Sending more than RMS to a speaker

[flakko 5,000+ posts]

okay this previous thread kinda started to give me some questions about over powering a speaker.

You guys said i can 2x the RMS to speakers and not blow it.

now right now i am sending my speakers 80w (rated at 60) and they are taking it fine. Now i set my gains with the head unit at 30/35 with a 1000hz test tone. Once i turn my head unit passed 30, my speaker starts to distort and bottom out. Now not even being a pure sine wave im pretty sure that the music wasnt giving the speakers a full 80w.

Click to read more...

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

This is where the "if you know what your doing" comes in to play. At higher volumes some speakers can not reproduce low level frequencies very well. So the speaker will start to loose control or over excursion takes place. Making it sound distorted. It takes a lot of power to play a full frequency range on a speaker. If you have it passed high enough it will take it no problem.

So the lower the frequencies you play on your comps/coaxils the more careful you have to be with overpowering...

 

[flakko 5,000+ posts]

kay thats wat i thot...

 

[60ndown 10+ year member]

or, if you don't have a crossover ...
Turn down the volume/bass ... or increase the mid/treble ...

or increase the mid/treble ????!!!!!!,.............. eeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwww //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

 

[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

well dont turn it up past 30... theres a reason you set your gains to that volume level

 

[flakko 5,000+ posts]

^^^^ yea i was just wondering why people were sayin it was okay to send a speaker more than 2x its rated power, and not blow it. and i was runnin my comps at 80w and the second i turn it up passed that line, they start to disort and bottom out.

so i guess its just a matter of the frequency that is played.

 

[bri487 5,000+ posts]

well dont turn it up past 30... theres a reason you set your gains to that volume level

exactly. you dont want the volume on your deck maxed out. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/nono.gif.eca61d170185779e0921b0faa9704973.gif

 

[Luchman]

so.. just to clarify...

If i over power my speakers RMS by about 60w, but i set my gains right ( like that JL tutorial) i should be good?

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

Aura MR62 reccomendation 60w RMS

Excelerater sends it 180w RMS

Excelerater hated the SQ w 60w,now he loves it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[flakko 5,000+ posts]

^^^that is a particular speaker tho. Some subs cant take more than rated power (Infinity) and some speakers are built to take more than rated power (IA) i guess it also depends on the build of the speaker.

 

[bri487 5,000+ posts]

^^^that is a particular speaker tho. Some subs cant take more than rated power (Infinity) and some speakers are built to take more than rated power (IA) i guess it also depends on the build of the speaker.

and enclosure.

 

[flakko 5,000+ posts]

ya. so things that affect power handling (not in any particular order):

1. enclosure

2. Crossover Point

3. Speaker Build

This is considering you have a capable amplifier.

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

so.. just to clarify...
If i over power my speakers RMS by about 60w, but i set my gains right ( like that JL tutorial) i should be good?

If you set your gains, you wont have to worry about overpowering. Just set the gain to the speakers RMS power.

 

[bimma85 5,000+ posts]

so.. just to clarify...
If i over power my speakers RMS by about 60w, but i set my gains right ( like that JL tutorial) i should be good?

what trigger just said, I dunno what you are thinking though... to my knowledge there is no theory that states all speakers may be overpowered by 60W //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Aura MR62 reccomendation 60w RMSExcelerater sends it 180w RMS

Excelerater hated the SQ w 60w,now he loves it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Just because you have a "180watt" rms amplifier (180 x 2 rms or whatev) doesn't mean you're sending you speakers 180 watts. Use a DMM and a 0dB test tone and set those speakers to 180rms power using AC voltage...and I guarantee you they wouldn't last long //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Me, I like head room. You can get an amp that is rated at TWICE the rms power, but that doesn't mean you're sending the speaker that much power. It depends on input signal strength, gains, etc.

NG