I'm installing a new Alpine deck in my car that (9883) that puts out 50 watts x4. I'm running new speakers too, Iwas going to run this through the Monsoon amp but I want to know how much power per channel the amp adds to the system. I don't want to have too much power and ruin my speakers, Thanks

 

It's not the power of the Monsoon that will ruin your new speakers it's the distortion at higher volume. Your lucky if you get 30 usable watts per channel from a 500watt Monsoon amp. Most people have the misconception that power/wattage is what blows speakers. In most cases it's the fact that the sound was so distorted at that volume that it blows the speaker.

 

That's very true except that it's not the amp in the Monsoon system that produces the distortion. The factory head unit is responsible for almost all the distortion.

You don't have to worry about overpowering the speakers with the factory amp. It's rated at 500 watts peak (actually "ILS" - If Lightning Strikes) but it's only somewhere around 200 watts RMS (GM claims 240 watts RMS). Divided by 8 channels that's less than 30 watts per channel - your speakers should handle that without problem.

The biggest thing you'll notice is that the volume will go up much quicker when you turn the ****. Since the amp takes speaker-level input, the added output of your new head unit will make the volume control more sensitive.

 

To add to what Walking Dead was talking about. I think there's a common misconseption that too much power will blow a speaker. Actually not enough power is usually the culprit. UNder powering a speaker is worse than over powering. If you bypass your amp you should be fine. Just note that the Monsoon head unit actually powers the tweater part of your front speakers. I read that in a thread someone on here. You lose your uppper end highs from your fronts.

 

Thanks for the info, actually in my car all 4 tweeters are powered directly off the HU, all others came off the amp. I'll give it a try this way and see how she sounds.

 

That's a misconception I hear fairly frequently here - that underpowering a speaker will cause damage. That couldn't be farther from the truth. If underpowering a speaker was a problem then merely turning down the volume (sending less power to the speaker) would cause damage. Obviously, it doesn't.

The misconception comes from the fact that using an underpowered amp can cause serious damage. It has nothing to do with sending too little power to the speaker - it has to do with overdriving the amp to get more volume, causing the signal to be clipped. When an amp can't produce the requested power level it cuts off (clips) the upper and lower peaks of the signal wave causing a sudden, sharp transition that the speaker coil and cone can't handle. It's a form of distortion that can kill a speaker very quickly.

 

By underpowering a speaker, sending less power you can damage a speaker. When you cut the volume down you don't send less power to a speaker you just regulate it the power sent. Your engine in your car doesn't have less power because it's not at WOT. But if you put a crap engine in your car, something will break. It's why when you by an aftermarket deck, you go for on with higher volts on the pre outs for a cleaner signal. In other words, you send a crap signal to an amp, your amplifling crap or rather distortion. None the less a bad signal from your source whether under powered or not will damage speakers.

 

You know, my first reaction was to poke fun at those comments but then I thought "maybe he really doesn't understand."

Of course it does. An engine is rated for its peak horsepower (and torque for that matter) at a certain engine speed. That's what a horsepower curve shows - the varying horsepower at different RPMs. An LS1 engine rated at 350 HP produces less than 250 HP below 2500 RPM. It's still capable of 350 HP but at that moment it's actually producing less power.

Sending less power to the speaker is exactly what you do when you turn down the volume. An amplifier is rated for the maximum power it can produce continuously (RMS) or for brief periods (peak). When you turn down the volume the reduction in power output to the speakers is quite dramatic because it takes 10 times as much power to produce double the perceived volume. An amp running at 300 watts output has to reduce that output to 30 watts to cut the perceived volume in half. For any given speaker, reducing the power is the only way to reduce the volume (other than perhaps putting a pillow over it). Other things such as impedance and efficiency affect comparitive volume between different speakers when given the same power. So, as I said before, reducing the power to (or underpowering) a speaker will never cause damage to the speaker.

While this has nothing to do with Monsoon systems (which don't have preamp output), a little clarification is necessary here. Higher preamp output voltage is only used in automotive audio systems to reduce noise. Quality home systems use 1V or 1.5V preamp output because the low voltage reduces the possibility of the preamp introducing noise into the signal. However, cars are inherently bad environments for audio systems because their electrical systems tend to introduce extraneous noise into the audio signal. Higher voltage output helps compensate for this external noise and is a trade-off because it makes any internally generated noise worse. Never buy a head unit based solely on the output voltage - that's only one of several factors that affect total noise and distortion.

There are two types of speaker damage - mechanical and thermal. Mechanical damage is physical damage to the speaker caused by overdriving it beyond the capabilities of the suspension (i.e. overpowering it). Thermal damage is damage to the voice coil caused by distorted signals and is by far the more common form of damage. Of course, speakers can also blow because they get old and the materials just wear out and fall apart. But there is no form of damage caused by not sending enough power to a speaker.

 

I appreciate the education! Thanks