I have a car stereo which says it's maximum output is 240w. Would it be possible to plug in a 500w amp directly into the sub woofer output on the back of it? Or is it likely that it won't be powerful enough and I'll need to buy a separate amp?

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• Ah sorry, I just realized what I had said is wrong. I meant to say "Would it be possible to plug in a 500w sub woofer directly into the sub woofer output on the back of it?"

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  by diablo_bt on March 1st, 2007

• Ah...then the answer would be No. If you're only running front speakers you can try powering the subwoofer off the rear channel speaker outputs of the radio, but you won't be able to crank it very loud.
  
  BTW, that "240w maximum output" figure for the radio is *heavily* inflated. It probably means it has 4 channels rated about 20W continuous (RMS) and 60W "peak" each. I don't know about you, but I don't listen to songs that are milliseconds long. So the RMS figure is much more relevant.

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  by Old School on March 1st, 2007

• Ah ok, well thanks for your help. Looks like I'll have to pick up an amp at some point before sticking this thing in my car.

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  by diablo_bt on March 1st, 2007

• These days, speaker and amp rated seems to be in PMPO, which is Peak-Music-Power-Output, as stated this is the absolute max. in a millisecond burst before a) the cone rips out, or b) the amp explodes. These values are largely meaningless for real purposes, they are there purely to look impressive on the box. A quality distortion-free 30W per channel will usually be more than adequate, unless you are deaf or really do need to blow the windscreen out. Note that if you really plan to run serious watts, you may well need to upgrade your alternator and/or battery, as in cold weather with the heated screen on, it may overload with an extra 500W on. There is plenty of info on beefy car audio systems if you look.

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  by Sparks on January 19th, 2008