Is it better to have more amp power then speaker power or is it the opposite?

Question

I heard that you could blow out your speaker if you have the wrong amp but i'm a noob at this so I don't understand anything about this kind of stuff, so if you know a place that could show me understand the basics about all the subs, amps, etc. that would help or someone could explain that would be great.

Answer 1

It is better to have more amp power than the speaker rating, usually twice as much RMS rating. I realize that many will disagree with me, but that's their prerogative.

Matching amp power or having it less than the speaker has nothing to do with blowing or not blowing it. If you don't believe me, is there anyone out there with their 1000-watt sub who's willing to let me connect it to a 15-watt head unit and crank it all the way up? Why not? It couldn't blow, right?

People who feel they would blow the speakers with too much power probably can't tell what distortion sounds like, thus they will keep playing the system with the distortion until it blows.

But if you follow my advice, you are less likely to blow the speaker because your amp will have sufficient headroom and it will sound much better.

{Added 8-29-2007}

Exactly my point, Sparky. Speakers blow when the amp clips. Amps clip when they try to exceed their maximum power capabilities. If an amp's capabilities are twice what it needs to fully power a speaker, then it never goes into clipping and the speaker doesn't blow. I would go further to say that it's nearly impossible to blow a speaker with too much power if the amp isn't clipping and the speaker isn't subjected to mechanical over-excursion or other audible distortion.

A similar analogy could be made to a car. You could put a Geo Metro engine into a Cadillac and most likely get it up to freeway speeds, but how long would it take and how much stress would be put on the engine? A powerful engine would have no problem doing this and would last much longer because it isn't being over-taxed.

Every one has their own beliefs of course. All I know is that I've been doing high-powered audio systems for over 30 years and always try to use as much amp power as I can and I've never blown a speaker, unintentionally, that is. I've even run 40-watt tweeters with 300 watts RMS and never had a problem, but I've serviced hundreds of vehicles who blew their "200-watt" speakers out with their head unit.

Answer 2

First, speakers do not have any power. wattage ratings on speakers are either suggested amplifier ranges or maximum electricity -to destoy it figures. Most speakers at normal volumes rarely use more than five or six watts.RMS., However, more power from an amp can make a speaker able to operate better, more crisply, and respond to sudden dynamic volume changes in the music better without distorting, and putting the speakers at risk. More watts does not mean you can crank the volume up endlessly. and with larger amps, you will probably never need or even be able do so, and that is for the equipment, a good thing. Some speakers, are very hoggish in terms of the current needed to drive them, just like some kinds of gas motor are, and some minumum is required for adequate function, but these are not generally the kind of speakers you get to choose from at the local department store, and likely wont end up being that big a decision for you. People spend thousands , even tens of thousands of dollars on high end tube amps, which rarely ever produce more than a handful of watts. less hungry speakers have high SPLs, less efficient ones have lower SPLs, but most common speakers have SPLs in the range of 85 to 90 dB at one watt/one meter. With all the respondents for this question I am sure I do not have to go into what this spec means.

Answer 3

The thermal wattage limit of a subwoofer is also known as RMS. This is the recommended maximum RMS power the sub has been tested with before failure. Manufacturers will often not recommend exceeding these limits by 15% on average.

Yes they can handle more. But I wouln't like buying subs left and right after melting the voice coil a few times, but that's your prerogative.

There are many types of distortion and none of them will hurt a sub. What hurts a sub is what clipping (a form of distortion) brings with it, high power.

This is where overpowering a sub happens without a bigger amp.

There are several things you should keep in mind when selecting an amplifier. First, you need an amplifier with enough output power.

Even if you are not planning to run your system very loud, an amplifier needs to have enough power so that the dynamics of speech and music will not cause “clipping.” An amplifier that is pushed beyond its output power capability will clip signals.

Not only does this sound bad, but the effect on a low frequency speaker or mid or high-frequency driver is similar to hitting the cone or diaphragm with a hammer. Because of this, too small an amplifier can be more damaging to speakers than one that seemingly has too much power. Peaks in speech or music signals can easily exceed the average power levels by a factor of ten. If your amplifier is not big enough, these peaks become clipped and distorted.

For best overall performance, it's far better to get an amp that's equal in power as all of the subs connected with the same impedance load per channel.

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Answer 4

It not about amps. It's about power, measured in Watts. The basic relationship is:

W = I * E

W = watts
I = amps
E = volts

Usually the specs for an amplifier will express the power output to the speakers as XX Watts RMS (RMS = root mean square)

If you are picking out speakers separately from the amplifier, you need to make sure the speakers can handle the maximum power output of the amplifier. Otherwise, you might blow a speaker when you crank the volume full blast.

Answer 5

yea im kind of a newbie at this stuff to.. but ive read that you should try to match your speakers rms wattage to the amps rms watts.. or have the amplifier have a little bit more power than the speakers for best performance..
and there is a ton of information about car audio through out the internet.. just click around and search on yahoo

Answer 6

i try to get my amps rms within 100 watts of peak on my sub. it all depends on how you set your gain. i have a 10" memphis m class. there rated at 200 rms and 400 peak. it was 25 bucks at a yard sale so i figured what the hell. the amp i have, i already owned it. i had it powering 2 10" jl's anyways. the rated at 800 rms. its a mono fosgate amp. i have the gain on FULL and the subs still going. just depends on the durability of the sub.

about the 40 watt speaker above. pssshhhh thats just a 6x9, i doubt you can even hear it in the car let alone people from a black away.

Answer 7

While having a big amp is nice it really is the speaker thats is more important.
If you have a 200 watt amp and 100 watt speakers you risk the chance of blowing your speakers cause your trying to put too much wattage through it.
If you have 200 watt amp and 400 watt speakers you can crank it up (hopefully with little speaker noise) and have just nice loud clear sound. You also wont blow the speaker.
hope this helps

Answer 8

too much amp power will blow a speaker out, make sure your speakers can take the power before you put the amp in

Answer 9

www.splbassx.com
www.the12volt.com

those sites are tons of help.

it's not better to have a stronger amp, but it's not necessarily better to have a weaker amp. you're only as strong as your weakest link. it's BEST to match the power of the sub(s) and amp with the given impedence.

Answer 10

better to underpower then overpower. Besides if you know the rms on your subs then if you want to pound them go a bit higher but maintain your controls. If you want to poun=d and stay safe go a bit lower. Beware not all subs are listed for the rms research the internet for the sub and get its rms it will help you in you quest...