DB401 Question

[dustybell]

I am new here, and am not real "audio" smart.

We installed a Jensen JDH910 stereo on our can am spyder. We installed to speaker pods from Audioformz and put the polk DB401 speakers in them.

These speakers sound wonderful on low or medium volume. Only trouble is, we purchased this bike used and it had louder pipes put on it. To hear the radio, I need the volume up to about the 3/4 level. When I do that, the speakers start to static.

What does this exactly mean? Does this mean I need an amplifier? If so, what exactly does the amplifier do? And if I do need an amplifier, do you have any recommendations on what I would need?

Thanks so much for any help you can give me.

Dusty

[MacLeod]

Yes.

Youre head unit is running out of clean power and so youre pushing it into distortion and clipping.

Think of it like this, your 4 cylinder car can do 100 mph. However it really has to struggle to get to that 100 mph and it really stresses the motor and itll have to rev really high. A big V8 will have enough power that it can get to 100 mph with no problem and have plenty of muscle left over. This wont stress the motor nearly as much.

Same with an amp. Your head unit only makes 10-15 watts per channel which isnt enough horsepower to push your speakers hard enough to make them loud enough. When you push the volume up, youre running it to its limits and it sends out a very distorted signal.

With an amp, youve got ample power and you wont have to crank your volume knob as high to get the volume you need.

Problem is, 4's cant get very loud since theyre pretty small speakers and, like a V8, there is no replacement for displacement. You gotta have some cone area to make some solid output plus you need some good suspension travel for the cone so it can crank without bottoming out.

So basically, look for something in the 50 watt RMS per channel range but dont expect a whole bunch of output from them. They will get loud and sound good but may not be what youre wanting.

[dustybell]

Thanks so much. So, for looking for something in the 50 watt rms per channel, then for the two speakers, I would be looking for a 100 watt amplifier? Is this correct?

With the spyder, I'm kind of limited with what I can put on it. It doesn't have the handlebars like a regular motorcycle, so harder to find places to add items to it. Everything is plastic so can't really attach something to the body. We were able to attach these speakers and pods.

The volume is almost there. I just need a little more. So if I can get these to be heard clearly at highway speeds, I'll be happy.

Thanks so much for your help. And thanks for the education.

Dusty