A big dilemma!

George New member Username: Palis Post Number: 1 Registered: Jun-04	Posted on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 23:48 GMT Hi guys, i am new in the forum and in the car audio world but i have read many threads in the past weeks. I have bought recently a head unit (sony cdx-m8800) it comes with 4x52W. My 1st question is whether the '52W' is not the rms value. I have been told that the typical rms for nowdays head units is about 23W, is that right? I want to buy speakers for my rover now. I am really confused, shops don't really help you and different people have different opinions. Bottom line is i want to get 4 speakers. 2 front and 2 for the back. I want to have as much bass as i can get from normal speakers but also clear sound! So after doing a bit of research i came up with the following: I should put 3-way component system + crossover at the front doors and 2-way 6x9's at the back since they can provide more bass than 'round' speakers. The tweeters at the front would raise the sound stage, the 5 1/2 woofers (part of the component system) would provide nice bass and the sound would be complete with the 6x9's from the back. In that thinking i found these speakers: JBL P550C componet system(http://www.jbl.com/car/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=P550C&ser=POS&cat=COS) with RMS 75W AND the Alpine 6x9's (ALP-SPR694A) 50W RMS for the back. I want to ask if these speakers with my head unit will be underpowered enough to cause distortion. The important point for me is to use the head unit to power all the speakers and get the maximum performance out of it regardless the cost of the speakers! I dont want to have to use an amplifier yet. People tell me if the RMS of the speakers is say 100W and my head unit is only 4x52W then the speakers will not sound good at all. can you please let me know 1st if my configuration of speakers (component-front, 6x9's-back) will work with such a head unit without amps or subs? And if not what do you suggest instead? Are the speakers i chose any good and if not what speakers would work best in my case? I am realy realy confused guys, i am so afraid of underpowering the speakers that i thought of just having the front components installed!! (until i put an amp for the rear one's). SOrry to bore you with this long text and thank you for the time. You are my only hope
George New member Username: Palis Post Number: 2 Registered: Jun-04	Posted on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 01:59 GMT Hey guys, really desparate here!!! thanks
Jamie New member Username: Rec Adelaide, SA Australia Post Number: 3 Registered: Jun-04	Posted on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 19:54 GMT 52W is unfortunately not RMS value, and your head unit should theoretically put out around 23.3W RMS to each speaker, if you're running four. Be weary, that this theoretical value is normally not the actual case, and it'll be pumping out something below that again. JBL make some really decent stuff, however I'd personally forget the 6x9 speakers as well as the 3 way and get a pair of high quality 6" component splits for the front and either a pair of high quality full-range 2-way 6" speakers or another pair of high quality splits for the back. For this setup to perform you're also going to need a sub or two in the boot, however if you've got the money to do so this would be the far better option. The bottom line is that you should be getting some real subs to take care of your bass, and not trade sound quality for bass with your fronts and rears. In relation to your Alpine 6x9 question, the answer is a huge yes. Not only will it probably cause distortion, but volume levels will be pitiful, and bass wont be anywhere near as "phat" as it could potentially be. You DEFINATELY need a good quality amp to be powering your fronts and rears if they're good quality speakers that like a lot of juice. I'm stuck in the same position, I have a Sony CDX-7750X running my two sets of component splits (front and rear). My splits like a huge 60W RMS, my head unit realistically is putting out less than 20W RMS. Volume isn't there, bass is almost non existant and distortion plagues the system when I do try to turn it up. I've got a nice JBL amplifier on the way however. Your configuration will work, however these people are correct in saying that it wont sound good at all. The only speakers you'll be finding that are adequetely powered by your Sony head unit are ones that don't need any more than 35W RMS each... but then you'll have the problem of them being low quality speakers. You need a nice amp, prefferably something that will put out 50W RMS + to each channel, however 35W RMS to each channel will still be a hell of a lot better than your headunit. Ebay is your friend, you'll find some bargains on there - stay away from cheap brand amps however.

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