Question about speaker power

[ukbob]

Anyone know what my V8S speakers (assuming they are factory standard) might be capable of. Im thinking about a stereo, just curious what wattage they are cabable of, in RMS not pmpo if anyone knows?

[KentishS2]

Not great I shouldn't think unless they have been upgraded. I'd guess about 30-50w RMS.

I think mine are original and the CD player I fitted is 50 per channel and the speakers don't handle it.

If that helps?

[ukbob]

KentishS2 said:

Not great I shouldn't think unless they have been upgraded. I'd guess about 30-50w RMS. I think mine are original and the CD player I fitted is 50 per channel and the speakers don't handle it. If that helps?

Yep, that helps, cheers Can anyone confirm?

I'd guess that figure sounds about right, if they had been upgraded it would likely be higher

But still, 30RMS at 75% is still loud enough, I think and at 75% there would be no distortion right?

[Tripps]

As TVR fit proper head units rather than the tat mass maufactured ones you do get between 40 or 50 watts rather than awful the 5-10 from Ford/Vauxhall standard fit kit.

As I recall the one fitted in my S before replacement was either 40 or 50 per channel.

Put a set of Infinity Kappa's in and you'll be grinning

[ukbob]

Cheers Tripps Im not one for super loud choons (dont mind dixi at 120db tho ) if they are 40+ they should be great - Will have to try tuning in the radio later and testing

[ukbob]

Just checking out some CD players, where it says "Speaker Rating: 75w (min) - 200w (max)" what does that mean in actual terms?

I thought you could hook up 10 watt speakers to a 100 watt amp, if you were careful Why is there a minimum rating?

[Tripps]

ukbob said:

Just checking out some CD players, where it says "Speaker Rating: 75w (min) - 200w (max)" what does that mean in actual terms? I thought you could hook up 10 watt speakers to a 100 watt amp, if you were careful Why is there a minimum rating?

It's to to with the power needed to move the cones and the peaks of movement the cones can deal with I beleive. It says that the head unit could easily knock out a 75W peak signal, so speakers rated lower could be killed.

You can hook up 10W speakers to a 1000W amp if you have the granularity to specify very low output and if the kit is of high enough quality it will sound OK, but matched kit will sound far better.

[ukbob]

Tripps said:

ukbob said: Just checking out some CD players, where it says "Speaker Rating: 75w (min) - 200w (max)" what does that mean in actual terms? I thought you could hook up 10 watt speakers to a 100 watt amp, if you were careful Why is there a minimum rating? It's to to with the power needed to move the cones and the peaks of movement the cones can deal with I beleive. It says that the head unit could easily knock out a 75W peak signal, so speakers rated lower could be killed. You can hook up 10W speakers to a 1000W amp if you have the granularity to specify very low output and if the kit is of high enough quality it will sound OK, but matched kit will sound far better.

Would I be ok with the aforementioned rating with the standard V8S speakers, whatever they are? Assuming I didnt crank it near where it even started to slightly distort?

[ukbob]

actually, Im looking at this one www.halfords.com/opd_product_details.asp?id=19049&type=3&cat=33 which is 4x50

[KentishS2]

Don't forget to match the impendence of the speakers to that recommended for the head unit, that's pretty important too.

Generally speaking (regarding wattage) the higher wattage speakers are more capable of handling the bass.
Which reminds me, also check the frequency response. The human ear is able to catch frequencies between 20-20.000 Hz and theoretically one might wish for a speaker to reproduce the same frequency spectra, although no speakers can currently do that. Today the speakers’ frequency spectra are getting closer to that of the human ear so that reproduction is impressive in most cases. 60-10.000 Hz is a good tonal range for the average speaker.

So, check your speaker ohms match the specification of the CD player and check the frequency response of the speakers are reasonable.

[WildfireS3]

Not a big fan of JVC, personally. I would go with Pioneer, Blaupunkt, Alpine.. generally most things except JVC. Personal preference.

I would get some 6" Helix Ti's, with a 2 channel 100W amp. Perfectly good for an S. I used Helix Ti's (can't remember the model) Rockford Fosgate Punch He2 10" in the Mini along side a Kenwood 10 disc changer and Minidisc head unit. Powered by a Soundstream Granite Amp.

[KentishS2]

I only have 2 speakers in the doors at the moment but I'm going to replace these at some point and also considering a small amp in the boot and a pair of 10" speakers in the rear panel (boot bulkhead). And perhaps a well matched high wattage small pair of speakers for higher frequency response.

[Tripps]

ukbob said:

actually, Im looking at this one www.halfords.com/opd_product_details.asp?id=19049&type=3&cat=33 which is 4x50

Might be worth checking the connections behind your current head unit.

Never know, TVR might have wired yours up right and you can plug a Pioneer straight in.

However mine had the pioneer sockets wired directly into the loom (not ISO adapter) and Pioneer had changed their socket standard and didn't have an adapter.

[Tripps]

Have a look at the Infinity Kappa or Reference ranges (they may have changed range names though...) as when I researched getting mine they were the best recommended and they always sounded fantastic.

Never got around to fitting the 6x9, 10" sub and tweeters to the S, even got a 5 channel Alpine amp ready to fit in the garage, must get them into the Cerbera before they rot

[Le TVR]

ukbob said:

I thought you could hook up 10 watt speakers to a 100 watt amp, if you were careful Why is there a minimum rating?

It would be safer to connect 10watt speakers to 20watt amplifier than connecting 20watt speakers to a 10watt amplifier

If you push the smaller amp into distortion the music signal become almost square (not sinewave) and the DC component will destroy the speakers faster than the transient overload of the undistorted signal from the bigger amp.

Most ICE equipment is rated 'music power' watts which is about as usefull as 'Chav BHP'

So having rated most ICE in 'music power' watts you are in bigger danger of destroying the speakers if you run the amp at these levels, therefore they specify a minimum power handling that is usually greater than the music power of the amp.

Try and find 'rms output power, all channels driven' in the small print - it can be quite revealing!

And dont forget to look at speaker efficiency (dBA/watt) if you have sports exhaust....

[Tripps]

Le TVR said:

Try and find 'rms output power, all channels driven' in the small print - it can be quite revealing!

Agree with everything Le TVR says - made me recall the specs for my 5 channel amp which (looking at the manual) is supposed to be able to push out 850W, which equates to 50Wx4 + 200W.

It then specifies that this maximum figure is at 14.4V which is fine if you have the extra batteries etc. for a sound stage, but in a TVR (Especially if the swingometer of a voltmeter was correct, as when you were indicating it went ballistic!)

The 12V figures are 30Wx4 + 150W...

Another trick is to do rating against 2 ohm speskers rather than standard 4 ohm ones, which also skews the numbers for maximum chav appeal: Me Nova has 4000W, innit!

Home speakers tend to be rated 8 ohms, presumably as they use heavier materials making them more difficult to drive, but manufacturers of cheaper non-seperates often use 4 ohm speakers again to raise the number, which is why when you look at seperates in a proper hi-fi shop they don't appear to be that powerful...

[WildfireS3]

Has anybody had a go at fitting a sub in the back of a S? I kinda want to, but aren't really too sure about cutting the back pannel, and then there's theft. I'm considering a small box or cannon. Mind you I need to put bigger speakers in the door and get a decent head unit first.

[Tripps]

WildfireS3 said:

Has anybody had a go at fitting a sub in the back of a S? I kinda want to, but aren't really too sure about cutting the back pannel, and then there's theft. I'm considering a small box or cannon. Mind you I need to put bigger speakers in the door and get a decent head unit first.

Measured it all up for a 10" sub, as from what I could see anymore would interfere with the bottom of the roof and top of the fuel tank, but never had the courage to go ahead.

Plenty of people have taken saw to fibreglass and make hole for 6" x 9" speakers though in both S and Chimaeras.

Or are you thinking of a sub with enclosure or bass tube kind of setup?

[ukbob]

Cheers for the comments everyone. The guy who installed my CD player said the speakers were fine Wildfire, I never had anything against JVC... until the audio technitian (son Tony, guy who owns dream machines) said they were shite.

They also rated kenwood as being amongst the best with alpine sony and pioneer - I didnt realise that either.