how much power needed for tweeters run active?

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

in the near future i want to go active with my front stage. i just bought an 880PRS.

i was thinking about getting a big 5 channel and replace everything that i have. thats a little out of budget and i can't seem to find much that really grabs my attention at a decent price. so thats a no go.

i have 2 Kicker ZX series amps already, i think i'll just get a third one. i know Kicker amps are nothing special but they do the job and don't cost a fortune, so please leave that part out of it. how much RMS power at 4 ohms would be best?

the ZX150.2 does 60x2@4ohms,

the ZX200.2 does 70x2@4ohms,

the ZX250.2 does 85x2@4ohms,

the ZX350.2 does 110x2@4ohms.

i know i probably don't need more than 50 watts for a tweeter, including some headroom. but what if i was to end up wanting to switch tweeters and the one i want is a 6ohm or even worse an eight ohm tweeter? then it will only see half of the power.

what's everybody's thoughts on this? how much amp do i really need? keep in mind i like having a lil bit of headroom.

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[Etac 10+ year member]

can always go too big and turn the gain down.. if those are your only choices - get the 110 x 2 amp.. should be plenty for a lot of tweeters... but try to find an amp with like 150 x 2 just incase - if for some reason you go to one with a higher resistance

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

wow thats one powerful *** tweeter if it can handle 150rms! i thought most component sets give an rms rating which includes both tweeter and woofer to be divided by the crossover. MY comps say 110rms so i got a 110rms x2 amp. Doesnt that mean that my tweeter is getting 55rms and my woofer is getting 55rms?

edit: or am i wrong and both the woofer and tweeter need to be getting 110rms?

 

[Etac 10+ year member]

wow thats one powerful *** tweeter if it can handle 150rms! i thought most component sets give an rms rating which includes both tweeter and woofer to be divided by the crossover. MY comps say 110rms so i got a 110rms x2 amp. Doesnt that mean that my tweeter is getting 55rms and my woofer is getting 55rms?
edit: or am i wrong and both the woofer and tweeter need to be getting 110rms?

i didnt say put 150 watts to that tweeter... just because you got a 150 watt amp doesnt mean you have to have it push 150 watts...

most tweeters will take 50-75 and be loud enough... but he said if he changes to ones with a higher resistance such as 8 ohms.. and that 150 would become more like 75 watts...

and no a passive crossover doesnt split the power equally between them... you wont get full power using passive because of intertia/heat loss.. but excluding that fact - both get the full power.. it just splits which way the pwoer goes depending on the frequencies...

 

[pellis 10+ year member]

i'm running 30w/rms with an ol'skool soundstream usa100 amp to my seas tweets and i am more than happy.

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

i'm running 30w/rms with an ol'skool soundstream usa100 amp to my seas tweets and i am more than happy.

what impedance are the seas tweeters? i'm thinking the 200.2 will be plenty as long as i stick with 4 ohm tweeters.

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

i didnt say put 150 watts to that tweeter... just because you got a 150 watt amp doesnt mean you have to have it push 150 watts...
most tweeters will take 50-75 and be loud enough... but he said if he changes to ones with a higher resistance such as 8 ohms.. and that 150 would become more like 75 watts...

and no a passive crossover doesnt split the power equally between them... you wont get full power using passive because of intertia/heat loss.. but excluding that fact - both get the full power.. it just splits which way the pwoer goes depending on the frequencies...

ohh yeah man good thinking! I learned something new today thanks a bunch!

 

[pellis 10+ year member]

what impedance are the seas tweeters? i'm thinking the 200.2 will be plenty as long as i stick with 4 ohm tweeters.

my seas are 6 ohms and the amp puts out 40w/rms. guestimating around about 30w/rms

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

my seas are 6 ohms and the amp puts out 40w/rms. guestimating around about 30w/rms

ok i think i'm set on the ZX200.2. 70x2@4ohms of underrated power sounds like plenty. i'm (at least at first) going to be running the RSD65CS's active.

i think it will be plenty for the RSD tweeters. i'll have 205 on tap for each mid, and 70 on tap for each tweeter. sounds like plenty.

 

[kidwolf909 10+ year member]

How much are you looking to spend man? I'm extremely impressed with my PDX. And for $230, you may want to look into it for 150wx2 @ 4 ohms...

Not sure what you have to work with though.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

You don't need much power for tweeters.

Figure if you start with a tweeter that has a sensitivity of 90db @ 1w, with 25w you would be at ~104db (ignoring any potential power compression), which is more than enough output in treble frequencies for every day listening.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Doesnt that mean that my tweeter is getting 55rms and my woofer is getting 55rms?

No.

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

How much are you looking to spend man? I'm extremely impressed with my PDX. And for $230, you may want to look into it for 150wx2 @ 4 ohms...
Not sure what you have to work with though.

i have 2 kickers already a ZX550.2, and a 750.1. i'll just need a 3rd (one for the tweeters) once i bite the bullet on going active. 150x2 is a bit overkill for a set of tweeters that i don't think will need more than 20 watts ever.

i'll run my 550.2 on the mids(205 per mid), and the 200.2 on the tweeters(70 per tweeter). and obviously i'll still have the 750.1 on the sub(400).

 

[kidwolf909 10+ year member]

i have 2 kickers already a ZX550.2, and a 750.1. i'll just need a 3rd (one for the tweeters) once i bite the bullet on going active. 150x2 is a bit overkill for a set of tweeters that i don't think will need more than 20 watts ever.
i'll run my 550.2 on the mids(205 per mid), and the 200.2 on the tweeters(70 per tweeter). and obviously i'll still have the 750.1 on the sub(400).

Yea I though it was a lot, but I read the other people suggesting the 110w x 2 Kicker so you have the headroom to upgrade to a higher impedance tweet. Just throwing it out there lol..

The good news is, my Dayton and Alpine are coming in tomorrow! Now just waiting for vitveet to finish my box //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Good luck with your active setup man! Post a build log on SL or here!

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

You don't need much power for tweeters.
Figure if you start with a tweeter that has a sensitivity of 90db @ 1w, with 25w you would be at ~104db (ignoring any potential power compression), which is more than enough output in treble frequencies for every day listening.

yea thats what i though. exactly what i needed to hear! thanks.

just for the hell of it i stuck the leads on my DMM on the Tweeter out on one of my crossovers while i had it cranked really high on a song that is borderline harsh and it was around 4.5-5.2 volts a/c which is still only around 5-7 watts. so i guess even if i get the 200.2 i'll never use anywhere near any of it. pretty sweet!