Amping standard speakers??

[AlexOnToast]

I'm pretty new to all this, so it's probably a stupid question. My mates given me an 2 channel Amp but i'm too poor at the moment to buy an good speakers... so is it worth wiring it up to the standard ones, or would it jsut be a waste of time?

Any advice is appreciated !

-Alex

 

[cat171]

Unless your standard ones are any good (a nice wattage etc) it'll be a waste of time as you'll blow them.

 

[A13EX F Trophy No70]

waste of time and effort you'll blow them up if you amp them.

if you have free time it might be wise to sort all the wiring out ready to install some better speakers i.e. power down one side rca's down the middle and speaker cables down the other side this isnt a particularly quick job

 

[Black-Clio-1.4]

Agree with above!

 

[wallop]

you will get some improvement in both quality and output....

a speaker simply reacts to the signal it recieves, if this signal is from a weak amplifier with a poor power supply,(namely your headunit), then sound quality will suffer as output is increased,(this is due to a poor power supply introducing voltage drop into the equasion)....

by using an external amp that is correctly setup, (ie; correctly matched gains to an unclipped signal), you are simply amplifying a clean signal which is what your speakers will reproduce, 'clean sound'....

 

[AlexOnToast]

Thanks Everyone

-Alex

 

[Sean.]

you can get some coaxails that will take amp power for as little as £8-10 delievered these days! in all fairness they may be a budget brand but anything is better than the flaps of material renault call speakers!

 

[theduck]

Unless your standard ones are any good (a nice wattage etc) it'll be a waste of time as you'll blow them.

^Wrong

waste of time and effort you'll blow them up if you amp them.

if you have free time it might be wise to sort all the wiring out ready to install some better speakers i.e. power down one side rca's down the middle and speaker cables down the other side this isnt a particularly quick job

^Wrong again

you will get some improvement in both quality and output....

a speaker simply reacts to the signal it recieves, if this signal is from a weak amplifier with a poor power supply,(namely your headunit), then sound quality will suffer as output is increased,(this is due to a poor power supply introducing voltage drop into the equasion)....

by using an external amp that is correctly setup, (ie; correctly matched gains to an unclipped signal), you are simply amplifying a clean signal which is what your speakers will reproduce, 'clean sound'....

^Ahh some correct information!

you can get some coaxails that will take amp power for as little as £8-10 delievered these days! in all fairness they may be a budget brand but anything is better than the flaps of material renault call speakers!

^They will be worse than the standard units!

 

[cat171]

So your saying that if he has say a 2 x 200 watt amp & amps them up, he won't blow them (if they are of a low wattage) ??

 

[theduck]

I'm saying set up correctly a 2 x200 watt amp wont blow his standard speakers.

If you knew anything about audio equipment then you would know 99% of speakers blowing is caused by UNDER-amping.

 

[cat171]

^
cheers for making me sound like a dullard I'm only asking a question.

I know plenty of folk who have amped up their standard jobbies & blown them to bits, I guess (and suspected) They were over ambitious with the gain on the amp etc.

 

[theduck]

Sorry, as you can probably tell from my first post, it frustrates me the amount of mis-information flung about on here as fact when it comes to audio equipment.

People who blow the standard speakers by amping them are probably being over ambitious with the gain, but its not the amount of gain itself that causes the problem in most cases. If its the gain causing the problem you will hear the speaker hitting the end stops before you damage the coils. What normally happens is the headunit and/or amp begin to 'clip' the signal and in every case I have seen bare one, its a clipped signal thats damaged the speaker.

 

[Hazza]

<3 you stu

 

[cat171]

No worries dude. I know what your talking about

 

[theduck]

<3 you stu

Does my technical talk do it for you

 

[thejoose]

I'm saying set up correctly a 2 x200 watt amp wont blow his standard speakers.

If you knew anything about audio equipment then you would know 99% of speakers blowing is caused by UNDER-amping.

Sorry, as you can probably tell from my first post, it frustrates me the amount of mis-information flung about on here as fact when it comes to audio equipment.

OH the Irony!

your giving out duff information as well

underpowering a speaker will not kill it - trying to give it more power than your amp can produce will but not underpowering it

when you have your volume turned down low you are underpowering you speakers, do they die? NOPE!

you can kill a speaker in 2 ways, mechanically or electrically

Whacking a load of power into it will cause it to over excurt and you will either rip the surround/spiders or the coil will pop out of the gap or slam into the back plate,

also too much power can cause the coil to blow.

you can also kill a speaker with clip - that is when the amplifier stops producing a nice smooth ac signal and starts giving the speaker a 'clipped' dc one. this will heat the coil up pretty freaking quick and it will either melt and go open circuit (which equals useless speaker) or it will go short circuit (which might kill your amp if its not got protection)

You WILL NOT kill a speaker by giving it too little power


in answer to the OP

Your stock speakers wont be able to take much power most headunits, (either factory fitted or aftermarket) will probably only give out 5-10wrms.

any low power 2 channel amplifier hooked upto the stock speakers will sound better than the built in amplifier in your HU. The trick will be finding one that does 2 x 10 or 2 x 25wrms

you could get a bigger amp but you would need to be careful with the volume on the headunit.

 

[Hazza]

<3 you stu

Does my technical talk do it for you

Stamping ur authority, and putting ppl in their place is all goood!!

But I know f**k all about audio!

 

[theduck]

Sorry, as you can probably tell from my first post, it frustrates me the amount of mis-information flung about on here as fact when it comes to audio equipment.

OH the Irony!

your giving out duff information as well

underpowering a speaker will not kill it - trying to give it more power than your amp can produce will but not underpowering it

when you have your volume turned down low you are underpowering you speakers, do they die? NOPE!

you can kill a speaker in 2 ways, mechanically or electrically

Whacking a load of power into it will cause it to over excurt and you will either rip the surround/spiders or the coil will pop out of the gap or slam into the back plate,

also too much power can cause the coil to blow.

you can also kill a speaker with clip - that is when the amplifier stops producing a nice smooth ac signal and starts giving the speaker a 'clipped' dc one. this will heat the coil up pretty freaking quick and it will either melt and go open circuit (which equals useless speaker) or it will go short circuit (which might kill your amp if its not got protection)

You WILL NOT kill a speaker by giving it too little power


in answer to the OP

Your stock speakers wont be able to take much power most headunits, (either factory fitted or aftermarket) will probably only give out 5-10wrms.

any low power 2 channel amplifier hooked upto the stock speakers will sound better than the built in amplifier in your HU. The trick will be finding one that does 2 x 10 or 2 x 25wrms

you could get a bigger amp but you would need to be careful with the volume on the headunit.

Hi! When did I say underpowering? I said under-amping. Incase your english is poor I will explain that these are different words, and have different meanings.

The rest of your post and description is a long winded version of what I carried on to say in explanation for the benfit of Cat which you kindly deleted from the quote.

Now, do you still want to argue with me, even though what I said has exactly the same meaning as what you said, and so you already look a fool and will be made to look more of one, or would you like to apologise?

 

[Hazza]

Sorry Stu

 

[thejoose]

Hi! When did I say underpowering? I said under-amping. Incase your english is poor I will explain that these are different words, and have different meanings.

The rest of your post and description is a long winded version of what I carried on to say in explanation for the benfit of Cat which you kindly deleted from the quote.

Now, do you still want to argue with me, even though what I said has exactly the same meaning as what you said, and so you already look a fool and will be made to look more of one, or would you like to apologise?

Ah I do apologise

you said

If you knew anything about audio equipment then you would know 99% of speakers blowing is caused by UNDER-amping.

I took under amping to mean using an amp smaller than the rated power of the speakers.

you used it to mean using an amp smaller than the rated power of the speakers but trying to get more power out of it - hence pushing it into clip


<places his e-penis back in his trousers>

 

[Hazza]

Who won?

I'm still f**king confused lol

 

[theduck]

There are no winners Haz, just an equal understanding that I was right in the first place. lol.

thejoose, no hard feelings mate

 

[thejoose]

There are no winners Haz, just an equal understanding that I was right in the first place. lol.

thejoose, no hard feelings mate

course not buddy

read the post once and assumed you meant one thing when you meant another - 's all gravy

 

[Hazza]

Moral of the day

Read carefully before confronting a duck.

 

[A13EX F Trophy No70]

theduckeatspork

yes you are correct you will kill voice coils if you have an amp which is clipping due to being under powered (usually a problem with subs rather than components.

I was sort of incorrect with my post you wont always blow standard speakers with an amp but if you're considering amping the speakers up it's usually to make them louder which will more than likely blow them up if you get too ambitious with the gain

 

[thejoose]

theduckeatspork

yes you are correct you will kill voice coils if you have an amp which is clipping due to being under powered (usually a problem with subs rather than components.

I was sort of incorrect with my post you wont always blow standard speakers with an amp but if you're considering amping the speakers up it's usually to make them louder which will more than likely blow them up if you get too ambitious with the gain

I have killed more component speakers by clipping than I have subs ( and I run a lot of power to my subs - around 3kwrms each hehe)

 

[theduck]

theduckeatspork

yes you are correct you will kill voice coils if you have an amp which is clipping due to being under powered (usually a problem with subs rather than components.

I was sort of incorrect with my post you wont always blow standard speakers with an amp but if you're considering amping the speakers up it's usually to make them louder which will more than likely blow them up if you get too ambitious with the gain

is probably more common with subs as there are less efficient. My main experience of these things is in home audio, which although different the prinicples remain the same, but obviously subs in home audio are mostly active.

As you said really, it depends on your reasons for amping, for quality or SPL

 

[wallop]

as pointed out, the only thing that will ruin your speakers, (stock or otherwise), is too much power....either causing mechanical failure,(over excursion related faults), or electrical failure,(exceeding thermal handling so burning out the voice coil).....

heres a blatant 'copy & paste' that explains 'Clipping'.....

Thanks go to Adam, (dumdum), the Author.....

the maximum power an amplifier can make with very little distortion is dependant on the voltage rails, if the gain i set incorrectly (read - too high for the input voltage) then the amp will try to make a sine wave beyone the capabilitys of the max voltage that the rails can produce

for example, the voltage rails are +16v and -16v, so giving 32v, if you then turn up the amp gain past the point where 32v is made, then it will still try to make the sinewave, it will just look like a wave with a flat top, and the power of the sinewave will be greater than that of a clean signal, ie the area under the wave will be larger

the above is a clean sinewave

mild clipping, even this would raise power by a good chunk (the dots would represent the voltage i described of the power rails in the amp

)

EDIT; christ, you lot type fast......lol.....

 

[theduck]

as pointed out, the only thing that will ruin your speakers, (stock or otherwise), is too much power....either causing mechanical failure,(over excursion related faults), or electrical failure,(exceeding thermal handling so burning out the voice coil).....

heres a blatant 'copy & paste' that explains 'Clipping'.....

Thanks go to Adam, (dumdum), the Author.....

the maximum power an amplifier can make with very little distortion is dependant on the voltage rails, if the gain i set incorrectly (read - too high for the input voltage) then the amp will try to make a sine wave beyone the capabilitys of the max voltage that the rails can produce

for example, the voltage rails are +16v and -16v, so giving 32v, if you then turn up the amp gain past the point where 32v is made, then it will still try to make the sinewave, it will just look like a wave with a flat top, and the power of the sinewave will be greater than that of a clean signal, ie the area under the wave will be larger

the above is a clean sinewave

mild clipping, even this would raise power by a good chunk (the dots would represent the voltage i described of the power rails in the amp

)

EDIT; christ, you lot type fast......lol.....

Clipping is caused by the amplifier not being able to produce the power it is being asked to produce though which is what I was describing as under-amped.

 

[wallop]

Clipping is caused by the amplifier not being able to produce the power it is being asked to produce though which is what I was describing as under-amped.

i understood what you posted the first time around mate.....

the 'dumdum' thread was aimed at previous posters who had given incorrect responses, not to belittle them, but to educate in a way that is easily understood.....