PHAT_joe said:
since most speakers run from about 25hz to 30khz those are not the numbers you should look at; check for the sensitivity measured in decibels (dB) the closer to 100 dB the clearer the speaker will sound plus pay attention to the RMS, which is measured in watts, disregard max wattage as that is just a selling point - the high the RMS the better (and more power your speakers will consume). also take into consideration the materials used in the speaker's construction. normally you get what you pay for. i personally recommend pioneer as that is what is in my car and i am more then pleased with the performance. it all comes down to power though. the more continuous power you have running to those speakers, the better they will sound.
Yes. And by consume, I hope that he means 'will handle' and not 'always take'. Watts RMS (root mean square) is just a way to express the average power that the speaker will handle, not just the peak power handling which is, as he says, just a bunch of crap that lets manufacturers put high numbers on the box with a straight face.
Higher sensitivity produces better clarity assuming that your amplifier will introduce meaningful distortion at the desired volume levels on less efficient (less sensitive) speakers. That is, better sensitivity usually means that you can use your amplifier in a range that produces cleaner sound. If you are going all out for a high-end system ($1000+), I wouldn't give a hoot about sensitivity.
And, about the more continuous power you have running to the speakers the better that they will sound -- I'm going to have to disagree on that one. The
cleanest signal and
most faithful tranduction by the speaker at the disired volume level gives you the best sound. So, highly sensitive, faithful speakers produce better sound at
lower power levels than less sensitive speakers at a higher power level given the same amplifier.
One of my pet peeves right now is the stunts that auto audio manufacturers get away with on specifications. To make a reasonable decision on an amplifier, you need at least four numbers: x% distortion at y watts RMS over z frequency range +/- a dB. (Well, I guess that freq range is actually two numbers.)
You are lucky if you get just ONE of these numbers on an auto amplifier, especially on a head unit. And they wonder why people don't belive them...:roll:
