head unit too powerful for stock speakers

[fazio93 10+ year member]

I have stock speakers in my '05 Corolla and a JVC 20 W RMS x 4 head unit. The head unit has an amp gain feature:

"Amplifier Gain Control: When you are using the head unit with factory speakers (or those rated to less than 50 watts peak), the Amplifier Gain Control can limit the amount of power being sent to those speakers. When the Amp Gain Control is set to low, the volume control ranges from 0 (minimum) to 30 (maximum). When using speakers rated higher than 50 watts peak, you can set the Amp Gain Control to high, and the volume control will range from 0 to 50."

Would it be safe to use the high power setting? I had it set on the low power and cranked it up to te max 30 and I didn't hear any distortion at all. But are my stock speakers safe if they are rated about 15 W RMS (as most stock speakers are approx.) with the head unit powering its full 25 W RMS? I have read online of people that power their stock speakers with 100W amps with no problem. As long as I don't start hearing distortion I am safe right?

Thanks

Click to read more...

 

[av8ter 10+ year member]

If that headunit has a HPF(High Pass Filter), try and activate it. The speakers should be able to take all the power the headunit has to throw at them with a HPF on.

 

[nateberrier 10+ year member]

Mine burned at 40rms after about 20 min but. you should be fine

 

[fazio93 10+ year member]

i set it to high power. the speakers start to distort around 40 so i will try to keep it around 35-38 max.