Headroom???

[phuz]

Can someone explain this concept to me?

[Jstas]

His name was Max, had a TV show in the mid to late 80's. Was moderatly successful and then for some reason just tanked one season and was never renewed.

[RuSsMaN]

Why are you asking over here, moron?

[phuz]

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
Why are you asking over here, moron?

eff ya rooster! :)

Because I rarely hear home audio folks talk about it. I usually hear it when I'm reading up on car audio.

[Jstas]

OK< I have to ask about what you are reffering to when you mention "headroom"? In a car, that usually means the amount of space between the top of your head at the roof of the passenger compartment in a car.

Musically however, you are probably referring to frequency range peaks and the amount of extra power available to produce those extreme peaks.

It really is inconsequential and shouldn't be a deciding factor if your decisions to purchase equipment. If you purchase your equipment for your tastes and application, you should have plenty of "headroom". Other than that, I've never really heard of "headroom" in car audio.

Well, now that I think about it, I have heard people discussing stereo sound staging and mentioning "headroom" as an effect that gives the sound a more open feeling. Like its being played in a concert hall and not a Civic or something. But that is a very complicated subject and neutral stereo imaging is difficult to attain in a car due to the limited speaker placement options and the fixed position of the listeners. I've seen people completely gut and rebuild the interior of a car just to improve the stereo imaging.

[jamas33]

Originally posted by Jstas
His name was Max, had a TV show in the mid to late 80's. Was moderatly successful and then for some reason just tanked one season and was never renewed.

CLASSIC ANSWER LOLOLOL

[phuz]

Lately when I see the term used, it has to do with power and amplification.

[PoweredByDodge]

Max Headroom... lmfao --- well, the verdict is in... Jstas has finally reached the depths of polk audio forum sarcasm as Cody and myself.

hehehehe.... :p

my take on headroom -- the only time i have heard it used is in reference to an amplifier's "reserve" in comparison to speaker rms rating.

take a 500 watt subwoofer... put a 700 watt amp on it... you have 200 watts headroom. ...headroom being "clean power available beyond the rms rating of your speaker" -- or at least that's teh concept i've been using the word for in my days.

[Jstas]

I thought it was the other way around? 700 watt sub on a 500 watt amp? Leave some room for upgrades i.e.: headroom? Well, either way I guess.

What I think is "headroom" is really slang that found its way into mainstream usage in audio circles. I think it is an inaccurate term just by the justification that no one seems to be able to explain it properly.

[automaticman]

Typically, when you tune a system, you'll set your amps to reach their maximum power output at around 3/4 or 2/3 of your headunits max volume. The ida is that you want all of your components to reach their max power output at the same time. Now. if you were to install amps that put out twice as much power as your speakers were rated at, this might not be a good idea. What you would want to do is set your amps gain to reach maybe 75% output at your headunits 3/4 mark. The remainig 25% of amp power would be "headroom" - clean power left in reserve to handle transients and other large volume spikes that might otherwise drive an amplifier into clipping.

[STUFFMD]

Eyyyyy ...... Let's not forget Max's hugely successful Coke commercial........
Stuff

[phuz]

Yeh yeh Headroom is also the name of a group of 3 sweedish hardcore techno producers/DJs. :p

Thanks for the explanation guys.