Imagine this scenario:

1) A 20 watt/channel HU is connected to 20 watt speakers. The volume is set to 5.

Q1: If for instance I replace these speakers with 100 watt rms and still play at volume set to 5, what exactly will change?? Yes, the sound quality, but will it be more/less loud?

2) A 20 watt/channel HU is connected to a 100 watt/channel amp and the amp powers the 20 watt speakers. The volume is to 5.

Q2a: What the exact difference will be between scenario 1 and 2 with the same 20 watt speakers set to the same volume?

Q2b: What will change if now I put in the 100 watt speakers? How different it is comparing to the first scenario with 100 watt speakers? More/less loud at the same volume setting?


3) Same as scenario 1, but here we add a little more to the story. The 20 watt speakers get a bass distortion at volume 5.

Q3: Would the 100 watt speakers solve this problem?

I'm a newb in audio, so please forgive me for asking simple questions with probably evident answers to them

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Odessa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Imagine this scenario:

1) A 20 watt/channel HU is connected to 20 watt speakers. The volume is set to 5.

Q1: If for instance I replace these speakers with 100 watt rms and still play at volume set to 5, what exactly will change?? Yes, the sound quality, but will it be more/less loud?
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The sound quality will improve... the volume may or may not change, but it won't be much of a change either way (IE&gt; if the new speakers you installed are more sensitive then they will require slightly less power to produce the same amount of audio level)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
2) A 20 watt/channel HU is connected to a 100 watt/channel amp and the amp powers the 20 watt speakers. The volume is to 5.

Q2a: What the exact difference will be between scenario 1 and 2 with the same 20 watt speakers set to the same volume?
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It all depends on how the gain is adjusted on the amp. if it is set correctly you can look at it like this:

Let say the radio goes from 1 to volume of 20. Let say at 20 it's 20 watts, which would be max power. Now lets say the amp can go from 1 to 100 watts, and it's matched up to the radio so when the radio is at 20 the amp is putting out 100 watts. Then when the radio is at say 5, which would be 5 watts of power, the amp would be feeding the speakers 20 watts.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Q2b: What will change if now I put in the 100 watt speakers? How different it is comparing to the first scenario with 100 watt speakers? More/less loud at the same volume setting?
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The difference here is you'll be able to turn the radio/amp combination up more before you reach the limits of the speakers. With 20 watt speakers, they aren't designed to handle the higher limits like a 100 watt speaker would

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
3) Same as scenario 1, but here we add a little more to the story. The 20 watt speakers get a bass distortion at volume 5.

Q3: Would the 100 watt speakers solve this problem?
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It all depends on what's causing the distortion. If the distortion is comming from the radio being turned up too much, or the bass being adjusted too much and the radio can no longer feed a clean signal to the speakers, then no. Replacing the speakers in this situation will not help anything, as the audio being fed into the speakers is distorted its self. Now if it's because the speakers are being pushed past their limits, then yes, new speakers will help to an extent.

 

nothing to add.

94

 

Thanks for clarifying this to me! As for the third scenario and question, how exactly would I know what causes the distortion? I have a pioneer deh-p8600mp which is a really good unit...do you think this would cause the distortion? And for the speakers I have a 6x9 stock prelude speakers that are 20watt (not sure if it's peak or rms) with 2ohm...and the fronts are stock 15watts I believe. Both of them distort when I turn up the volume, especially if I add bass with EQ. I guess my speakers are not that good for the unit...am I right? How many watts would I need to get rid of the distortion if that's the case?? Something higher than my unit outputs?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Odessa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for clarifying this to me! As for the third scenario and question, how exactly would I know what causes the distortion? I have a pioneer deh-p8600mp which is a really good unit...do you think this would cause the distortion? And for the speakers I have a 6x9 stock prelude speakers that are 20watt (not sure if it's peak or rms) with 2ohm...and the fronts are stock 15watts I believe. Both of them distort when I turn up the volume, especially if I add bass with EQ. I guess my speakers are not that good for the unit...am I right? How many watts would I need to get rid of the distortion if that's the case?? Something higher than my unit outputs?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The speakers you have might be going past their mechanical limits when you add the extra bass, or the radio its self could be causing the distortion. The amp inside your radio isn't really that big at all, and the power supply for it is equally small. This means it can't produce a lot of power, and when you turn up the bass more the demand on the internal amp increases significantly.

 

But how can a radio overpower the radio amp? Isn't it designed to work together and not overpower the amp?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Odessa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But how can a radio overpower the radio amp? Isn't it designed to work together and not overpower the amp?</TD></TR></TABLE> Too much input into the amp is not good , oversaturation. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Odessa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But how can a radio overpower the radio amp? Isn't it designed to work together and not overpower the amp?</TD></TR></TABLE>


nope, car audio isn't like home audio yet. In home audio, they pretty much all agreed to use a certain Pre-Amp output voltage level (IE&gt;&gt; the RCA lines product the same voltage between -infinity and 0 dB.. when it's turned all the way down and all the way up on the source unit.

Car audio doesn't have this "standard" which is why you have to adjust the gains on your amp.