Inside Speakers (Need opinions)
Been Around A Long Time Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,294
From: Miami
Comments like that will only get you banned. I'm helping pham over PM, so Angelo I think we should just close or delete this thread, I have a feeling only bad things are going to come of it.
Been Around A Long Time Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,328
From: Eugene, Oregon
x2..! stupid 5 character limit.
Super Moderator
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,725
From: Alaska
I will leave it open for now, as its funny to me, and Ang didnt seem to think it needed to be closed, however I will keep my eye on it.
My personal opinion:
I ran my memphis speakers amped, then unamped, and it was way better amped.
But I know nothing about A/V.
My personal opinion:
I ran my memphis speakers amped, then unamped, and it was way better amped.
But I know nothing about A/V.
Been Around A Long Time Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,294
From: Miami
The difference between any speaker amped is night an day. The only speakers that can run on 10 to 15 watts has to be rated for very low power. 30 watts at the most, and have a sensitivity rating of at least 90dB. When you have a speaker that is rated for 80 watts and a sensitivity of 88dBs( extremely inefficient for a speaker) like those alpines, and run them off 10w they will sound horrible to ANYONE. If anyone were to think they sounded good enough to recommend not amping them, they do not know what good sound is. And I'd go as far as saying only a handful of people really know what TRUE quality sounds like, I know I don't.
Been Around A Long Time Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,452
From: Miami,FL
Damn it, cant believe i missed this..
Popcorn?
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 455
From: Ringgold, GA
On amping speakers:
It is wise to amp ANY speaker - even stock. The reason is more power means better sound. Its just like a car - a car with 300 hp will be a better performing car than one with 100 hp will. Music is dynamic. You have some parts that are soft and some that are loud. If you listen to heavy metal, its pretty much the same loudness all the time but if you like jazz, or rock like Dave Matthews band and the like youll have vocals, stand up bass and/or acoustic guitar and then youll have the big dynamic parts like big drums, cymbal crashes and so on. When you dont have enough power you turn up the volume to bring the quiet parts up to a respectable volume you run out of clean power when the dynamic parts are there. By having plenty of power, you have plenty of headroom to play the dynamic parts with much more realism.
Lower frequencies require more power to reproduce than higher frequencies so having more power allows your system to reproduce sub and midbass with more more authority which almost always means better overall sound.
On blowing speakers:
The ONLY thing that will blow a speaker aside from poking a screwdriver thru it is overpowering. You can either push the suspension beyond its limits or you build up more heat in the voice coil than it can dissipate. You do both of these by overpowering. Now, does that mean a 100 watt amp will kill a 50 watt speaker? Not necessarily. Lets go back to the car analogy - your car is capable of going 120 mph - but that doesnt mean its going 120 mph all the time. Same with music and again with the dynamics. If you could put a power output meter on your amps youd see that it spends most of its time well below its rated power because the music doesnt call for it. The only exception would be rap where you have massive sub bass sine bombs that go on forever. When you do have a big demanding part in the song its not going to be long so while the speakers will get a sudden surge of power, it will be short enough for the voice coil to dissipate the heat. There is the danger of overextending the suspension but thats only a danger in the sub bass stuff like below 80 Hz which your midrange speakers wont be dealing with too much. And besides, when you get to that point you WILL hear them bottoming out so if you over extend your suspension, its your fault.
As for the original question - Toofatt nailed it. Instead of getting rear speakers, save that money and invest in the best set of front component speakers you can afford and then properly amp them.
As for brands, when it comes to amps pretty much all of the major name brands will make a quality piece. But when it comes to speakers you need to go listen as theyll all have their own distinct sound. Dynaudios are warmer, Focals are brighter, MB Quarts are a more natural sound and so on.
Speakers are the most important part of your system so spend the majority of your budget on them. I suggest you figure up how much youre willing to spend then go hit some audio shops and give some speakers a listen and decide which you like best.
Wow...I get long winded sometimes dont I?!
It is wise to amp ANY speaker - even stock. The reason is more power means better sound. Its just like a car - a car with 300 hp will be a better performing car than one with 100 hp will. Music is dynamic. You have some parts that are soft and some that are loud. If you listen to heavy metal, its pretty much the same loudness all the time but if you like jazz, or rock like Dave Matthews band and the like youll have vocals, stand up bass and/or acoustic guitar and then youll have the big dynamic parts like big drums, cymbal crashes and so on. When you dont have enough power you turn up the volume to bring the quiet parts up to a respectable volume you run out of clean power when the dynamic parts are there. By having plenty of power, you have plenty of headroom to play the dynamic parts with much more realism.
Lower frequencies require more power to reproduce than higher frequencies so having more power allows your system to reproduce sub and midbass with more more authority which almost always means better overall sound.
On blowing speakers:
The ONLY thing that will blow a speaker aside from poking a screwdriver thru it is overpowering. You can either push the suspension beyond its limits or you build up more heat in the voice coil than it can dissipate. You do both of these by overpowering. Now, does that mean a 100 watt amp will kill a 50 watt speaker? Not necessarily. Lets go back to the car analogy - your car is capable of going 120 mph - but that doesnt mean its going 120 mph all the time. Same with music and again with the dynamics. If you could put a power output meter on your amps youd see that it spends most of its time well below its rated power because the music doesnt call for it. The only exception would be rap where you have massive sub bass sine bombs that go on forever. When you do have a big demanding part in the song its not going to be long so while the speakers will get a sudden surge of power, it will be short enough for the voice coil to dissipate the heat. There is the danger of overextending the suspension but thats only a danger in the sub bass stuff like below 80 Hz which your midrange speakers wont be dealing with too much. And besides, when you get to that point you WILL hear them bottoming out so if you over extend your suspension, its your fault.
As for the original question - Toofatt nailed it. Instead of getting rear speakers, save that money and invest in the best set of front component speakers you can afford and then properly amp them.
As for brands, when it comes to amps pretty much all of the major name brands will make a quality piece. But when it comes to speakers you need to go listen as theyll all have their own distinct sound. Dynaudios are warmer, Focals are brighter, MB Quarts are a more natural sound and so on.
Speakers are the most important part of your system so spend the majority of your budget on them. I suggest you figure up how much youre willing to spend then go hit some audio shops and give some speakers a listen and decide which you like best.
Wow...I get long winded sometimes dont I?!