FoxPro5
5,000+ posts
Causal wanderer
Give up the numbers game dude!!! I told you before and I'll tell you again, you need to take into account the efficiency of the speakers. You seem to be stuck on the resistance (8 ohm vs 4 ohm) and it's not all that. Why?
1) The speaker DOES NOT see all that power all the time. A 125 watt per channel amp is CAPABLE of putting out 125 watts, but it simply does not. Music is dynamic. Power is dynamic. Also, unless the amp manufacturer specifically states continuous RMS power, then that amp rating is misleading. The way most people use the term RMS is totally incorrect. RMS power doesn't mean ALL THE TIME! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
2) Your typical Class A/B amp (like all the ones listed so far) is 65% efficient tops. That means you're loosing at least 35% of that power as heat. Wasted energy right into the atmosphere. If you have the amps under your seat though, they're good *** warmers. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif If you actually went out and measured how much power your speakers are getting using your favorite song of all time...with your system playing as loud as you can stand it, you'd probably cry!!!
3) To get a 3dB raise in volume you need to double the power. If you know what a +3dB boost sounds like, you know it's not a lot. You can definitely hear it, but it's not that significant. It's like 3-4 clicks on your HU.
Trust me, I've run an active system for years and have used lots of different drivers. I only say this because I know what it sound like to switch out a tweeter that has a poorer efficiency (NOT RMS RATING) for one that's more efficient and vice versa.
One of the joys of running an active system (or pain in the *** if you look at it that way) is to see how different drivers work in different situations. Take a tweeter that has poor off axis response and mount it off axis and it won't sound that great. Natually, you might be disappointed. Does that mean something's wrong with the tweeter? No, something's wrong with the installer (IE YOU)! Install, Install, Install. And then when you think you've done a good job with that, then there's tuning, tuning, tuning.
Midbass/midrange performance is another story. They RATE the speaker at 80 watts RMS. There's that term again. Can it handle more? You bet your *** it can! The more power you put on it the better it will sound...because most people think louder sounds 'better.' However, a lot of power in the hands of someone that doesn't quite know how to use it right is asking for trouble.
I have 260 watts RMS on my tweeters right now. They are rated for 100 watts RMS. However, they might see 260 watts once every minute or so for a split second. As the waveform changes, so does the voltage. See previous example on HU preamp voltage in this tread.
Rule #1: Power is your friend. Buy as much as you can afford. /story
Is 40 watts ENOUGH for that Seas driver? YES. See previous 3 answers. Will you have an appreciable amount of dynamic headroom? Not really. Any amp can power any speaker, but not every person listening to it will be satisfied with its performance. Car audio is driven by perception as much as physics. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
1) The speaker DOES NOT see all that power all the time. A 125 watt per channel amp is CAPABLE of putting out 125 watts, but it simply does not. Music is dynamic. Power is dynamic. Also, unless the amp manufacturer specifically states continuous RMS power, then that amp rating is misleading. The way most people use the term RMS is totally incorrect. RMS power doesn't mean ALL THE TIME! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
2) Your typical Class A/B amp (like all the ones listed so far) is 65% efficient tops. That means you're loosing at least 35% of that power as heat. Wasted energy right into the atmosphere. If you have the amps under your seat though, they're good *** warmers. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif If you actually went out and measured how much power your speakers are getting using your favorite song of all time...with your system playing as loud as you can stand it, you'd probably cry!!!
3) To get a 3dB raise in volume you need to double the power. If you know what a +3dB boost sounds like, you know it's not a lot. You can definitely hear it, but it's not that significant. It's like 3-4 clicks on your HU.
Trust me, I've run an active system for years and have used lots of different drivers. I only say this because I know what it sound like to switch out a tweeter that has a poorer efficiency (NOT RMS RATING) for one that's more efficient and vice versa.
One of the joys of running an active system (or pain in the *** if you look at it that way) is to see how different drivers work in different situations. Take a tweeter that has poor off axis response and mount it off axis and it won't sound that great. Natually, you might be disappointed. Does that mean something's wrong with the tweeter? No, something's wrong with the installer (IE YOU)! Install, Install, Install. And then when you think you've done a good job with that, then there's tuning, tuning, tuning.
Midbass/midrange performance is another story. They RATE the speaker at 80 watts RMS. There's that term again. Can it handle more? You bet your *** it can! The more power you put on it the better it will sound...because most people think louder sounds 'better.' However, a lot of power in the hands of someone that doesn't quite know how to use it right is asking for trouble.
I have 260 watts RMS on my tweeters right now. They are rated for 100 watts RMS. However, they might see 260 watts once every minute or so for a split second. As the waveform changes, so does the voltage. See previous example on HU preamp voltage in this tread.
Rule #1: Power is your friend. Buy as much as you can afford. /story
Is 40 watts ENOUGH for that Seas driver? YES. See previous 3 answers. Will you have an appreciable amount of dynamic headroom? Not really. Any amp can power any speaker, but not every person listening to it will be satisfied with its performance. Car audio is driven by perception as much as physics. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
