Enough power?

Russell928

I'm looking to upgrade the speakers in my 928. Currently has worn out factory tweeters in the door and Blau. coaxials in the rear. I just installed a new Blaupunkt Acapulco Mp54 which has 26 watt RMS. Went with the Blau. H.U. to maintain the german look, but am looking elsewhere for speakers.

I'm very interested in the Polk db6500 components, but will they be adequately powered by the H.U? I know I should add an amp but I would rather not at this time. Not looking for concert sound, just something that will rock pretty good.

Many thanks in advance for any advice!!

audiobliss

You are most definitely not going to be doing yourself any favors by running them off the HU. Can you? Yeah, I guess you can. However, there is just no end to how much better they'd sound if you got an amp. If there's any way possible, you really should look into an amp.

audiobliss

My bad, I just noticed you were talking about the db components instead of their coaxial speakers. Nah, I really wouldn't run components off an HU. It will slowly kill them, and it won't sound near as good as it can with an amp. Even a cheap $120 Phoenix Gold or HiFonics or Infinity or Kenwood or Pioneer would be infinitely better than powering them with the HU.

I'm not sure if you'd be better off going with a more powerful 2 channel amp and using the crossover, or using a 4-channel amp and using the crossover settings on the HU/amp. Someone else can chime in here and enlighten us on the cost benefits with both choices.

MacLeod

A h/u running components wont hurt them at all and thats the problem. A h/u doesnt make nearly enough power to do much of anything to a set of components. That 26 watts is probably at a very high THD level. In other words, a h/u is a horrible source of power and amps are way to cheap nowadays to not get one.

audiobliss

I meant to add some links to some good sites for researching amps.
www.sounddomain.com has good prices and is authorized.
www.onlinecarstereo.com
www.thezeb.com
www.crutchfield.com

Russell928

Thanks again for the responses.....

Cost is not the issue with the amp. Lack of space and adding an electrical device to the car are the reasons (the 928 electrical system is overly sensitive, mine is working great I don't want to screw it up!)

So if I don't add an amp, where does that leave me with speaker choices?

Should I just abandon the front tweeters?

BTW the HU is rated 26 rms and 50 peak.

Thanks

MacLeod

Not going use an amp then dont bother with higher end speakers.

A head unit is a horrible source for power as its only putting out barely 10 watts per channel and a pretty high THD level. They just cant make that much power as theyre limited to size.

Not many speakers will be pushed to their max potential with only 10 watts.

Think of it like this. Would you want to drive a pickup, towing a 5000 pound boat with only a 4 cylinder engine?

neomagus00

if you absolutely must, you can get a small set of coaxials - actually, i believe blau offers something in that range. everyone else is right, though, you won't be doing yourself much of a favor here. if you get a little 50-100 watt/channel amp, you can get a good set of components, and be on your merry little way... and that amp will draw far less power than, say, the AC compressor, so your electrical system shouldn't even know it's there. we can reccommend some particularly efficient amps, if the power draw is a concern, but they will be rather expensive for their size - think zapco/xtant (one of em has a fullrange class-d...)

Russell928

Okay so I need to get an amp to run component speakers. Thanks again for the posts, I guess I need to educate myself on amps now!

Know of any that are small in size?

ND13

Originally posted by Russell928
Okay so I need to get an amp to run component speakers. Thanks again for the posts, I guess I need to educate myself on amps now!

Know of any that are small in size?

Any competent and reputable installer will be able to integrate an amp into the Porsche without any negative issues and should guarantee that. There are many smaller amps out there that would be more than adequate to drive the components. Like you said, you're not looking to compete or for concert sound levels. There are several digital amps out there that are quite tiny and powerful. One of these guys that are more up to date on the contemporary manufacturers can give you names.

neomagus00

yep! if you want to just look at all of the companies, this list should be a good place to start looking at companies. I'd say to start looking at zapco and xtant, they have small and efficient amps. do you have any idea of a budget?

ND13

delete

swerve

Get an amp... as said before an installer will be able to add it in with no problem.

Originally posted by ND13
I think I just became the fastest to post 1000 times. Damn it sucks to be so slow at work.

how much quality is in that post though? i mean that's a random comment in a thread about significant power.

ND13

delete

audiobliss

His point was, 'are those 1000 posts quality posts.' The fact that you're talking about your post count and slow days at work in a thread about some guys amps for components seems to say that, no, they have not been of a good quality.

However, having read a number of your posts, I believe you have made a pretty significant contribution over the past three months.

BTW, that just might be a record for mosts posts in a 3 month period - if you discount Russ and Sid.