CDT vs pioneer

[VLACS]

whats ur oppinion on these two brands.

and does higher wattage ALWAYS mean that a speaker can go louder than one of lower wattage but same size?

and does the HU affect how loud a speaker can go?

[StoneX]

I can't comment on a brand comparison as I haven't heard any CDT gear, but they have a good reputation in the US. Listen tothem both with your own music and see which suit it.

Wattage is a measurement of power, in this case the measurement of power the speaker can take before it will break. It isn't directly related to how loud they will go but obviously will affect it. Speakers has a rating called "efficiency", this is listed in dB (decibel - what sound is measured in). Under certain conditions the manufacturer measures how loud their speaker plays with a certain power into them, usually 1W, so you can loosely use that as a guide.

BUT... You need to double the power to a speaker to get a 3dB increase. So if a speaker has a efficiency rating of 92dB at 1W, it will do 95dB at 2W, 98dB at 4W, and so on.

So if you have one speaker that has a 89dB rating at 1W and another that has a 92dB rating at 1W, then at 16W one will be at 104dB and the other will only be at 101dB, the second one would need double the power again to be the same volume as the first.

Manufacturers are sneaky though and will fudge their numbers, so you can't trust the numbers 100%... 3dB difference is only minor to our ears anyway.

A head unit amp will affect how loud speakers go by the amount of power it gives out, but from what I said above, you need 2x the power to make it a little bit louder so a "50W" head unit is not going to sound any different to a "55W" head unit.

Also, head unit ratings are done in MAX Watts which is useless, you need to look at RMS or CONTINUOUS ratings. Most head units are between 17-22Wrms.