installing comps without an amp

[tuskilla 10+ year member]

i just got my PPi's and want to install them but i dont have an amp yet!

is there any way to hook up these without an amp while still using the crossovers??

also would it damage the speakers if i do this?

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[timaishu 10+ year member]

Yeah. Just wire them up to your headunit..

No, it wont damage them.

 

[altoncustomtech 10+ year member]

just hook them up to your headunit the same you would to the amp... as Nick at Fi often says, speakers are dumb... they do what you tell them to..... the difference between them on the HU and the amp will mostly be output.... most component sets simply don't come alive until they have a good bit of power, but there's no way to damage them by running off the HU

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

they wont move much

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

they will sound horrible at high volume and have barely any output but they will play just fine. most decks have simple ic amps that are rated at 14-22 rms and at best do maybe 15.

 

[MSW Danny 10+ year member]

you can do that but you might be disappointed with the performance without the amp. try it and find out

 

[eharri3 10+ year member]

I did it with a real nice set of comps before. On my old truck, when I switched out my good stuff and left a set of old speakers I had sitting around in it running off the head unit just to have something to fill the tweeter holes when I traded it. Sounded fine except where I had previously had undistorted volume up to like 28 or 29 out of 35, with this setup things only stayed clear to like 20 or so and they started to distort before they could really come alive. It's not that it will sound like crap, it's just that the higher the clear volume, the more clearly you will hear all the frequencies and the more you appreciate the musical detail. The less clear volume you have, the less you can fully appreciate the sound quality.

Not something I would do long term but if you just want them mounted up and not lying around until you get around to buying an amp, no big deal. Your head unit does not put out nearly enough power that any minor distortion is likely to kill them, unless maybe you put it to the max and keep it there continuously. Too much or too little power does not kill speakers. It's what idiots do with the controls that kill speakers. If you crank it as far as it will go and they're still not good enough, live with it until you get an amp rather than cranking the volume and bass and treble boosts.

 

[altoncustomtech 10+ year member]

^^^ this, he speaketh da truth

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

running 17 watts to 100 watt speakers sucks worse than 17 watts to 25 watt speakers.

 

[altoncustomtech 10+ year member]

running 17 watts to 100 watt speakers sucks worse than 17 watts to 25 watt speakers.

true.... but he's not planning on leaving that way and only wanted to know if it would hurt them in the interrum..... in which case, it won't hurt them any and he'll be astounded at the difference in sound when he gets the amp on them....

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

true.... but he's not planning on leaving that way and only wanted to know if it would hurt them in the interrum..... in which case, it won't hurt them any and he'll be astounded at the difference in sound when he gets the amp on them....

i often reply without even reading the thread. i'm trying to develop "the force".

 

[altoncustomtech 10+ year member]

lol... might wanna watch that, never know when the dark side may be plotting against you....

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

distortion kills speakers, low power trying to drive a speaker that is ment for higher power creates distortion, distortion / clipping causes heat heat burns shit up/ ie distortion kills speakers. too little or too much power if it causes distortion makes speakers fail.

just keep the volume where their is no distortion and you will be fine.

 

[eharri3 10+ year member]

distortion kills speakers, low power trying to drive a speaker that is ment for higher power creates distortion, distortion / clipping causes heat heat burns shit up/ ie distortion kills speakers. too little or too much power if it causes distortion makes speakers fail.
just keep the volume where their is no distortion and you will be fine.

Kind of. If I run 17 watts to 100 watt speakers there is probably no distortion if I keep the volume on say, 5 and live with it. But that's not loud enough, so I turn the volume to the maximum clear output for the head unit, say 25. Still not enough, so I'm gonna turn the head unit up past the point where it's putting out a clear signal, say all the way to 35, to get the loudness I want. IIt's as loud as I want it to be now, but not the good kind of loudness. It was my use of the controls, not the lack of power, that caused the distortion which my head unit sends to my amplifier, which my amplifier... well, amplifies before sending to the speakers.

 

[tuskilla 10+ year member]

thanks for all the info guys!!! now one more question.

i have one wire for left and one for right comming out of my headunit, the crossovers have 2 inputs one for woofer and one fore tweeter how do i hook them both up to run them both off the headunit untill i get my amp?