp while I was there, it was only like $250.

Also, when you say the amp means you have 400W output from it, thus 100W to each of the 4 speakers. Is this 100W max power or 100W RMS?
The reason I ask is because I never see speakers less then like 100W. In which case why would I bother getting say a 180Watt over a 160Watt speaker when they both clearly handle it. Is this why people say don't worry about its max watts?

Anyway, Ill be putting in the head unit and speakers asap. Might see if it sounds good enough and if not ill get an amp, surely then it'll be good enough.

Yes those are your RCA outputs, 2 sets of outputs (1 for rear and 1 for fronts) and a set for a sub (to use with say a monoblock amp).

You can buy the 400W amp, Just set the Gains Low

If you have a 5 Volt RCA output Which it says you have then you will get a Clearer signal to the Amplifier allowing to play Louder..

Setting the Gains low will only allow a Small amount of Amplification to the Signal..
The Gain is not a Volume Knob.. it is only used to Tune the Amplifier so it will send the best signal without Clipping ( Distortion)


When Buying Speakers, Nominal Rating is what to look for..

Nominal Ratings are what the Speaker can Handle on a Continous Basis ..EG 45Watts or 60Watts their Max like 160W or 180W is what their peak is, This is what they can handle for a Fraction of a Second...

When Buying Speakers, Nominal Rating is what to look for..

Nominal Ratings are what the Speaker can Handle on a Continous Basis ..EG 45Watts or 60Watts their Max like 160W or 180W is what their peak is, This is what they can handle for a Fraction of a Second...
So with mine being 35W continuous in the front, 40W continuous in the back.

Does that mean if I got a 400W amp (100W to each speaker) that it's too high for the speakers?

*wished they just released different packs of amp/speaker/head units for dummys like himself*

not quite.
There's no way you'd be able to kill the speakers because they can take over 100w max (that amp is measured as 4x100w MAX, which in RMS value, probably only running 50w RMS per channel. But the only way to play above that would be to set the gains high. Lower the gains and you're laughing.

Actually with a weaker amp you are more likely to ruin your speakers.
Reason being is if this is driven too hard it will distort, at the point of distortion the actual power output jumps up considerably.
Also during distortion your speakers own cooling system (The flow of air around the VC) no longer works. As the speaker is clipped it no longer moves, instead reaching a peak and sitting at that peak then going through the rest of tis cycle.

best bet is always run with a lot of headroom. And set your gains right.

Actually with a weaker amp you are more likely to ruin your speakers.
Reason being is if this is driven too hard it will distort, at the point of distortion the actual power output jumps up considerably.
Also during distortion your speakers own cooling system (The flow of air around the VC) no longer works. As the speaker is clipped it no longer moves, instead reaching a peak and sitting at that peak then going through the rest of tis cycle.

best bet is always run with a lot of headroom. And set your gains right.
Way to confuse a novice :gtfo:
Heheh

I guess when I get an amp I'll know a bit more about setting gains (high/low etc).

I was thinking though, if my worst speaker is 180watt, does that mean I could run with a 720W amp (180x4 speakers) or at least something between that and 400W? Isn't a 400W amp a bit low for the speakers?

Or should I be looking at the lowest "continuous" value of my speakers (35w continuous on the fronts) and then that value 35w x 4 = the rms value for the amp .. ie. 140w rms ~= 420W amp

I just like to look at things in more of a mathmatical way when it comes to justification on whats 'better'.

I understand where you are coming from. The only spec to look at in that regard is RMS. PMPO or Peak is absolutely irrelevent.

But as I said, this wont necessarily relate to a good speaker, any speaker can have a high rms rating, just use thick tinsel leads etc, but if the moving mass is high and if the sensitivity is low then it will just sound like ass.

Best bet is to ignore all the specs and use your ears.