a bit confused about wattage

[wednesdayslatest]

alright so ive got a boss 320W head unit for my car i just got two 1000W speakers and they dont sound that loud compared to the old speakers but the old ones arnt 320 or 250.... i believe on the unit it says 250x4 even though its a 320W radio i havnt pulled it out in a while...anyways...


ive been looking for a better radio to handle these speakers cuz i want a real big kick from them....

now that i think about it im starting to think that i need to hook the speakers upto an amp instead of the radio....

i have an amp 800watt orion cobaltbut im not sure if i can hook the speakers upto that ALSO i have a 250 watt amp a small one givin to me.... the thing is i like the cobalt amp because it had a nob i can control the bass so its nice.....


also another thing i was thinking about was to get new speakers that match the watt maybe itll bump loud but im still not sure if id get a better kick from just connecting them to the amp.....

if someone can help clarify a few things for me on this because ive hooked up amps before its just when it comes to this technical stuff i havnt learned anything

[mx3matt]

you need to clarify more of what you have.

so you've got a ridiculously overrated head unit, and i head unit alone will never power 1000w speakers.
what you ideally need to do is power the 1000w subwoofers off a seperate amp and take the plunge and purchase a 4 channel amp for your door and rear speakers.

do a lil more research into car audio and you'll start to learn more of what you need.
you sound quite unsure of what your car audio needs are, and you need really need to do your homework or audio will be nothing but a let down.

[Redline322]

The highest rating I've ever seen on a head unit is like 65x4 and those are all peak ratings, the numbers that really matter is the RMS number, which can be anywhere from 20-50% of the peak rating. Either way, with 1000 watt speakers you need an amp, look for something in the 500-1000 watt range, 4 channel would be your best bet so that you can add on another pair down the road.

[Evo_Spec]

if you really want to power your speakers even close to their potential, you're going to be spending a pretty penny because high wattage 4 channel amps don't come cheap.
you might be able to save some change by running your front speakers with a 2 channel amp and just run your rears off your head unit since you don't NEED to power the rears but that's up to you

[wednesdayslatest]

yeah i was talking to my boy i dont want to get an amp to power my speakers at least not now.....

its a discontinued boss 840ubi head unit

it says 320W im not sure what its pushing out exactly per speaker....

so i kinda figured that but my boy had to tell me that

so ultimately my question was after that realization is what watt peak speakers SHOULD i get for the head unit?

if it says 250x4 do i get 250 watt speakers? or can i go higher? 300w? 400w? 450w? 500w?

at least for now i want to control just the subs with my amp i have an orion cobalt amp and i got two JL audio 10 inch subs

i really just want the best speakers for the best kick for my head unit the loudest i can get it without blowing the speakers.

so ideally what wattage head unit should i get would you say? because i need to get another one for my other car i dont wanna spend a lot on the head but i want it to have enough power to at least bump a little. i dont care about the other car its a civic im going to sell it i just need a radio in it with an aux port to play music no subs in that civshit just fixing to sell it

but yeah looks like ill put the 1000W speaks away for my future system but for now id rather not spend all that money

[wednesdayslatest]

and im assuming since the amp says mono block its not good for speakers only for bass co800.1 is the model number im really not looking to speak much more money on the system but i do want to make it loud so my only thing is i just want to get some new speakers that will max out the power of the head unit rather then go above and beyond. the ones i had in there before was 190peak per speaker they were loud but not loud enough

[Evo_Spec]

I did my best to try and answer these, it was actually kinda difficult cause i'm tired, you asked a bunch of questions and don't fully understand car audio lol

it says 320W im not sure what its pushing out exactly per speaker....
Power Output:

Peak: 80 watts x 4 channels
RMS: 17 watts x 4 channels

so ultimately my question was after that realization is what watt peak speakers SHOULD i get for the head unit?

if it says 250x4 do i get 250 watt speakers? or can i go higher? 300w? 400w? 450w? 500w?
Now i'm not 100% with my car audio so i don't know if it's true but IMO it's always better to overdrive your speakers than it is to overdrive your amp or head unit because speakers are much cheaper to replace rather than an amp or head unit.
The wattage is more of a limit rather than something you match, it's not something that speakers are always running at, it's the peak wattage so they'll normally run at 25%-50% if that for most of it's life.
For example, if i have a 500w amp, i can run a 200w speaker just fine for years, UNLESS you crank it up to the point where it's exceeding 200w for prolong periods of time, that'll melt the coils in the speakers
To actually answer your question though, if you're just going to run stuff off your head unit, just get 150-200w speakers as those are normally whats available, if you can find something lower i'd say go for it since it'd probably be cheaper.

i really just want the best speakers for the best kick for my head unit the loudest i can get it without blowing the speakers.
you generally don't have to worry about blowing speakers with a head unit

so ideally what wattage head unit should i get would you say? because i need to get another one for my other car i dont wanna spend a lot on the head but i want it to have enough power to at least bump a little. i dont care about the other car its a civic im going to sell it i just need a radio in it with an aux port to play music no subs in that civshit just fixing to sell it
You're not really going to get much power from a head unit, but my head unit is only 22rms and i can get those pretty loud before they start distorting so maybe the magnet on your 1000w's are just too strong for the head unit to move

but yeah looks like ill put the 1000W speaks away for my future system but for now id rather not spend all that money
you could run those with a small amp, your head unit only has 17w rms so even getting just some normal amp should be just fine, they normally push 50-100w rms each channel.
Finding an amp that'll run those speakers near it's peak on the other hand will cost you a left nut.

im assuming since the amp says mono block its not good for speakers only for bass co800.1 is the model number
Yes, mono blocks are for subs, unless you wanna drive one speaker lol

im really not looking to spead much more money on the system but i do want to make it loud
you gotta pay to play lol

so my only thing is i just want to get some new speakers that will max out the power of the head unit rather then go above and beyond. the ones i had in there before was 190peak per speaker they were loud but not loud enough
if you're so caught up on loudness, your going to have to get an amp because head units just don't have the power to move the speakers enough without distorting.

honestly man you should really look this up cause this stuff is like car audio 101, here's a link that should help you.
http://www.civicforums.com/forums/219-i ... 101-a.html

[wednesdayslatest]

ill read that link later thank you. but ultimately you answered the question already....

150 to 200W speakers for my car but like i said i already have 190w peak per speaker before that.....so really if i put 250W or 300W per speaker peak. it wouldnt be good? because thats the only difference between what you guys have been saying and my boy. he was saying i can put upto like 450W per peak off my head unit.

i just need to figure what speakers to get to match the loudness. the rear speakers are fine. i got them 60 bucks sony xplodes im not sure they might be 190 or 180W per speaker

all i need to know is search specs for ebay so i can buy some new speakers soon at least for the time being. i need to figure out why my car sputters and wants to die sometimes. i looked last night the oil is really bad so hopefully that will help the problem a little but thats another topic on another forum. im goign to try and fix that first unless i get stuck or lost ill be back on askin for help on that but for now im going to change a few things and see what happens lol

[Evo_Spec]

getting higher powered speakers isn't going to help you one bit if your gonna run them off your head unit, it's only going to hinder you more from your goal.

These are the stats for your head unit, they're not just stuff i made up.
Power Output:

Peak: 80 watts x 4 channels
RMS: 17 watts x 4 channels

so that means you get 80w max for a short burst, and 17w continuous. If you crank it up then maybe you'll be pushing around 50w.

Honestly just use your 190w speakers, getting a higher wattage speaker won't help.
i think your perception of loud is different from mine because i only have 22w rms and it's perfectly fine for me, a 5w difference is really small. To achieve your goal, you're going to HAVE to get an amp man, simple as that.

this is all the help i'm offering as the answer is that simply you need to get an amp.

[SuperK]

I would advise only going with the RMS wattage of both the speakers and the amp. Peak wattage is a gimmick and manufacturers use "peak wattage" to overpromote their cheap worthless speakers and amps.

[wednesdayslatest]

getting higher powered speakers isn't going to help you one bit if your gonna run them off your head unit, it's only going to hinder you more from your goal.

These are the stats for your head unit, they're not just stuff i made up.
Power Output:

Peak: 80 watts x 4 channels
RMS: 17 watts x 4 channels

so that means you get 80w max for a short burst, and 17w continuous. If you crank it up then maybe you'll be pushing around 50w.

Honestly just use your 190w speakers, getting a higher wattage speaker won't help.
i think your perception of loud is different from mine because i only have 22w rms and it's perfectly fine for me, a 5w difference is really small. To achieve your goal, you're going to HAVE to get an amp man, simple as that.

this is all the help i'm offering as the answer is that simply you need to get an amp.

okay no you made it very simple. right so the max for my head unit peak per speaker is 80w anything above that will be too powerful correct?

i have already found an amp...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOSS-AUDIO-Riot ... ceRpt=true

1000w sound good?

i really just wanted to know if it would be worth it but no with the 190w as it was i couldnt get any better i needed something less to match it up. i dont understand the RMS part so incase your wondering where im coming from on that....

this kids speakers sounded louder then mine and now i know why LOL so what would be the best thing to go with that amp?

[wednesdayslatest]

I would advise only going with the RMS wattage of both the speakers and the amp. Peak wattage is a gimmick and manufacturers use "peak wattage" to overpromote their cheap worthless speakers and amps.

yeah i really dont get what rms is though. and when i look up specifics i look up peak watt and rms as well? because when i search i look by the wattage not by the brand name....

[wednesdayslatest]

also with all that in mind about the rms and wattage. some speakers i notice have a better bass sound then others....how is that factor in? if im going to pump an amp up into these speakers i wanna know theyll be able to handle the bass as well as the mid and hi

[SuperK]

you have to start researching outside this forum. There's no "easy answer"

You have no clue about speakers, wattage and how they all work. You have the internet at your fingertips and this all can be explained.

speakers have a specific frequency range they function at. You can have a speaker with a very low frequency range for bass, but that doesn't mean crap if the driver cannot replicate the sound properly. sound quality comes from quality sound replication. Quality sound replication comes from a solid, smart, well built driver. This means that you have to pay attention to more than just frequency numbers and wattage. If you're shopping for sound equipment by "wattage numbers" Ur Doin It Rong.

Shopping by wattage gets even more confused when a properly built driver is more efficient than a cheap one.

"Shopping by brand" as you call it isn't the definite answer but it's a better answer than shopping by wattage. You have to take both your wattage and your efficiency into play. a amp that's putting out 90 watts but only acheives 60% efficiency is the same as an amp that puts out 60 watts at 90% efficiency. Efficiency is based on the quality circuitry and transformers used to create the amp.

And generally speaking, a 1000watt amp at 50 bucks is going to be using very cheap components, and why there's no efficiency ratings on that page.

You have to beware of marketing gimmicks and ploys and number games. They prey on kids who are naive and want to have a number penis measuring contest. "My wattage is bigger than yours" Just because you measure it from the base doesn't mean it's longer than it actually is.

So no, this kid's speakers sounded louder than yours and you don't know why.

There are plenty of sites that give introductory explanations of how amps and speakers work and what to look for. check out how stuff works, do google searches, check out buying guides. You'll get your answer.

[wednesdayslatest]

okay so i took a little time to read over that car audio 101 so dont give me any s--- haha i search for everything online id just rather get a persons thoughts on it rather.... anyways

so i see that the amp i posted
Boss R2504 1000 Watt 4 Channel Car Amplifier

90 Watt x 4 Channel @ 4 Ohm RMS Power
250 Watt x 4 Channel @ 2 Ohm Max Power
500 Watt x 2 Channel @ 4 Ohm Max Bridged Power

cheap parts or not im looking at this information

it says to me that its constantly pushing 90 watt per 4 speakers and 250 max. now for this system if i wanted to connect it i would need 250 peak per speaker correct?

if thats the case i need to look at the speakers i got to see the specs but reguardless i have been searching for 1000w amps and i notice that the best they can produce is 250 4 channel and 500 2 channel so i searched for a 2000w amp and the best it can produce is 500 4 channel and 1000w two channel.....

am i going to high with that? i seen some for decent prices but if thats the case and i cant produce 1000w per 4 channel then that means i need to get all new speakers too huh? depending on the amp that i get i dont need a 5 channel ill use this mono block for my subs it might even be too big to fit in the mx3 so i might have to look for a single 12 but for now i want to look into getting an amp and speakers do i really need to push past 2000watt amp? i just dont want to get something so powerful and somehow blow out my speakers