Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio Stupid question

How do you calculate how much wattage your system is? Do you just add up the watts for each component.dont know so i thought i would ask

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You wanna play big time....you gonna die big time........

Normally you find the 12 volt rms wattage of each channel in your system and add them up.

The OEM's use peak power. So an 80 watt oem head unit may be 20 watts X 4 channels rms or peak depending on if they are stating 80 watts peak or rms.

unless you have some funky wiring going on, just add 'em up.

So basicaly lets say you buy a 180 watt(45wx4.peak...22rms) head unit and a set of front speakers rated at 100 watts and a set of back speakers rated at 100 watts......What is the wattage of your system???? my guess is 380 which is a nice amount of sound ....
Also do you add amps and subs in the same way

DaHNIC, no. Speakers are generally rated for peak or maximum power handling capability. So in your example, your system will still put out a maximum of 180 watts. Your "100-watt" speakers will be able to handle the power that your receiver (head unit) puts out though.

I don't want to create any confusion; please correct me if I am wrong or misinformed.

And DaHNIC (I get what that name means ), your questions are not stupid questions at all.



[This message has been edited by Reg E (edited August 03, 2000).]

I found this in Crutchfield's speaker FAQ file ( http://www.crutchfield.com/infolib/S-WObzIuAwKgX/carindex.asp?id=speakers-faq& ):

"Q: How do a speaker's power handling and a receiver or amplifier's power rating relate to one another?

A: Let's first limit our discussion to RMS (continuous) power, because whether we're talking power handling or power rating, the RMS number is always more significant than the peak number.

If a speaker is rated to handle up to 35 watts of RMS power, the closer your power source comes to delivering 35 watts of RMS power, the better your system will perform. Choosing a speaker with a reasonable efficiency (sensitivity) rating, always helps out by making the most out of whatever power you have available. "

Check out this Crutchfield site for a brief discussion on amps: http://www.crutchfield.com/infolib/S-l7iEge7UKbC/carindex.asp?id=amps-faq& .

Hope this helps.



[This message has been edited by Reg E (edited August 03, 2000).]

ok. basically the speaker's suggested or maximum power capability is not the way to figure your system's power. you need to rely on the number from your amplifiers alone. if you have a head unit that produces 10 watts RMS for 4 channels, you have 40 watts RMS of power. if you have that same head unit and (2) 100 watt RMS amps running 10 subwoofers all rated at 1000 watts each, you only have 200 watts RMS, not 10000 watts. so in total, you will have 200+40 watts = 240 watts of power RMS.

you generally don't want to measure your system by its peak power. amps that are rated 10 watts RMS can produce signals with "peak" power of a couple hundred watts. but that transient signal is so short, that it is hardly measurable, let alone audible.

lastly, don't worry about the "peak" pwer handling of speakers you purchase. unless you grossly overpower speakers or if they are VERY cheap, you will not blow speakers if you give them a lot of power. your speakers will make better sounds with the more power you give them. remember to keep bass, midrange, and treble somewhat segregated with specific drivers, get some good clean amps, solid wiring, and you're all set.

Thanks for all the help fellas so basically running a head unit with 22watts rms for 4 channels basically means I have an 88 watt system( sounds so pathetic) So those people who claim 500 watt systems and 1000 watt systems are those running with amps...... Thanks for the help

or those who lie.

and 88 watts in a car is not pathetic. consider your average home system (in stereo) is about 100 watts total RMS, that's not bad. and a car is much smaller than most living rooms.

88 watts isn't bad at all. If you don't want to get way deep into learning a system, just remember that higher wattage on a deck is clearer sound at higher volumes. Anything can sound good when you have the volume at 3. A good deck should stay clear ALL the way up unless of course, your speakers are not rated to deal with it. A good rule of thumb is to buy speakers that have a max wattage of at least 1/3 over channel wattage on your deck. 1/2 is even better. I say this because i have blown many a set of speakers in the past even though i wasn't hitting their 'peak' wattage.

If you have 4 channels x 22 watts, you want your speakers to be at least 40....and it's prolly harder to find a 40 watt set of speakers than the more common 100-125's you see on the shelves at places like best buy or wal-mart. The price probably isn't very much of a difference either.