understanding rms relationship between speaker and amp

[TDot 10+ year member]

i dont fully understand rms beyond its the constant power something can take or give. my issue is i dont want to kill my speakers by hitting it with too much power. the way i understand how to set the gain on the amp is by the rms of the amp, however, if that rms is much higher than the speaker, wont you kill the speakers if you turn the volume up to max based on the amp being set by its rms? shouldnt the amps gain be set based off the rms of the speakers so you dont kill the speakers when you bump it? am i wrong in my thinking? why? if i am wrong, how do i monitor/check the watts coming out the amp at a given volume so i know how far i can turn up the volume safely?

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[sjv13 10+ year member]

i dont fully understand rms beyond its the constant power something can take or give. my issue is i dont want to kill my speakers by hitting it with too much power. the way i understand how to set the gain on the amp is by the rms of the amp, however, if that rms is much higher than the speaker, wont you kill the speakers if you turn the volume up to max based on the amp being set by its rms? shouldnt the amps gain be set based off the rms of the speakers so you dont kill the speakers when you bump it? am i wrong in my thinking? why? if i am wrong, how do i monitor/check the watts coming out the amp at a given volume so i know how far i can turn up the volume safely?

You set the gain by which ever is the limiting factor. If you have a 110x4 amp, and the speakers are rated at 75wrms, then set the gain to the proper setting for 75wrms (EDIT: or lower)

 

[thorshammer1 10+ year member]

google

ohms law

watts law

Long before time in days of old we would listen with our ears.... when the music started to distort we backed it down. lol

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Read up on setting your gains with a multimeter to avoid clipping and to insure that your speakers aren't receiving too much power. Still not sure if this forum has one of those stickies but I assume so.

 

[thorshammer1 10+ year member]

no multimeter can show you whether or not you have a clean signal.

 

[nkrell11 10+ year member]

Still better than cranking your gains and letting her wang though isn't it?

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

i dont fully understand rms beyond its the constant power something can take or give. my issue is i dont want to kill my speakers by hitting it with too much power. the way i understand how to set the gain on the amp is by the rms of the amp, however, if that rms is much higher than the speaker, wont you kill the speakers if you turn the volume up to max based on the amp being set by its rms? shouldnt the amps gain be set based off the rms of the speakers so you dont kill the speakers when you bump it? am i wrong in my thinking? why? if i am wrong, how do i monitor/check the watts coming out the amp at a given volume so i know how far i can turn up the volume safely?

You are correct. Set the amp to about 3/4 of what the speaker power rating is and take it from there by ear.

The amount of power you can give main speakers totally depends on install and tuning. Plus there's no standard for speaker power ratings. The limit will be dependant on EQ, HPF, install, and your music. Gotta use your ears.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Plus there's no standard for speaker power ratings.

There are some industry standards for speaker and amplifier power ratings in the pro audio world, but who knows if we'll ever see that come into car audio. It would be nice to do away with RMS ratings.