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quickie: car audio question

rh71

rh71

No Lifer
How much wattage is good for a car audio system ? My refurbished 35x4 Sony single cd player just went kaput and I'd like to get a new one... but keep my car's stock speakers... how much wattage is good enough and are there other factors ?
 
Don't pay too much attention to the watts on a CD player. Instead, look for features you'd like...such as the ability to read MP3's...Watts dont really mean much on a head unit, because companies will rate their systems wattage much higher than it will actually produce.
 
The best you'll find marked on a stereo will probably be about 50-55W.

However they will only probably put out 15-20 anyway! 🙂


Confused
 
Ok... what's a good system for ~$100-150 these days ? Or maybe I should get new speakers put in with it... any luck with that price ? My rear speakers have a casing, so I guess that would be a factor in whether or not those can be changed...
 
Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
Don't pay too much attention to the watts on a CD player. Instead, look for features you'd like...such as the ability to read MP3's...Watts dont really mean much on a head unit, because companies will rate their systems wattage much higher than it will actually produce.
Click to expand...

Seriously, I had a blau HU from like 5 years ago that was rated like 18W RMS and then 2 years ago, I got another blau rated at 25W RMS. Onward march of technology improvement right? Wrong. Later I looked more closely and the first HU was rated at 12V and the second one was rated at 14.4V. Dirty marketing tricks to up the paper spec but not really improving anything.

 
Originally posted by: OS
Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
Don't pay too much attention to the watts on a CD player. Instead, look for features you'd like...such as the ability to read MP3's...Watts dont really mean much on a head unit, because companies will rate their systems wattage much higher than it will actually produce.
Click to expand...

Seriously, I had a blau HU from like 5 years ago that was rated like 18W RMS and then 2 years ago, I got another blau rated at 25W RMS. Onward march of technology improvement right? Wrong. Later I looked more closely and the first HU was rated at 12V and the second one was rated at 14.4V. Dirty marketing tricks to up the paper spec but not really improving anything.
Click to expand...

The input voltage? that shouldn't matter at all....
 
Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
Originally posted by: rh71
Ok... what's a good system for ~$100-150 these days ? Or maybe I should get new speakers put in with it... any luck with that price ?
Click to expand...

Good luck at that price..
Click to expand...
No prob... back to just a new faceplate/receiver then... mp3 is a must this time around... I see Kenwood, JVC, Jensen... anything I should stay away from ?
 
You can find kenwood mp3 players cheap....
Now if you wanted to do it the right way (spend a little money too) let us know... 😀
 
Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
Originally posted by: OS
Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
Don't pay too much attention to the watts on a CD player. Instead, look for features you'd like...such as the ability to read MP3's...Watts dont really mean much on a head unit, because companies will rate their systems wattage much higher than it will actually produce.
Click to expand...

Seriously, I had a blau HU from like 5 years ago that was rated like 18W RMS and then 2 years ago, I got another blau rated at 25W RMS. Onward march of technology improvement right? Wrong. Later I looked more closely and the first HU was rated at 12V and the second one was rated at 14.4V. Dirty marketing tricks to up the paper spec but not really improving anything.
Click to expand...

The input voltage? that shouldn't matter at all....
Click to expand...

Power = Current * Voltage

You increase the voltage it works/is listed at, and with the same current, you increase the power 🙂


Confused
 
Originally posted by: Phocas
You can find kenwood mp3 players cheap....
Now if you wanted to do it the right way (spend a little money too) let us know... 😀
Click to expand...
I would, but I have many more things I *need* like a DVD-writer, so this will have to be budgeted at no more than $150.
 
Originally posted by: Confused
Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
Originally posted by: OS
Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
Don't pay too much attention to the watts on a CD player. Instead, look for features you'd like...such as the ability to read MP3's...Watts dont really mean much on a head unit, because companies will rate their systems wattage much higher than it will actually produce.
Click to expand...

Seriously, I had a blau HU from like 5 years ago that was rated like 18W RMS and then 2 years ago, I got another blau rated at 25W RMS. Onward march of technology improvement right? Wrong. Later I looked more closely and the first HU was rated at 12V and the second one was rated at 14.4V. Dirty marketing tricks to up the paper spec but not really improving anything.
Click to expand...

The input voltage? that shouldn't matter at all....
Click to expand...

Power = Current * Voltage

You increase the voltage it works/is listed at, and with the same current, you increase the power 🙂


Confused
Click to expand...

gotcha..understood.
 
Originally posted by: Confused

Power = Current * Voltage

You increase the voltage it works/is listed at, and with the same current, you increase the power 🙂

Confused
Click to expand...

that's kind of a misleading application of the P=IV equation but whatever.

For the same amplifier, how much voltage you get out is almost directly related to how much you put in. Then on the output side, you measure power by P=V^2/R. When you raise the voltage powering the amplifier, it increases power output to the square of the input voltage.

Man you seriously gotta watch the advice you get.
 
Hey let me know what you pick out, because I want to buy one too, and I am throughly confused. All I want is something decent that can play MP3s too, and allows manual radio seek (not just the auto seek, which never picks up my desired stations, because I live outside the city)
 
Originally posted by: rh71
Originally posted by: Cooljt1
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=kenwood+mp3+player
Click to expand...
Thanks... for something like this... it's just the head unit/faceplate. What do I do about the cd changer it needs to control ? Do they sell these separately ?

I currently have a 1-cd Sony unit.. not a changer... so sorry I don't know about this stuff..
Click to expand...
Anyone please ?

 
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