Ok here's my question, I have a comp. set of Diamond Audio M661 speakers that can handle 20-170 Watts. I have a 4 channel Eclipse 32440 amp rated @ 4x85 W @ 4 ohms. I plan to bridge it giving me 2x240 W @ 4 ohms. Is this too much power for my speakers? I'll probably have to set the gains down. I have heard about having 'headroom'. could someone explain this please.


thanks
o_O

 

Well, it probably won't kill your speakers. You can feed most speakers a bit more power than the manufacturers recommend. You might shorten their useful life if you run them really hard. The other thing is that you'll only rarely hit 240 watts - consider that I can hit 110 db in my car with a 35w x 4 Crossfire running 4 6.5 JL VRs and a 200w Lightning to my MicroSub. Just for reference, 120 db is the threshold of pain. 110 db is still very dangerous.

The other thing to consider is that bridging your amp will give the sound a "rough" quality. The extra internal electronics get thrown into the mix in bridging add quite a bit of noise to the signal. You should have more than enough headroom at 85w RMS in a car - and better sound to boot. HTH.

 

If you are worried and the speakers are bi-ampible you may be able to give them 85 each(170 per component set).

 

Definitely overpower them...

Wattage ratings on speakers are nothing more than the ability to properly dissipate heat. As long as the signal is clean, you really have nothing to worry about. I'd be more worried about underpowering and sending distorted signals to them than overpowering. This allows you to push the speakers well without pushing your amp. Go for it...

 

Thanks for the input, I'll bridge it and keep my gains down.