Need assistance!

[crayzayjay]

Ok guys i dont know much about sound systems so bear with me...

This is a little off-topic in that it isn’t about car audio but about a home hi-fi system.

Im about to replace my current stereo (which is about 5 years old) with a new one. A Sony caught my eye in a store the other day; I liked the design, but when I checked to see how loud it was even at full blast it wasn’t THAT loud. My current stereo has 2x50W speakers and it is loud enough. The Sony had 2 speakers, 35W each. The guy said you can’t add a subwoofer to the system. Don’t ask me why… But for a $600+ system I wasn’t overly impressed. Then there was another system, slightly cheaper, with 2x30W speakers and a 50W sub. So does this equate to something much louder than the Sony, or my existing system, or does the subwoofer just add depth and bass to the sound? This stereo wasn’t hooked up so I couldnt try it out…

I appreciate any help/comments.


cheers,
jay

[buymeabmwm3]

I only have experience with my own car audio, so I dont claim to be an expert. But I would say that you'd be much happier with the 2x30W and a 50W sub than your standard 2x50W speakers. The 50W sub is a little on the wimpy side, but the total power output of the new system is more than your current one - 100W vs. 110W. Not much in terms of overall power, but any time you split up the audio into several speakers it is going to be better. You'll get much improved sound quality, because each speaker has a more specialized job to handle, and you will get more volume because each speaker has a smaller frequency range over which it has to operate. My 2 cents. For my home system I have an Aiwa with two 2 channel speakers and a sub. Total output is something like 250W, and has just the right amount of volume for me.

[crayzayjay]

Thanks for the reply. just a few questions...

1. what's a 2 channel speaker? one with two "cones" in it?

2. what are "separates"... you didnt mention it in your post, but ive read it in a few places and dont know what its referring to...


like i told ya i dont understand this stuff too much!

thanks

[Haibane]

Sepreates are components, a speaker with a cone SEPERATED from the tweater

[crayzayjay]

Thanks... so what's the advantage of this setup?

[Haibane]

In my car for example, my speakers are in the door panels by my feet, if I put a tweeter up higher, that is seperate, I will get better imaging and it will sound like it is not coming from the ground up, but like you are being surrounded

[crayzayjay]

That makes sense. what does "2 channel speaker" mean?

[buymeabmwm3]

I think it might actually be called "2-way", whatever I say channel.
A 1-channel speaker has just one cone. All frequencies from the music come out of just one cone. As you can imagine this is not the most efficient. A 2-channel will have one mid-range speaker, and a high-frequency range tweeter. A 3-channel speaker set will have one tweeter, one mid-high cone, and a mid-low woofer. Its just a way to split up the workload among more speakers so they sound better. A 3-channel speaker set will sound much clearer, crisper, and better quality than a 1-channel speaker.
Most good car audio has 2-way speakers up front that are separate, or "component", meaning you have your main mid-range speaker in the door panel, and a tweeter mounted up near the dash. In the rear deck they usually put "coaxial" 2-way speakers, which just means the tweeter is mounted inside the main speaker. Some cars come with a subwoofer standard. Component speakers set ups sound better than coaxial speakers, for the same reason a 2-way speaker sounds better than a single speaker, but they are also more expensive. Hope that was at least somewhat coherant.

[crayzayjay]

That was perfect, thanks

[Haibane]

I can see why you would call it 2 channel, but if you put all those on different channels, I don't think it would work to well

[buymeabmwm3]

No thats just me making up words.