How many watts

[ponchonutty]

Guys. really only poorly designed systems make that much noise on the outside of the vehicle. I have a very high power Directed Audio system that will slap you happy. It hits so hard that I can't drive at the same time because it vibrates my glasses too much. On the other hand, when all the windows are up, you really don't hear much at all and no, the whole car isn't lined with dynomat!

[RT Thunder Rider]

it can be done with very little power, it all depends on the setup and the car.

[PaulD]

I have to agree ...... being able to hear the stereo stysem outside the car is being caused by wasted energy - flexing the car panels and glass

[ponchonutty]

I agree with both of you. Yes, you don't really always need a bunch of wattage to get a system to boom. BUT, to do this you have to have a good quality amp. Not some Jensen, or cheap MTX thing. It has to be a rock solid amp like DEI, PPI, Macintosh or other high end amp that really pushes out what it says it does. Now, even on some vehicles and depending how much space you want to sacrifice, you might still need to go pretty high on wattage.

One thing about stereos, you can't always use cookie cutter ideas on building them. There are so many areas that you need to attend to and can change what you need to do and your outcome. Just like you won't want to build a sealed box for a convertable or a 4th order bandpass for a hatchback!