Just got a new car, need a stereo for it. I have pretty much decided on the head unit. It has 60x4 max, so I'd assume thats 30x4 or thereabouts RMS. I wish they listed it. Anyway, I figure thats going to be about useless for anything unless someone convinces me otherwise.

Heres what I have/plan:
I have a convertible, and I want to hear the tunes clearly with the top down, not some muddled distant sounding mess. I figure I'll have the stock 4x6 openings used, maybe some kickpanel setup with a separate tweeter, and then im stuck with (hopefully) some 6.5 round 3-way type speakers in the back, along with a couple small (8") subs hidden in the trunk area. Going to <i>try</i> to port those to the interior if at all possible.
My real question is, how much power do I need for the speakers? Right now in my T-top car I have a deck powering the front 4x6's (which IMO isnt enough though I think its only rated at 25W max) and I had 2 120x2 amps in back, one for a pair of 6x9's and one for a pair of 10's. With the tops out, it wasnt quite loud enough. Close, but I want more this time around. I dont know how much worse, if any, it will be with the convertible.

Help?

 

Find a good quality amp rated at 30 to 50 watts RMS a channel. Most good amps will put out more then their rated power.

 

Yea, I know about ratings. The one I have now is rated at 120 and maxes at 250.
Think 50 will do it huh?

 

Wattage isn't everything. If you want alot of volume, you'd need more speakers.

 

OK I'm just going to chime in my .02$:

IN a 'vert you need more wattage than in a enclosed car (even T-tops are better) You understand RMS ratings which is good but make sure they are listed at 12V they all look better at 14.4V and some companies publish both..
also 50x4 watts RMS rating on a good amp (PPI, KICKER, RF, MTX) is ALOT better than on a cheap amp (Profile, Rockwood, Sony, etc.) lots of factor come into play here...

So my suggestion is about 75-100 x 4 for the mids and highs and about 300-500 for the subs (also a class D sub amp would be nice)... you can always turn the gain on an amp down but turn it up and clipping / distortion will show it's ugly head....

 

Buy as much as you can afford. Don't worry about overpowering, thats what the gain on the amp and the volume control on your head is for.