car speaker sensitivity question

[steveo3002]

my car speakers need replacing

ive noticed the replacements vary in sensitivity from 89/90/91db maybe more if i spend extra

is this something worth looking at or no ..im thinking the 91db would be louder for the same input?

[BlueMR2]

Are you planning on changing anything else in the system?

3db is double the volume technically but you need about 10db to hear double i believe. 89/91 will be a tiny difference so don't worry too much, unless you amp everything up and install speakers at better angles it won't make much of a difference.

Just get something in budget that fits well.

[steveo3002]

not planning anything else really , its just that 89/90/91 range are all similar price , if theyd go a little louder for the same input then it would be worth looking into

[BlueMR2]

Most speakers in car lack bass, so you have to be careful that higher sensitivity doesn't equal more tinny treble and ear ache.

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

The 'sensitivity' is basically the amount of sound the speaker produces at a distance of 1 meter with 1 watt input (average over a set of frequencies).
So the higher the db - the louder and more efficient (and of course more expensive) the speaker will be.
Ideally you want all speakers in a system to have the same db rating. But in a car, it probably doesn't really matter given the massive signal to noise ratio

[Jayyylo]

When looking at loudspeakers you need to combine the power handling (watts) with the sensitivity to find out the dB level they will produce.

A simple formula for it is:
sensitivity + 10log(power handling) = dB


For example:
100W loudspeaker with 94dB sensitivity = 114dB
200W loudspeaker with 92dB sensitivity = 115dB
50W loudspeaker with 96db sensitivity = 113dB



P.S. There are loads of different ways for manufacturers to give the power handling figure so try to make sure you are consistent in your comparisons (ie average power, peak power, continuous power).

[Crackie]

A higher db rating is almost always a good thing ~ 3db is double the power so changing 89db drivers for 92db drivers would be equivalent to changing a 150w amp to a 300w amp hence usually a good thing. If you can, try to find out the voice coil resistance of the replacement speakers you have in mind; this should tell you if any of the extra db rating is as a result of a current hungry, low resistance voice coil. Low resistance voice coils help make the speaker louder but they will also draw more current and make your amp hotter.

This link http://www.sengpielaudio.com/TableOfSoundPressureL... explains about what an extra 3db will do to what you hear ~ it might be double the power but its far from double the volume. Fletcher Munson Curves / psychoacoustics and loads of differing opinions

Edited by Crackie on Monday 23 January 13:31