Power Ratio

[BOOKER 10+ year member]

I had always had this question, is there some sort of a "power ratio" between the power running to the front stage and the power to the subwoofers?//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

I mean, is there is something like a "rule of thumb" or something like that, like for example if you run 50 watts to your front stage you should run between 100-300 watts for your subs. I hope I had explained myself.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

I ask because I have seen some terrible "mismatches", like those boom machines where you only hear boom boom boom and no music at all.

Will like to know your comments on this one.

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[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

It depends on the speakers, enclosures, vehicle, and preference. Power is a very small factor when talking about how loud something gets. I have a pair of home speakers that will get louder off of headunit power than many components I have heard.

Currently I run 300rms total to my front stage and 300rms to my sub and it's pretty balanced except during 30-40hz material recorded at 0dB. I have had a system in the past that used 100rms total to the front stage and 600 to the subs and the mids/highs were overpowering and painful.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

Definitely no rule

think about it, most component tweeters are 6 ohms or 8 ohms, and the woofers are almost always 4 ohms, and the tweeters have just as much output, and a lot of times even need to be attenuated

huge variations between drivers, even tho i just realized my example above is completely irrelevant and i have no intention of taking the time to remove it

 

[Beat_Dominator 5,000+ posts]

I wish it was that simple //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

Overhead is a good thing for that very reason though. If you have amps that can all offer plenty of power for your speakers, you have more room to play with.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Run more than enough power to get as loud as you want each part. Extra power (headroom) as mentioned above is a good thing. From there just adjust the levels of each so they blend together nicely and you have it all covered.