Car Audio Central - Ultimate Car Audio Forum and Community

Hello everyone,

I've been into this car audio thing alot for about a year but have never had anything other than what I have in my car right now.

The thing is that I hear alot of people talking about how their amp puts out 2000 watts and so on and I also have another friend saying that hes going to get 2 amps that put out 2000 watts.

After hearing all this and doing alot of studying on car audio I'm really not sure what to believe. I don't often see amps and sub that put out that much power so I dont understand why everyone looks at it like its the basic set up. Should I feel completely inferior because I have a 500 watt amp (not bridged)? Or should I test what they really know about everything?

I dont know what to do. It's just frustrating hearing people always talk about how bad ass their system is when I think that their most likely lying. I might sound like a newb or something, but I just need a little reassurance.

Thank you everyone,
Chad

The amount of power is meaningless. It is the install and sound that counts. Most of the time they are talking about max power anyway, just know that they are stupid lol.

Most of the time, they just have crap equipment and have never heard anything else so they think they have the best.

Just spouting off power is weak.

Theres more to it. Like proper equipment utilized and over system design and install.

Who give's a shit? When he asks you how much "power" you're running, tell him not to worry about it and put your systems side by side and blow his ass away. Assuming the guy doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

Yea...i love how car audio newbies think that power is the only thing that matters. Kinda funny actually.
"oh i have 1000 watts so i'll def be louder than you"

Oh well...they will (hopefully) learn one day.


TEDD

The first image is a 1600w amplifier, the second image is a 320w amplifier. The 320w amplifier costs over $500 more then the 1600w amplifier, AND ACTUALLY PRODUCES MORE POWER. Tell your friend's they are idiots. Moe then likely their amps are rated at MAX output (like the first picture) and not true RMS power (the second picture).

Your friends sound like imature highschool kids. Don't even worry about what they tell you. Let them think their system is the Shit, and then when they hear your system, (assuming you have a better system) they will ask you why does yours sounds better with less power and why is yours so clear, and how come mine just rattles and all I hear is distorted bass that doesn't sound like anything? I get that all the time.

On a side note, I'm not trying to Flame you but I thought you might want to know that alot is two words. So if you plan to use alot a lot of the time, you should know how to spell a lot.

Hehe.... I do that alot of times

power ratings can be misleading since many low quality amplifiers use inflated ratings of up to five times their continuous peak output and label the amp as "1600 watts" meaning momentary peak output of combined channels at minimum load when in reality the "1600 watt" amplifier only puts out about 100 watts RMS x 2 channels @ 4 ohms if that.

The best amplifiers will state power in RMS value, usually at a minimum of both 4 and 2 ohm loads, x # of channels along with a THD% value @ 20-20,000Hz.
Without all of this information supplied, the power rating is meaningless. The class of the amplifier will also have an effect on it's output, and what the amp can or can't do.
The FAQ section here covers more information on amplifiers if you're interested.

as for speakers, the power rating of a speaker is strictly a thermal value that tells you how much heat, measured in watts, a speaker's voice coil can handle without incurring thermal damage resulting in a blown speaker. This in no way tells you how much power the speaker actually requires to reach peak output though. That value will depend entirely on enclosure type, speaker design and sensitivity, motor strength, and other factors not so easily plucked from a hat.

The short of it is power ratings or combined power alone is meaningless, in the same way that stating the peak horsepower of your car by itself is meaningless without more information. I've seen systems that supposedly put out 5000 watts according to the owners, and the system sounded weak and poorly designed.
I've done systems well under 1,000 watts total actual RMS power, and they've hit over 140dB on a meter with a perfect sound curve, and the cars sounded terrific, and louder in achievable volume than you'd want to experience in that tight of a space.

My current system, as an example is putting out around 3,680 watts RMS total combined power @ 14.4VDC with <0.01%THD @ 20Hz-20KHz. That's using 8 total speakers, three $1,200 class A/B amplifiers, two dedicated deep cycle batteries, and an alternator 10 times the size of the original factory spec model, in addition to 3 Farads of capacitance, and 0-AWG power cable throughout the car to handle the current demands of these amplifiers, which can exceed 360A.

Now as a final note, keep in mind that when an amplifier, any amplifier, gives you a spec like 50wRMS x 2 @ 4 ohms, that means the amp will put out a total of 100 watts @ 4 ohms continuously (and here's the important part) at full output!
That means volume turned all the way up on the stereo to just shy of clipping, using a signal generator or test tone CD with peak amplitude to drive the amplifier to it's full output.

Every time you double the audible volume of your stereo system, you're using ten times the power to get there.
Now look at that in the other direction, starting with an amp putting out 100 watts total RMS power at full output.
At half volume from peak (audibly, to your ears) you're now using 10 watts of power.
Halve that volume again, to a quarter of full volume (still usually very loud) and now your 100 watt amplifier is putting out about 1 watt of power not accounting for efficiency losses due to power supply.

Point is, no matter what people claim their system power is, chances are they're using nowhere near that much power in their car in reality.
In order to get more than around 300 watts of total real power from a stereo system in a car, most people will need to add a larger alternator, and upgrade their electrical system to handle the current draw. Otherwise their amplifiers will clip, theyr speakers will eventually blow from damage caused by the clipping, and they'll see things like dimming headlights and other similar problems.

I hope this has helped.

Thank you everyone,

I really appreciate the help and this all confirms what i think of these guys. And yeah were all in highschool...kinda sad how helpless us highschool kids are...

PS: I'll keep "a lot" two words for now on. hahahaah