To stop threadjacking the guy wanting to know about Pioneer vs Alpine speakers. I thought I'd be nice and start my own thread.

Quoted from my old boss Eddie, Owner and Operator of River Oaks Car Stereo ( http://www.installer.com ):

 

With the information and moving this thread. Since it was me that was debating this idea let me state for the record. The original thread was by someone looking for clear sound with some punch, that is why I recommended the amp. There should be NO debate that an amp will be necassary to provide this under almost all circumstances (subjective of course).
You are focusing on the statement I made that less power can damage a speaker. I did a poor job of being clear. I think that you in a way have proved us both right. You nailed the scientific data and I threw in people's tendencies. Your boss states "When an amplifier is CLIPPED or DISTORTED the sine wave is
no longer smooth it flattops spending more of the time in the MAX
region.. So the average power does increase because the sine wave
is at MAX for a longer time each cycle.... THis is the basis in truth".
I agree with this entirely. What my experience has shown me is that people that want more sound will typically turn their stereos up past that point of clean sound and into distortion therefore creating the exact scenario you speak of. The sine wave is at max and creating heat. When you apply an amp with more power people will often get their desired sound level prior to distortion thus enabling the speaker to handle the power. It's funny we are kinda saying the same thing but I am coming to it from a cause perspective and you the scientific side. Good stuff all around and I appreciate you looking into this further. Thanks for the information.

 

See the trick is... high quality speakers will be louder with less volume than crappy (stock) speakers, AND be able to handle more power. Its why I say the best two things to do for a car is change the speakers and add a 12-15" sub. Headunits and amps for the mids/highs are totally fluff and bling factor. The volume a good system can put out is more than enough to cause permanent damage.

The best sounding stereo system is not the loudest. Volume and Quality are not the same!

 

I thought we had this straightened out? You can believe this or not but power and quality are related. If not I feel very sorry for all those poor saps who have spent thousands of dollars on amps when all they needed was more expensive speakers. It's just silly and all you have to do is spend two minutes in a sound room and have someone demonstrate the difference. That's all from me on this subject.

 

I used to work in a stereo shop for a couple years. I've played with all sorts of amps, speakers, headunits, ect. Its just like people swear that monster 'bling-bling' cable sounds no different from normal copper wire. There is absolutely no difference in sound quality. The only difference is that the more expensive one will have a slightly better jacket and will be more likely to last moving, flexing, rubbing, ect before wearing through. Salesmen lie to make sales, i know its shocking to hear , thats why alot of people buy amps, because some salesman told them it was better!