New speakers need an amp, but i dunno what im doing!

[2005vzute]

G'day all,
sorry for the essay im about to write ya's, but im in a bit of a pickle.

so i've put in my new soundstream rubicon speakers and tweaters...150watt rms...i've had a lot of help from you guys about how i go about installing them with the crossover etc and it got me through and they work...although im not very happy with them...they actually sound worse then my original speakers in my opinion...as soon as i put a bit of bass on, all clarity goes out the window...so my assumption is that these speakers need to be amplified (i know they need to be to get maximum performance).

would the speakers being un amplified contribute to why they sound so shitty?...what amp would i need anyways..i've been told to run something less then 150 watt rms so i don't blow the speakers, ive been told to run more then 150 watt rms so i don't overload the amp with heat so it shits itself etc

and now im rather confused as to what to use and what wattage and a rough price...i am looking at getting a sub later on though, so depending on the price of this amp to power the speakers may determine whether i get a bigger amp to power the speakers plus the sub i get later on aswell.

could someone shed some light please!

cheers everyone

 

[Fun_Bucket]

Yes you will need to amplify them.

2 things cause a speaker to distort.

1 - The speaker reaches it mechanical limits, or it's power handing, and can no longer produce sound without distortion.

2 - The amplifier that is powering the speakers, (in this case your head units in built amplifier) reaches it's limit, and can no longer deliver a clean signal to your speakers. The signal becomes distorted, and your speakers now produce that distorted signal. It dosen't matter whether your talking $20 speakers or $5000 speakers, a speaker produces the signal you send it.

In your case it is number 2. Typical power output from most head unit's is around 12-15 watts rms give or take. Your speakers are rated to over 10 times that amount. So right now you getting 12-15 watts rms of clean signal power, then beyond that all you will get is distortion.

So yes you need an amplifier. Who ever told you that over "x amount" of power will blow speakers has no clue what they are talking about. Music is dynamic, and it dosen't matter how much extra power you have. Any extra power is just translated into head room. If a speaker blew from over powering you wouldn't be listening to music, it would be full on distortion until the speaker finally gave up and either blew a surround, or melted a voice coil.

The Rubicon's aren't bad, set correctly with a high pass filter and with sufficient power, would provide more than enough volume for your average listener.

 

[2005vzute]

wow, i need 10 times more power...hehehe, sounds like fun when its running haha..so with the spekers being 150watt rms, what amplifier do i need to power it to get maximum performance...do i need a 150+ watt rms amplifier?....now, i dunno if im getting confused with a sub or not..but i've heard/read ( i may have misunderstood) that you don't need to go up to the same wattage as your speakers/sub because they don't play at their full potential all the time..so if you had 150 watt rms speakers, you don't need a 150 watt rms amp because the speakers don't play using 150 watts the whole time or some **** like that..i dunno haha

 

[2LOUD2OLD]

another thing that could be contributing could be lack of high pass filter, resulting in the speakers trying to play outside of their bandwidth.
you should hopefully be able to set this on your headunit depending on model, or an amp will provide this.

 

[ChoCo94]

ahh im having the same problem i have a Pioneer DEH-5250SD deck and JL Audio C2-600X coaxials and when i crank it up on the bass and volume it goes all distorted

 

[Fun_Bucket]

You don't need an amplifier that produces the entire rated input power of the speakers, you can run a set of speakers off as much, or as little power as you like. BUT if you want to get the most out of them, then yes an amp that atleast provides the rated input power is prefferable.

When your running a HPF as mentioned above, the power handling of the speakers is also increased even further because they aren't having to produce low fq's.

Yes it is true that the speakers will not play using the whole output of the amplifier most of the time, this is what is meant by the term music is dynamic. However if the amplifier does not have enough power, then you will run into the same sort if issues as what you are currently experiencing now only at louder volume levels when you reach the amps output levels.

I've always gone for a lot of head room with my amps, currently i have 300 rms either side, allthough my speakers are only rated to 150 rms. It basically means that when called upon, my amplifier can deliver as much power as the speakers will handle, yet it has enough in reserve that the signal never becomes distorted. I can reach the speakers limits rather than reaching the amps limits which is the difference between 1 & 2 as mentioned above.

How much do you want to spend on an amp?

 

[anfo]

it'll sound sweet

 

[Fun_Bucket]

ahh im having the same problem i have a Pioneer DEH-5250SD deck and JL Audio C2-600X coaxials and when i crank it up on the bass and volume it goes all distorted

Where only talking 6'' speakers here, take into account their fq response. You shouldn't be making adjustments to the bass settings as it is anyway. Speakers of this size are best left to producing fq's around 80hz and above, using a high pass filter. If you want emphasis on low fq's then obviously this is what a sub is for. Like 2LOUD said your sending them fq's outside of their bandwidth.

 

[2005vzute]

i see i see..even though i have little idea about this, its making sense to me haha...well i want an amp thats gunna give me maximum output of my speakers so they can play pretty loudly without distortion..im often at parties where we crank the music for a lil bit or hangin with mates in the tray so i wanna be able to pump it for a while without distorting the sound..so whatever gets me outta trouble there..i was at autobarn the other day just havin a quick squiz and i was quoted 350 watt rms 4 channel pioneer amp for 320 i think it was, but the guy couldn't explain to me why i needed 350 watt rms so i thought i'd ask you guys first...

so pretty much whatever gets the speakers playing at their max without any stuff ups for a minimal amount of dough..but if it is gunna cost a truckload of cash..i'll get an amp i can use for now to power the speakers, but will also have plenty of power left to power a sub when i get one (put the money towards a bigger amp)

 

[Fun_Bucket]

The guy from Autobahn couldn't explain it to you because he is a tool and can't tell the difference between a spark plug and right foot.

You have 2 choices -

Buy a high power 2 channel amp, or
Buy a reasonable powered 4 channel amp and bridge it to 2 channel mode

I would go with the second option as it will most likely work out cheaper for you.

Remember that you will need a wiring kit also. What's the budget? $150 - 200 would get you out of trouble.

No need to go spending any more than that really as your not likely to pick any audible difference with an amp worth twice as much in a simple passive application.