I was given this advice in this forum earlier this week regarding a question I asked about what speakers to put in Spods with the stock HU:

I have some cheap Blaupunct components ($50 clearance at crutchfield) in the pods and they work great. Make sure the sensitivity is good enough that you won't be stressing you HU to hear them.

What is the sensitivity rating that I should look for when buying speakers to use with the HU?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Sensitivity rating is how efficient the speakers are. I would look for 90+. 91-95 is ideal. Generally, the more expensive, the more sensitive (unless they are power oriented speakers). Speakers with lower wattage ratings (rms) are generally more sensitive, as they are designed to operate with lower input.

Look for 91-95. Nothing below 90. I got a set of Blaupunkts as well on clearance ($40) (TsC series 5.25's) and they have a rating of 93. The thing is that their cones are pretty heavy, as they are plastic, so bass gets outta hand in the upper volume levels. But you are not looking for drivers with the S-pods, but more fill, so they should not ever be running that loud to begin with.

Just my $.02.

John

 

Thank you John,

that is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[QUOTE=jwa4378,Jan 29 2006, 08:34 PM]Sensitivity rating is how efficient the speakers are.

 

Modifry-

These TsC speakers are rated at 91 for 1V/1M. They do have a pretty heacy cone, though (polycarbonate). Here is a link:

Blaupunkt TsC540

John

 

I can't find those on blaupunkt's web site, but I did find a spec sheet on their current line of car speakers. Manual here

It looks like they rate their speakers both ways in the spec sheet, but only advertise the higher numbers. So the 91dB is really 88.

 

I decided to go with the Infinity Kappa 50.7cs. They are rated at a sensitivity of 94 dB, and all the reviews, etc. I read online raved about their sensitivity. Bought them on ebay for $120. Cant wait to get them installed.

Thanks again for everyone's help and advice, I really appreciate it.

 

Fantastic. Infinitys are usually nice and sensitive. Youll be golden!

 

Modifry-

THe TsC series have been discontinued. When I purchased these, the specs stated that they were 91 @ 1v/1m. The site may have lied to me.....not sure on this. They are decent speakers for their purpose (fill).

Infinities are a better choice, but they were not in my budget at the time. I was actually wanting a set of Polk/MOMO coaxials, but once again, price got me.

I am not going to be able to go all out on my system for about another year and a half, as I am getting married, and have not saved a penny for it yet . Looking like I will need between $15-20k for the wedding and honeymoon (2 weeks in Hawaii baby!). By then, I will be making between $45-60k (as opposed to my $20k now), so I will have a TON of $ to throw at the stook . I have enough stuff to get me by.....I will probably be posting my budget in a few months for when the wedding is over, so I can gather some info on products.

Has anyone seen the new Double DIN Alpine HU? Looks amazing on their site, and its only ~$1100 (RETAIL!). Its the IVA-W200. Looks like this (or its next generation) will be my next HU.

John

 

^ Does the double-DIN it fit in the S?

That's also the second time you said "1V/1M" and I'm assuming you mean 1W/1M.

I looked up the Infinity Kappas, and now I understand what's going on. Nobody has complete specs on them, not even the manufacturer. Infinity is very careful NOT to tell you how the efficiency rating is measured, and that makes me suspicious. Well, more suspicious than I already am.

So, I'll bet another chocolate milkshake that they're lying through ommision of the facts. These speakers are 2 ohm drivers. If they use the standard ruse of measuring them at 2.83 volts then the efficiency ratings will be inflated by 6db. That test is actually 4 watts on a 2 ohm speaker. You'd expect it to be louder if you pump 4 times the power into it, right?

I'm not saying they're not good speakers, or that they don't play louder than other speakers, just saying that it's not because they are more efficient. If your HU blows up because it's not designed to drive a 2 ohm load you'll know why. If it survives, great. But you could do the same thing (overload the HU, get more power out and have it play louder) by installing 2 sets of 4 ohm speakers. It might even sound better than the single 2-ohms if you do a good job of selecting components.

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