Car Audio Questions!

[Kroze]

Can someone who have some knowledge about car audio explain to me what these vocab means and how they actually works? So far my experience is: Installation of head unit, speakers, amplifiers & subs.

I just don't know what these words means.

Speakers:

3" 15watts RMS/30 watts peak 4ohms - Does this mean the speaker is crappy? what's the RMS and peak means? ohms?

Amps:

Crossover - how does this process works and what does it do?

 

[Grinchy]

I'm not an expert, but I have built several DIY speaker kits, and done some driver evaluation and box design.

Ohms is an impedence measurement, it changes depending on the frequency the driver is producing, but in general is about 4 ohms (resistance, if you will, to electrical current flow). For car audio this is the standard for non-subs.

3" is a small driver, probably good for 500 hz plus, and not much for volume, though the sensitivity, which you didn't list, is much more important than diameter as far as volume for a given input power (wattage) is concerned.

15 watts RMS is the average all the time power this speaker can handle. This is low, but most car stereo's only put out 20 or less rms, so as long as you don't turn it up all the way, it will probably not blow. And speakers can handle lots of power, it is DISTORTION from the amp which will kill them.

30 watts Peak is the max it can handle mechanically before the speaker begins to disintegrate - it can handle this power for a short amt of time. car stereo's typically do 45 w peak, so there is a problem here. know your application and amplifier power.

Crossovers direct the audio spectrum to the correct speaker. subwoofers get 100 hz and less. woofers 60 - 2500 hz or so. tweeters 2000 hz - 20000 hz. crossovers are what are used to make the right frequencies go to the speaker built to reproduce those frequencies. without a crossover, your sub will try to produce frequencies it cannot, and that is very very bad, as the speaker will fail. the same logic goes for the other drivers.

 

[Kroze]

So i should return my 3 1/2 " speakers which i bought to install in the front of my car?

I don't know which speakers will fit perfectly for my car...Can you help me?

I have a CD player with 45watt output for each channel. I also have an MTX 200 watt amp & a pair of 200watt Rockford Fosgate Subs.

The AMP & Sub is not hooked up to the Car yet.

Right now, the front speakers sounds like it's going to blow up if i turn the volume a little high. The rear speakers sounds like it just keep on rumbling after the base hit. Does this means that i need to replace my front and rear speakers with better ones?

I want to be able to hear a strong base without the speakers rattling for like a second or two after the base hit & that it doesn't sound like it's going to blow up.

 

[454Casull]

To make it simpler, a crossover splits an audio signal into anything from 2-4 (sometimes even 5!) different signals, each with a different frequency range. For example, a simple monaural (single-channel) 2-way crossover could just split the sound between a woofer and a subwoofer, with the setting at 100Hz. All the sounds under 100Hz go to the sub, and 100Hz+ go to the woofer.

EDIT: Sounds like the speakers are getting a tad too much power.

P.S. There are two types of crossovers: electronic (AKA active) and passive crossovers. Electronic crossovers use components differring from passive crossovers, are placed before amplifiers, and split a line-level signal, whereas passive crossovers are used after amplifiers, therefore split a speaker-level signal.

 

[MrBaseball]

I would get some better speakers so you will be able to hear them over the subs. Here is a good place for info on car audio --> Car Audio Forum I have some 6.5" Diamond mids/tweets getting a little over 100 watts each and I sometimes have problems with the mids and highs getting drowned out by the bass from my 2 solobaric 12's. Im not sure how well you will hear the 3" speakers if the bass is loud.

-Ben

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Kroze...I highly suggest you get someone local to help you. You already bought speakers but don't know what size your car takes?

 

[Kroze]

I'm new and just trying to figure out stuff for myself. Best way to learn is from experience

Anyway, I know the front will fits 3 1/2

and the rear probably fits 4"

 

[PowerMac4Ever]

ok, you generally don't want to buy car audio stuff right when you're beginning to learn about car audio. About a month ago I decided I would upgrade the audio in my car this spring. I knew nothing then and still don't know a whole lot now. However, I checked a few books from the local library and spent a lot of time researching on the net. My point is pace yourself! There's a lot of shizznit to know.

Oh, and just don't do anything stupid... like messing up your car audio setup.

 

[Viperoni]

Kroze, find out what size speakers your car fits.
Go to Crutchfield.com and see what kinda speakers they recommend for your car through their online speaker recommendation thing. That'll give you an idea of what to buy. Post back with what you find.

 

[Kroze]

Thanks for the website link. And oh yea...I just hooked the Sub & amp back and the whole right side does not work (This problem exist a long time ago when suddenly one day while the cd was playing, the whole side just died). I changed the RCA cable and rewired the whole system but now the right side still doesn't work. Does this means that something is wrong with my Amplifier?

 

[Evadman]

If the right side does not work, one of 3 things happened.

#1 it is wired wrong.
#2 the Head unit ( the stereo itself ) is broken
#3 You accidently put the left/Right bias over to the left.

And for those of you who care RMS means Root Mean Squared, or .707 of full power. RMS has also come to mean the power that a speaker can handle with a 100% duty cycle too, so check that out.