kiwi biker Double D (dirt div)
whats all the stuff on car speakers about the wattage about?
i got some for the van and on box it says peak 300w and then something else about 60w
so is that just saying they are 60w speakers?
also do the wires have to be hooked up in a certain way or can i just hook up the wires upo to any terminal. eg i have the 2 wires for say left rear and can they go on any terminal on speaker or is there like a positive and negative? i just hooked them up and they run ok.
cheers
Forum whore
The wattage is the amount of power the speaker can handle, before it starts to damage itself. To make speakers, and amps for that matter sound like they are better than they are, manufacturers rate them all sorts of ways, peak and PMPO being favorites. The only one with real cred. is good old power in watts, normally called RMS power for AC stuff.
Your speakers will run either way around. But they ARE designed with a POS and a NEG, it will written on them somewhere, or the terminals may be different sizes. If you get it right, the speakers will operate in phase, and will sound better.
David must play fair with the other kids, even the idiots.
Don't forget to bring a towel
Forget about PMPO. It's a fictitious figure that cheap audio hardware is rated by the manufacturers to grossly overstate the actual power output. RMS is the true power output.
Moped rider
200w is peak power, in terms of volume it does not mean much. Greater volume is determined by greater RMS value. RMS is basically 'the level of heat that will be generated by the device if using Direct current (like from a batter). Speakers use Alternating current signals (like your house mains is AC).
In short RMS is the value you look at, peak power doesn't mean much, but its a bigger number so used for advertising.
111000101000100010011110
yeh well said above, PMPO don't mean shit, RMS values are only ones worth looking at. The good thing is is that PMPO are usually about 10x more, so easy to tell the difference. Amplifiers usually give thier rating in RMS, and crap speakers normally give it in PMPO.
"A shark on whiskey is mighty risky, but a shark on beer is a beer engineer" - Tad Ghostal
Rider in training
+1. Agreed.Originally Posted by davereid
While the speakers will run conncted up either way, you want to consistently connect the "positive" wire to the same terminal each time. Otherwise the speakes may move their cones 180 degrees out of phase, which effectively opposing speakers cancel each other out, meaning in theory it doesn't sounds as good.
Rasta Ratskins
PMPO sounds better
Only a Rat can win a Rat Race!
kiwi biker Double D (dirt div)
cheers for the help.
if i swap my wires around on each speaker will a dumb arse like me be able to hear the difference if they are running right?
also are amps really worth it for driving speakers?
i have a rear set of speakers in the van already and want to put another pair further back. do i just run a loop from the first set of rears to the further back set.? or do i just hook my further back rears into the normal rear set so it would look like a figure 8?
sorry if this dont make sense .
and will that be ok on my head unit.
111000101000100010011110
yeh that doesn't make a lot of sense, don't go doubling up speakers on same wires though, changes the impedance. You probly don't need an amp as most modern head unit will supply plenty of power. Also i found in my van, the acoustics are terrible, the road noise at speed almost drowns out the rear speakers and my front ones have bugger all bass. Though I have an 90 L300 with bugger all sound deadining in the floor and panels, but you prolly want to consider such things when setting up yours.
"A shark on whiskey is mighty risky, but a shark on beer is a beer engineer" - Tad Ghostal
Rider in training
This dumb arse can't hear the difference. But speaker wires usually have a stripe on them, and the speaker terminals often have something different about one of their connecting terminals. So just make sure you connect the stripe to the same terminal each time.
Wow, tough questions. Obviously an amp can drive bigger speakers. Amps often provide better low down frequency response (that mans better bass). Amps often have lower distortion than the head unit at a comparable volume output.
But if your only ever listening to your head unit at less than half power and your happy with the sound then an amp isn't going to make much of a difference.
It is starting to sound like you need an amp (sounds like you want more volume). So will this be a total of 4 or 6 speakers in the vehicle (are there some front speakers)?
Note that you may find it easier to just replace the rear speakers with bigger/better quality units, and drive them with an amp. You might be able to get away with a new head unit with a higher power output as well (something with 4x30W for example).
Basically you can wire the speakers in parallel or series. But you need to consider the ohm rating of the speakers, and what the head unit was designed for, or the amp if you have one. For example, if you connect them in parallel and drop the ohm's down to 2 from 4, then you can only run the head unit/amp at half load or you risk "cooking" it.
I think you'd be best popping down to a specialist car audio shop, and making sure you get an amp and speaker combination to match rather than risk an expensive mistake.
kiwi biker Double D (dirt div)
yeah the van does have a fair amount of noise at speed and i agree it masks alot of the music.
i had alook at some sound deading stuff called dynamat but it will be super expensive to do the whole van.
i thought about putting down some underlay and carpet on top but not sure how much this would block out road noise.
hey thanks eveyonr for all the help.
all the ohm stuff is way over my head
Rider in training
Dynamat is pretty much one of the best solutions out there. I've only seen it used on the inside panels of cars (mostly doors), but I guess in a van your just as likely to get road noise from below.
Sounds insulating a van is probably going to be difficult. I suspect th eunderlay would work reasonably well. Just thinking laterally, I'd be tempted to go to a carpet store and ask what noise insulating options they have.
111000101000100010011110
I just got some cheap washable carpet from bunnings, so i can load my bike in wet or dirty or whatever. Sound deading properties probly crap, but it'd be a mission to retrofit a van with decent sound properties anyway.
"A shark on whiskey is mighty risky, but a shark on beer is a beer engineer" - Tad Ghostal
Double shot!!
Yes. Play a passage of music with a smooth continuous bassline, and swap the polarity of one speaker. One polarity setting will have quite an obviously louder and deeper bass to it. Bass is very sensitive to phase.
Yes. Amps make a big difference, particularly so with a quality amp, speakers, and headunit. Most low quality amps (in headunits) are more focussed on maximum WRMS output, as this is a very sales-sensitive parameter, whereas no one really cares about lack of bass extension or muddied midrange from output stage phase errors.
Not if you want to beat the shit out of it - you will heat the headunit up badly and probably break it.
Rear speakers are just for fill anyway. Your main soundstage should be up front. A set of 6.5 component speakers with crossovers and a quality 50WRMS will be great.
Steve
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If you can stretch the budget get Dynamat, it's the shizz.
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