So, I'm pretty sure I'll be going with Diamond Audio S600s components up front, and something lesser in the rear. I also plan to get a JL 450/4 amp. This means my power options are basically:

Front 150 watts, Rear 75 watts, Sub add another amp later
or
Front 75 watts, Rear 27 watts(head unit), Sub 300 watts

My big question is, is it worth running 150 watts to the front speakers? Am I going to notice a difference? I'm thinking there is a point of diminished returns. If it's not significant, I'll stick with just one amp.

BTW, the DA S600s speakers have a rated power handling of 20-170 watts.

Thanks

 

yeah, 75 watts.





sorry I had to!

 

 

He was joking with you...150-75=75 watt difference...



Think about it this way...

You buy tickets to a concert, find a nice spot up in the front and then YOU TURN AROUND. -HUH?

That is basically what you are doing if you have the rear of your car too loud.

It is called "staging" and a good front stage means that you want the majority of your sound to come from in front of you. Speakers in the rear provide a nice fill to even out the cabin, but are not that important.

Since you are investing in quality front speakers, give them the possibility of receiving more power. That way you can turn the gains down, lower the THD and get the most enjoyable sound. It is a two-seater, so dont have to worry about satisying anyone in the back seat.

Bass is not very directional, so you can put your subs in the back. But keep your highs and mids mostly in front of you. Your eardrums will thank you and your music will sound how it was intended- clear and tight.

 

Thanks Jeff, even if I ran 75 watt to the rear I was going to turn the gain down considerably.

More than anything my question was if it was worth running 150 watts to the front speakers, or if 75 watts is enough for the front.

Not even my home speakers get 150 watts (of course, they don't have road noise to fight either, and enclosures optimized for effeciency.)

Thanks!

 

Home audio wattage is MUCH different than car audio.

Actually, you cant even really compare them with a ratio.

Basically, cars run off of a 12-volt (14.4 with the alternator running) power supply and a home uses 110 volt (or 220 volt for true audiophiles/studios/clubs).

A 150 watt home system would cost thousands and thousands.

That is also the reason why home speakers are 8ohm (higher resistance) since there is so much power going to them (even from a cheap 10 watt amplifier).

I would power the front components with the front channels of your 4-channel amp, power the rear speakers with the head unit only, and bridge the rear channels of you amp to the sub.

Ideally, two separate amps would be best, but given what you have (if I understand you correctly), I would opt for the above.

 

I'm not an electrical engineer, but I'm pretty sure that a watt is a watt, no matter where it is.

Watts = amps * volts

Although the amps and volts vary depending on location, the end result is some number of watts.

Or am I missing something?

That said, my home stereo is pushing 110 watts, so it's not that far off. *shrug*

 

Jason,
I want to apologize for somewhat misleading you in trying to oversimplify the difference in between home and car audio wattage declarations.

(This is one of the ways that working in car audio retail has tainted me =)!-even three years later it can bear its ugly head!)

My intention was to let you know that there is no accurate way to compare wattage between home and car audio based on product specifications .

This is largely due to an FTC guideline that regulates what home audio systems can advertise in terms of power output of their amplifiers.

I have included a few links (FYI) that will explain this in further detail if you want.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/1998/9807/63FR37237.pdf

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2000/12/amprule.htm

Car audio manufacturers, however, do not have such a law governing what they can say their product produces.
For this reason, we, as consumers, must be carefull to put too much emphasis on the numbers on the box. Even an RMS rating can be misleading because it usually isolates a single channel, measures that and multiplies it by the number of like channels.
An amplifier with a single powersupply cannot simultanously produce the same power to each channel that it could to a single one by itself.

This is worth reading:
http://www.electronixwarehouse.com/e...er-ratings.htm


So, that being said, my point is(what a tangent)...

If you intention is to have the most enjoyable musical environment in your car (given your equipment), give ample power to the front stage, sufficient power to your subs to allow your subs to perform to your needs and the specs of the subs and enclosure(s), and let the source rear channels- as you claim 27 watt rms (Probably says 60x4 on the box- but is actually closer to 20 watts EACH -RMS to each channel) fill in the rear.

That should be plenty for MOST people and MOST musical preferences. Your equipment, (amps, speakers, alternator, ear drums) will last longer.

PLUS, you can always UPGRADE later.

 

Sweet. That's the kind of detail I like

Thanks for the great info. And I understand the retail thing I had to do that with computers.

After auditioning the Diamond Audio Hex S600s speakers today, I think 75 watts sound just great.