Peak and RMS

[Micce]

So my speakers have an RMS of 50w, and a peak of 250w, should I run them at exactly 50w RMS or some where between the peak and RMS?

[paki]

its recommended that you run it +/- 5% of 50 watts RMS.. or at least thats what kewlkat told me a while back. If you run it at peak power, you'll blow that thing faster than you can say half of the f word.

[hyunelan2]

Yes, from my nowledge you want to match the RMS of the speakers to the RMS output of the Amp. You can always scale the amp back a little bit too, so if you have 2 choices and one is too much, and one is not enough, go bigger, and just drop the gain a little...

but as I always say, I'm not the car audio guy that some people here are, so see what everyone else has to say.

[coco]

Peak power ratings refer to the amount of power an amplifier produces, or a speaker can handle, for a brief musical burst — like the crack of a kick drum. RMS power describes the amount of continuous power an amplifier produces, or a speaker can handle. The RMS power rating is always the more significant number, as it is a more accurate reflection of a component's performance in daily use. when matching up an amp to power the speakers look at the rms output of the amp not the peak power.Also, keep in mind that some manufacturers calculate the RMS power ratings of their amplifiers at different input voltages. For example, an amplifier rated at 100 watts RMS at 12 volts can produce considerably more power than an amp rated at 100 watts RMS at the more typical 14.4 volts.

[Micce]

Sweet, my amps going to push 50w RMS x4 chan, and my speakers are 50w RMS each :p

BUT, i just saw that my HU says 18w RMSx4... making me think that the HU pushes out 18w to the speakers, along with my amp?

[paki]

18w would be without the amp

when you use the amp, it uses the RCA outs on the back of the deck and overrides any stock amp (the 18w rms one)

[coco]

the 18w rms is on the speaker high-level outputs and not the RCA outputs. the power will be different the more volts coming out of ur RCA pre-outs the clearer and louder signal the amp will receive

[Micce]

Alright, thanks a bunch guys!! :D

[coco]

no prob man.... ask away that what we're here for lol

[CTele02]

I heard that crossovers allow speakers to handle more watts and give a cleaner sound with those more watts available even though they arent being used.

[chaos GT]

I heard that crossovers allow speakers to handle more watts and give a cleaner sound with those more watts available even though they arent being used.
a crossover basically filters out frequencies above or below a certain point depending on the type. a low pass crossover (lpf) only lets the frequencies below the cutoff point through, while a high pass crossover (hpf) does just the opposite.

for typical speakers (2,3,4 way coaxials) using a high pass crossover to remove the deep bass from the signal will usually allow the speaker to play louder before it starts to distort. the exact point at which to set the crossover depends on several factors, but typically something between 60-240 is good for coax speakers depending on their size. the smaller the speaker, the higher the crossover point you should use.

[coco]

a crossover basically filters out frequencies above or below a certain point depending on the type. a low pass crossover (lpf) only lets the frequencies below the cutoff point through, while a high pass crossover (hpf) does just the opposite.

for typical speakers (2,3,4 way coaxials) using a high pass crossover to remove the deep bass from the signal will usually allow the speaker to play louder before it starts to distort. the exact point at which to set the crossover depends on several factors, but typically something between 60-240 is good for coax speakers depending on their size. the smaller the speaker, the higher the crossover point you should use.

but the RMS will ALWAYS be the same because it has to do with how the speaker is designed

[chaos GT]

but the RMS will ALWAYS be the same because it has to do with how the speaker is designed

^^^ very true, just sometimes you can get a little more volume out of speakers by removing the deep bass from them. and if you have subs, why bother having a little 6.5" woofer try to play the same thing.

[coco]

^^^ very true, just sometimes you can get a little more volume out of speakers by removing the deep bass from them. and if you have subs, why bother having a little 6.5" woofer try to play the same thing.

yes but volume is different from RMS, lets take this for example:

30watts RMS of mids,high, and bass sounds is 30W RMS.
30watts RMS highs only is 30W RMS.
30watts RMS bass only is 30W RMS.
so no matter what kind of sounds u put thru the speaker the RMS will ALWAYS be the same.

what ur talking about is different because u remove the bass u can turn up the volume that doesnt mean i can pump 40 W RMS, just because i removed the bass, to a speaker that is rated @ 30W RMS no way not gonna happen well it can but be ready to get a new speaker. WATTS is different from VOLUME. removing the bass just makes the cone have less movement less thus gettin rid of the distortion.

[chaos GT]

yes but volume is different from RMS, lets take this for example:

30watts RMS of mids,high, and bass sounds is 30W RMS.
30watts RMS highs only is 30W RMS.
30watts RMS bass only is 30W RMS.
so no matter what kind of sounds u put thru the speaker the RMS will ALWAYS be the same.

what ur talking about is different because u remove the bass u can turn up the volume that doesnt mean i can pump 40 W RMS, just because i removed the bass, to a speaker that is rated @ 30W RMS no way not gonna happen well it can but be ready to get a new speaker. WATTS is different from VOLUME. removing the bass just makes the cone have less movement less thus gettin rid of the distortion.

i never stated that volume was the same as rms. i agreed with everything you said and i still do. volume is a function of the power handling of the speaker as well as it's sensitivity.