RE: Re: OT: In Car MP3

["Mark Kaye" <mark@xxxxxxx>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Timothy Morris [mailto:timothy.morris@xxxxxxx]
>
> Mark,
>
> Forgive me, but what is the point of having 1Kw of
> amplification in a car?

Headroom (as has already been mentioned)

> At home I have 9 channels of amplification for a full Home
> Cinema setup -
> each channel is 125W, and I will either blow my eardrums,
> speakers or both
> in a 10m x 4m room before I exhaust the power in the amps.

Noise floor!  I would imagine the noise floor in your cinema is pretty
low :)

> Either your specs are quoting peak (and not RMS) power, which
> is next t
> meaningless, your speakers are totally inefficient, or the
> manufacturers of
> the power amps are blowing smoke out of their arse at you. (I
> suspect the
> latter is the case).

RMS with test sheets to prove it :)  Most good amp manufacturers will
actually exceed quoted specs.  Also, running at 12V and silly current
ratings, car amps are not all that efficient.  Still, what's quoted is
actually much lower than shown on the test sheet.

> I've yet t  see a set-up in a car which needs more than
> around 100W (RMS) of
> amplification for listening at sociable volumes.

The whole problem with car stereo is the environment.  It's awful.
Certainly not a good place to be listening to music - start the car and
it gets even worse ;)  To combat this you need masses of headroom.  It
helps give you the fullest sound at moderate volume levels so you can
hear the music above the noise floor.  Add t  that the system is in my
Impreza (with straight through exhaust) and you can understand the
problems.



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