My speakers have too little sound

lakimens · Oct 20, 2017

Hello, I have a DVD receiver, the speakers on it are 50W@6Ohm with a 120W sub@8ohm.
I took two of them, put them in my car, but the sound they give from the car radio, which is 60W per channel is too low, maybe 10 times lower than that of the DVD receiver. It's the same wattage. Anyone know why?

JamesSneed · Oct 20, 2017

Car speakers are 4 Ohm normally. So just going from 4 to 6 Ohm is going to cause a decent loss. Say your receiver in the car outputs 50 watts which will be rated at 4 Ohms then it will only output 33 watts at 6 Ohms. If the speakers also are not that efficient say the sensitivity went down from 92 DB to 86 DB that could easily account for the drop in perceived loudness.

lakimens · Oct 20, 2017

The radio in the car is 60W, I think the radio can output 50W to them, because after a certain volume, they start losing quality.

The speakers are about 10 years old, if it makes a difference. Barely used.
I was actually not exaggerating the 10 times difference in loudness, I don't have a meter, but It's definitely around there.

I am asking this because a friend is getting a lot more sound with a 50W radio and just as old speakers.

JamesSneed · Oct 20, 2017

lakimens :

Its not so much age but it will be how much wattage goes to the speakers(Ohms of speakers effect this directly) and how sensitive the speakers are. LIke I said 6 Ohm will drop it and speaker sensitivity will also make a decent drop. Also all wattage on car stereos are not rated the same would want to know the RMS wattage of yours vs his. Many show the max wattage in your case 60 but RMS could easily be 25-30 watts.

lakimens · Oct 20, 2017

JamesSneed :

lakimens :

Its not so much age but it will be how much wattage goes to the speakers(Ohms of speakers effect this directly) and how sensitive the speakers are. LIke I said 6 Ohm will drop it and speaker sensitivity will also make a decent drop. Also all wattage on car stereos are not rated the same would want to know the RMS wattage of yours vs his. Many show the max wattage in your case 60 but RMS could easily be 25-30 watts.

Okay, I'll try to get the full specs, but I this wattage is the only one I can see on the box.

lakimens · Oct 21, 2017

What if I was to wire them parallel in two outputs? Like this:

I reckon this will decrease the impendance to 3 Ohms.
I know this could be too much for the radio to handle, I would still like to try after hearing professional opinions.

JamesSneed · Oct 21, 2017

That will likely double the sound you hear but like you said it will put more load on the radio so you have a chance of burning up the radios amp.

lakimens · Oct 21, 2017

JamesSneed :

I'm fine with that, I bought it for 25EUR. I'll gladly buy another one

JamesSneed · Oct 21, 2017

lakimens :

Then give it a shot and crank it up, may want to check how hot it gets if it starts getting to hot to touch then you know its a no go.

lakimens · Oct 21, 2017

JamesSneed :

What about the speakers? How much power will they receive?
If the radio gives off 60W@4Ohms, it should give off 25% more at 3Ohms, meaning 75W.

JamesSneed · Oct 21, 2017

It would be 90 Watts your receiver would be trying to push at 3 Ohms if its really putting out 60W@4Ohms. If you just want to do the rough math every time you half the resistance(Ohms) you will have double the wattage.

lakimens · Oct 21, 2017

We didn't halve it, we went from 4 to 3, it's a 25% reduction. It gives off a bit more sound, but still not at levels I'd like it to be. Is there a tool that I can use to measure the wattage passing through the wires? Really would like to know how much the speakers are getting.

I also have two speakers in the back that sound low, is there a way to find out their impendance, because it is not written on them and I'd like to do this to them too.

JamesSneed · Oct 23, 2017

You can use a decent multimeter to measure both the wattage and impedance on the speakers.

The impedance you would disconnect the speaker see for example:

https://www.wikihow.com/Measure-Speaker-Impedance

Measuring wattage is pretty complicated to be honest you can google for it. It will involve producing a test tone on a frequency your multimeter can measure.

lakimens · Oct 24, 2017

JamesSneed :

I've actually found front speakers in my car and they're okay. Now I need speakers for the rear.
From what I've researched, the RMS power of my radio is 22W and 60W is the maximum power.
I'd like at least two-way, bass and tweeter, but the problem is I already have holes for 9x6 speakers and those are a bit more erxpensive.

JamesSneed · Oct 24, 2017

You know what you may think about calling someone at https://www.crutchfield.com they have very helpfull people on speaker recommendations even if you don't end up buying from them. I highly recommend them. They also have an online configuration to show which speakers will fit your car for example not all 6x9's fit all cars as there is some grill issues, depth issues etc.

Also you should discuss with them wanting more SPL / volume. Maybe they will suggest a new receiver but also I know there are 6x9 speakers that are fairly cheap that come in 2, 2.7, 3, and 3.5 Ohms which would get you more output. They also would likely know if your car's receiver can handle 2 Ohms etc as they do tons of testing.

These are 3 Ohm with a very high 94DB sensitivity they should play decently loud with your receiver if they fit your car, they are slightly oversized.
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108P9603IS/Infinity-Primus-PR9603is.html

lakimens · Oct 24, 2017

JamesSneed :

I can' t call them as I don't live in the US.
My radio most likely can handle 3Ohms, but I'd like to keep it at 4Ohms, because it's rated 4-8. Don't wanna run a risk.
I'll try to find some speakers with a high sensitivity.
Are these good? They go for about $53 in my currency.

JamesSneed · Oct 26, 2017

Crutchfield does have international contacts: https://www.crutchfield.com/Support/international.aspx#contactHeader

Those speakers are ok, whats your make model of receiver? Most car receivers can handle 3-4 ohms just fine plus you already said you don't care if you kill your receiver. At least check there site out to see if those speakers fit(they do have those Kenwoods too).

lakimens · Oct 28, 2017

Well, I already bought them and my receiver can't feed them enough power. Now I need a receiver for my speakers.
Now, I plan to purchase this KENWOOD radio and most likely these KENWOOD speakers.
Radio goes for about $60 and speakers for about $25.

My speakers have too little sound

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