Amping OEM speakers

[Stoner]

Hi guys, been looking through the site for a while and there's some brilliant advice on here, but I can't find anything on what I'm hoping to do.

New Roc is on order, build date confirmed for next week , but at the time I decided to go with the standard speaker set up, and after looking at the stats 4x20w just seems a bit... weak; and I've been told it's too late to add Dynaudio without major delays.

So I need some advice on what my options are. The car is leased so I really don't want to go about changing speakers/headunits etc, but I'd love the standard setup to have a bit more power. On previous cars that I've owned, I've been happy putting in an aftermarket stereo with standard speakers. I've currently put a Sony MEX-BT5000 in an ST170, which only takes it to 4x50w, but the difference is sound quality from the standard headunit is amazing and the speakers cope extremely well even at high volume.

I've seen this amp mentioned on here (http://www.bluespot.co.uk/car-audio.asp ... -amplifier" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), and it sounds from the writeup that it will happily integrate into the standard setup, but will 4x150w just be too much for the standard speakers?

[true romance]

Think you'll find the standard sound system is very good, unless you like driving around in a baseball cap with all the windows down and meeting up with chavs at Mcdonalds... Go into a dealers and turn up the sound and see (or hear) for yourself.

[Luke]

I've seen this amp mentioned on here (http://www.bluespot.co.uk/car-audio.asp ... -amplifier" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), and it sounds from the writeup that it will happily integrate into the standard setup, but will 4x150w just be too much for the standard speakers?

Thats the Max figure. You want to pay more attention to the RMS figure as that is what the amp will supply constantly not just for a split second.
That amp will be completely fine if you want to upgrade. The standard set up is very good though, I'd wait until you've got it before you make up your mind.

[mo1315]

Think you'll find the standard sound system is very good, unless you like driving around in a baseball cap with all the windows down and meeting up with chavs at Mcdonalds... Go into a dealers and turn up the sound and see (or hear) for yourself.

Adding an amp has more purpose than just turning you into a McDonald's car park loving chav. The additonal power helps to control the movment of the speaker cones a lot more and you therefore get a clearer sound at all volume levels.

To answer your original question, no 150w rms into each set of componentsa won't be too much. You are far more likely to blow your speakers by using an underpowered amp as it could "clip" - this just basically means at full pelt the amp sends a square wave to the speaker and causes the voice coil to burn. It is much safer to have a more capable amp working well within its limits. As mentioned earlier, the extra power will just help to control the speaker movement.

The amp you have mentioned is currently being installed into a roc by a fellow forum member who is doing a full build. The thread is called alternative to Dynaudio upgrade or something similar.

[trix]

The amp you have mentioned is currently being installed into a roc by a fellow forum member who is doing a full build. The thread is called alternative to Dynaudio upgrade or something similar.

its only a few threads below this one http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... =25&t=6461" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Stoner]

Thanks Mo, completely agree that I'm not amping it to wind the windows down and do donuts in a car park somewhere. Sound quality is the most important thing here.

I've had a play now with the stock stereo, and while it's much better than I expected it still hasn't got the clarity that I'd like, and it seems to struggle at higher volumes, so I'm fitting the amp. Car is arriving next week so I'll let everyone know the difference!

[mo1315]

I have recently added a small powered subwoofer under the passenger seat (Pioneer TS-WX11A) It fits perfectly retaining the OEM look and can wire very quickly into the standard loom with no need to run power cables to the battery as the amp is a very efficient class D amp. It really adds some depth to the sound and suprisingly for a small sub with a tiny amp, packs quite a punch. As its installed up front you also retain the sound stage to add to the quality. For £150 its definitely worth considering.

[the stig]

how did you get on with this? pleased with the results?