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Advice on wattage required please!

  • 25-08-2015 8:39pm
    #1
    Mister-M5
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 225 ✭✭


    Hey folks,

    I was hoping to upgrade the audio setup in my car. As of now, it has the standard factory 2 x 6x9s in the rear and the 2 x 6.5s in the front doors. Sound quality wouldn't be great.

    I have a basic Silvercrest head unit from Aldi/Lidl. Nothing major, does the job.

    I was hoping to upgrade the system all round. Louder, better sound quality from both front and back, with some decent bass. I don't need to be able to bounce my way to work in the mornings and I won't be opening my boot outside of Halfords to provide a PA system to the car park. At the same time, I would like to be able to turn it up without it crackling.

    I drive a small 3 door hatchback and a friend of mine suggested that, given the size of my car and the fact that I won't be running a nightclub from within, I won't need a crazy amount of watts to achieve the sound I was hoping for.

    I was hoping for some suggestions on the following:
    - Do I need an amp?
    - Does wattage matter if I buy decent quality products? And if so, how much do I need?
    - Will I need a new head unit?
    - Do I need 2 or 3 way speakers/amp?

    Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Comments

  • #2
    bmstuff
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭bmstuff


    Hello,

    Sound quality is not measured in terms of watt but in drool units :-)

    If you would specify the car model and year that would help

    There are many decent speakers out there, really depends of our budget.
    To achieve overall better sound quality go with components speakers for the front (Separate tweeter high up).
    Go for 2 ways components up front or 3 ideally if you have the room. Tweeters, midrange and mid bass.

    You always need an amplifier, for 2 reasons mainly, better sound quality that a built-in amplifier into a single din headunit, especially Silvercrest. And power. More power means you can play louder without distortion. With your radio only, if you increase the volum, even with excellent speakers, they will distort as they are not getting enough power. A head unit typically provides 5-20w per channel at best.

    A 4ch amplifier with roughly 80-120 watt rms is a very good start.
    If you go 2 ways components up front, then you can use a crossover between the mid range and the tweeter, this is a semi active 2 ways system. In essence that is only 1 channel. So 2 channels up front and 2 channels for the rear.

    You can add another amp dedicated to the subwoofer in the trunk if you decide to go with one too. Or you can go with an active subwoofer (Built-in amp), less efficient usually, but that is a good start.

    If you buy speakers that have a 4 ohm impedance, make sure your amp can handle 4 ohm too. Speakers impedance and amplifier channels load have to match or the amp has to be able to handle the load of the speakers.

    I hope this helps


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