Will I hear a difference?

[gongos 10+ year member]

I have a pair of Rainbow Profi Vandiums. Will I hear a difference between a PDX 4.100 and a PDX 4.150? Would probably use the amps bridged.

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[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

if it is not double the power, the human ear cannot hear a difference. I'm sure i'll have some clowns chime in and say other wise but you really cannot hear the difference between 50 and 75 watts but you can hear a difference in 50 and 100 watts. same goes for 300 watts of bass compared to 500 watts, you cannot hear a difference especially with bass b/c it's below 100 hz. below 100 hz the human hear cannot detect placement of sound

 

[IgnoreMe 5,000+ posts]

if it is not double the power, the human ear cannot hear a difference. I'm sure i'll have some clowns chime in and say other wise but you really cannot hear the difference between 50 and 75 watts but you can hear a difference in 50 and 100 watts. same goes for 300 watts of bass compared to 500 watts, you cannot hear a difference especially with bass b/c it's below 100 hz. below 100 hz the human hear cannot detect placement of sound

here is my question over at sound solutions audio and the answer i got

question:

oh BTW can someone answer me this: if it takes a doubling of power to get a 3db change in output, and the human ear wont really notice too much of a change below that, how come turning up the cd player 1 notch makes a noticeable difference in output? im sure your not doubling the power and getting a 3db increase. this question is bothering me lol

answer:

Two part answer to your headunit question. The first part is simple Physics and the other Psychoacoustics. Your volume control knob does have a pretty exponential output, in the sonic world they call it an audio taper potentiometer but really it is pretty much just straight exponential. Part of the reason why 8v outputs are completely unnecessary on a headunit since no one runs them full throttle anyways. To talk about the other reason, we need to extrapolate on the 3dB perceptibility point. In back to back comparisons an average human can actually hear 1dB differences, but once you add the time factor and memory to be involved 3dB is better than what the average person can tell this timeblock of course is completely dependent on the individual but has been shown with nearly any other stimulation that it is pretty short. The caveat is of course a trained ear can be significantly better, typically this requires years of study on an instrument and has been proven that Musicians can regularly exceed these ranges, but the opposite is also true.

with that, IMO i would not change amps just to add 50w. i believe you will notice a difference, but the difference will be too small for it to make it a "good" option.

 

[hoxie08 5,000+ posts]

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[krisfnbz 10+ year member]

Thats interesting.

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

nice ignoreme...

 

[Geezerpoop 10+ year member]

Interesting, i just had to decide between a zx450 (150 X 2 @ 4ohms) and zx350.2 (110 X 2 @ 4 ohms) to replace my eclipse amp that is just doin 50 X 2 because the amp bridging option wont work. I went with the zx450.2 just to have the extra headroom. Another thing to consider is that you may want the extra power in case you decide to upgrade speakers in the future.

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

minimal audible difference under normal circumstances. bridged, at 200 to 300 watts, the speakers are likely to be under power compression. not likely to see anywhere near 1.5db increase.

 

[crea78 10+ year member]

I wanted to go from a Zapco 200.2 (50x2) to a Zapco 350.2 (100x2) on the tweeters. Well, the ebay listing got way too high and I'm glad I didn't get it after all b/c I don't think I will notice a significant change to justify the cost.

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

If you own the PDX 4.100, absolutely don't get the 150, not worth it at all.

If you are trying to decided whether or not to get the 150 over the 100, it really depends on if you think you'll need the extra 50 watts and the extra $90 (Going by eBay numbers)

I'm debating between the two as well, for an under-the-passenger-seat install.

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

more power is always better.

 

[gongos 10+ year member]

I'll probably just go with the 150 to ease my personal insecurities.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[NoobieAudio 10+ year member]

I'll probably just go with the 150 to ease my personal insecurities.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

very nice choice. i was in a similar perdicament and i did the upgrade. idk what the number say my hearing difference was but i could tell the difference

 

[SocMunky 10+ year member]

here is my question over at sound solutions audio and the answer i got
question:

answer:

with that, IMO i would not change amps just to add 50w. i believe you will notice a difference, but the difference will be too small for it to make it a "good" option.

What George said.

 

[gongos 10+ year member]

Bridged, it would be an extra 100 watts a side.