Calling all owners who have put in large stereo's in their 3S.

[GTOJOE]

I think I might install these

[Spyder]

[Streamln1]

With class D amplifiers now being the norm for subs, ~ 2k watts is not out of the question without putting excessive strain on the charging system. IMO anything over 1k watts is overkill anyways (I mean a true 1k watts not an overinflated if lightning strikes it type of amp) unless you are trying to build a purpose built SPL system, which is silly in a sports car. Upgrade the alternator charging cable and the grounds for good measure. The only point where current draw is too much is when your alt cannot keep up with the charging demand of the system consistently, so keep in mind when you add batterys, or batt caps, it can also put more strain on the alternator.

[2fnloud]

With class D amplifiers now being the norm for subs, ~ 2k watts is not out of the question without putting excessive strain on the charging system. IMO anything over 1k watts is overkill anyways (I mean a true 1k watts not an overinflated if lightning strikes it type of amp) unless you are trying to build a purpose built SPL system, which is silly in a sports car. Upgrade the alternator charging cable and the grounds for good measure. The only point where current draw is too much is when your alt cannot keep up with the charging demand of the system consistently, so keep in mind when you add batterys, or batt caps, it can also put more strain on the alternator.

You can not change physics, W=V*A does not matter what type of amplifier you have. And in you opinion (we all know the old saying about those) that 1K watts is too much. All depends on the individual. Even a 1K watt amp will most likely only be pushing a 1/3 of that wattage while playing music. Also take into consideration of the impedance rise of the speaker as it reproduces a certain frequencies, amps rate their wattage at 4Ohm (1Ohm for most bass/digital amplifiers) so if that speaker impedance rises the wattage output drops, unless your amplifier outputs the same wattage regardless of the Ohm load.

I will have 1.2K watts available for my four 8's in my Stealth and will balance out with the front, center and rear stages of the whole system. I at NG this year even with the 250-300LBS in the hatch my performance was respectable in all events.

For an audiophile or bass head, it is all about balance when putting a system into a sports car. My subs for example took me a few years to find, but they weigh 4.8LBS each with an Xmaz of 12mm and a free air Fq of 30Hz.

[Streamln1]

Thats not true, try getting 1000 watts out of a class A/B amp and check your current draw (Think old school Orion BEAST) you are leaving efficiency out of the equation. 1000 watts on a class A/B amp would draw up to 150a or more vs approx 80a on a class D. W=V*A only if the amp is 100% efficient. Obviously you are not going to try to run 4000watts of even class D on a stock alternator and a couple batterys, this day in age running 1000 watts to subs and 3-400 to mids and highs is no big deal on a stock alt unless its an incredibly weak one to start with. And obviously you are not going to be running 'peak' wattage for more than a fraction of a second even with the system cranked to nearly full volume.

Much of ratings of course is just marketing, there is no real set standard for rating amps, it varys by manufacturers. I laugh when I see an amp rated at 1000rms and it has 40 amps worth of fuse. What are they rating that at? 24volts? LOL

[2fnloud]

Thats not true, try getting 1000 watts out of a class A/B amp and check your current draw (Think old school Orion BEAST) you are leaving efficiency out of the equation. 1000 watts on a class A/B amp would draw up to 300amps vs approx 80a on a class D. W=V*A only if the amp is 100% efficient. Obviously you are not going to try to run 4000watts of even class D on a stock alternator and a couple batterys, this day in age running 1000 watts to subs and 3-400 to mids and highs is no big deal on a stock alt unless its an incredibly weak one to start with. And obviously you are not going to be running 'peak' wattage for more than a fraction of a second even with the system cranked to nearly full volume.

Much of ratings of course is just marketing, there is no real set standard for rating amps, it varys by manufacturers. I laugh when I see an amp rated at 1000rms and it has 40 amps worth of fuse. What are they rating that at? 24volts? LOL

THAT's not true, Yes that is assuming 100% efficiency, Ohm's law doesn't change. 1000w needs 69.44A assuming 14.4V AND 100% efficiency.

Lets assume that old school A/B amplifiers are 50% efficient. So in order to get 1000W, you would actually need 2000W. 2000W=14.4V*A..... A=138Amps

Now lets assume that a digital amp is 75% efficient. So in order to get 1000W, you would actually need 1750W. 1750W=14.4V*A.... A=121Amps

Say what you want. It is the efficiency that is dropping the amperage needs you CAN NOT change the laws of physics.

Also in 2006 the CEA standard was released to create a level playing field for rating amplifiers, just not every amplifier manufacturer is meeting the standard.

[Streamln1]

Thank you for validating my argument, you said 'it doesn't matter what amplifier' you run. Saying it takes 2000watts to produce 1000 isn't really the right way to explain it. You just have to factor in the efficiency in the formula. Obviously you do not purchase a 2000watt amp to get 1000. Brand X 1000 watt amp may need x amps to get that 1000 watt rating vs brand b needs more or less. The more effiecient the amp, the more watts you can produce on a given charging system, and thats what your amp actually produces in A/C voltage to the speakers / subs. End of discussion. Not trying to be cocky, I do and have worked in the industry for more than 17 years, and owning a car audio shop, I should know. I know I said 300 initially, but that was just making a point, it wasn't an actual calculation. AB amps are usually around 60-70 percent, d amps can be as much as 90-95.

And it really did not level the playing field that much, even ones that use the CEA standard have a big degree of variance. Since all MFG's went to china, quality control went to shit. Theres a few brands I know and trust, outside of that its just a crap shoot. All that being said, on a stock alternator I would estimate around 1500 RMS would be doable without major upgrades other than beefing up the charging cable and grounds, and a solid batt. Obviously you are not going to be drawing the max amps, or even close. I never run anything more than a 2nd battery on most customers systems, and even at that its overkill in many of the cases.

[Streamln1]

Heres another interesting tidbit of misinformation thats out there, distortion does not blow speakers, power does. When an amp clips, its trying to produce power that is not designed to produce, aka a square wave. Power is the area under the curve in a sine wave, when an amp clips, this curve becomes cut off at the top and the area becomes much greater, therefore your speakers are taking power way beyond their limits. Thats why tuning a system within its limits is so important and not trying to push and underpowered amp too hard. So many people just max out their gains and wonder why they blow speakers left and right.

[2fnloud]

I never said that it took a 2000W amp to get 1000W, I think we are having a failure to communicate that is for sure. But the jargen we use when an amp clips has been coined "distortion", because the amp was pushed into a square wave. I agree you could have a recording of a guitar shredding a solo in "distortion" as long as the amp is not clip it will not blow the speaker.

[2fnloud]

I think that we laymens the term to "distortion" because the nasty sound you get when the amplifier clips.