What is the Amp output on an '89 VR?

[warthogcrewchief]

I'm looking to get a new set of speakers for my bike (Soundstorm F240's) for a great price. They seem to look great, and have great specs regarding what I'm looking for. However, I'm not sure what the output is on the radio amp? I'm gonna guess it's less than 50 watts as most cars in that time period usually had 35 watt amps from the factory.

 

Thanks in advance,

WHCC

[Freebird]

I used to know but don't remember now. I know it's really low...too low I think...I'm thinking around 10 watts or something like that.

[frankd]

I believe the first Gen. audio amplifier is rated @ 12 watts/channel. The original speakers were 4 ohm, so if you install speakers with a 8 ohm impedance your output power will decrease somewhat. Judging by how loud mine will go, I'd guess that the actual output power is a little higher than 12 watts.

 

Frank D.

[warthogcrewchief]

I'm looking to get two 4" 2-way Force loudspeakers for less than $20. It has a RMS power range of 100 watts and peaks at 200 watts, so if the amp is only really at 10 watt, then these speakers will do just fine. It appears that this speaker will be much more weather resistant then the last set that was in there (paper and foam).

 

I was talking with my father-in-law, who is very knowledgeable about speakers. He said the old school way of determining the speaker rating is to double the amps output (i.e.: 35w amp, 100w peak speaker would suffice as it exceeds the 70w calculation).

 

At that rate, then the "ideal" speaker would be around 20 watts.

 

This speaker has a 20 oz magnet!!!

[Freebird]

I've found that if you go with speakers that are rated for too many watts, you will not get good results. The higher wattage speakers usually do not work well with lower wattage amps. Just not enough power to drive them.

[bongobobny]

OK first, the rated power output of an amplifier is it's maximum rating. Unless you have the volume turned up all the way, you are not going to deliver that kind of power. You do, however, want a power rating that will handle the maximum output of the radio (don't ask how I found this out). That being said, the stock speakers were only rated around 20 watts if I remember correctly, but you can use ones rated around 50 watts and the system will drive them just fine.

 

Another point is the old ratings game. RMS power is .707 of peak power, and multiply x2 for peak to peak power which is what some speaker manufacturers do to make their specs lok good, and they also seem to add a little more to that number! I have seen supposedly 100 watt speakers fry on an amp honestly rated at 50 watts RMS (True) power. That's also another point, amplifiers sometimes use this tactic to make you believe that their product has more power when in reality it doesn't.

 

Any wAy as long as the speakers are rated at least 25 watts and have a 20 oz magnet, they should be fine, but remember what John Arbuckle said, "You get what you pay for..."

[timgray]

4 ohm car speakers are fine. What is more important is poly cones and rubber surround than anything else to handle the washing water and rain. Pyle and "roadmaster" brands sound good and I have used both in 1st gens. If you want you can spend a lot for "high end" speakers but they will not sound any better than the $19.00 cheapies simply because of where they are mounted and how they are mounted without a back cabinet.

 

Do not worry about wattage rating, your amp will not hurt anything you can buy unless you crank it up and leave it cranked.

 

Watts don't hurt speakers, Clipping and distortion does. I can destroy a set of 10,000Watt capable speakers with a 1 watt amp by clipping to DC and leaving it there as it melts or heats up and distorts the coil. I have ran 50 Watt speakers on a 1000 watt amp and they survived running at 100 watts for years before I overheated them and burned the coils. Amplifier ratings on the box typically are garbage. total Harmonic distortion at a wattage is everything. your stock amp is a MAX 12 watts at 5% distortion... which is huge.. a good amp is 12 watts at 0.05% distortion. When I used to do competition stereos I would put in 1000 watt amps to get a 0.005% at the desired wattage in order to get incredibly clean sounding audio.

[gator06]

Would a graphic equalizer help with the distortion? As on the 2nd gen tech talk.