Overpowering

[johnnycampbell 10+ year member]

I just recieved my new (and first) set of xtant z104 subs, rated at 200 rms. Is it ok if I am going to put 250rms into each of them in a slanted truck box? (two tens each in their own box)

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[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

What kind of amp are you running?

 

[awalbert88 10+ year member]

You should be fine as long as the amp gain is set correctly, as the sub will not likely see 250W except for really hard bass hits.

 

[morris85 10+ year member]

better to overpower than underpower.......

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[johnnycampbell 10+ year member]

soon to be running a power acoustiks pa2-1200 or at least trying my best to win the auction on ebay. I am set on this, it is selling for a great price, and it is not anything so expensive that if I decide car audio is not my best of hobbies I wont be broke. This will be my first system, and I am really excited.

 

[Matador 10+ year member]

u dotn break subs by overpowering them (just as long as u dont send 3x it srecommende dpower that is), but u blow them bys ending a distorted signal or too much noise

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

serious, i didnt know that...

i like these forums....very informative

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

u dotn break subs by overpowering them (just as long as u dont send 3x it srecommende dpower that is), but u blow them bys ending a distorted signal or too much noise

I want to clarify a little on that -- you can power a speaker with the noisiest, most distorted signal you can imagine and not cause it any damage whatsoever as long as that signal isn't powerful enough to over-drive it.

I think what matador is referring to is clipping. When an amp is driven beyond its capability it begins to clip the waveform which allows it to put a LOT more power into the load. If you clip an amp that has a power rating close to the same as the speaker you can bet a clipped signal from that amp will significantly over power the speaker. However, proper use of gains can almost always eliminate this from happening.