Newbie Question - why an amp? [Archive]

Danny-Boi

April 14th 04, 12:21 AM

His response was a good one...I will save you the trouble of having to look
it up urself:

am·pli·fy

v. tr.
1. To make larger or more powerful; increase.
2. To add to, as by illustrations; make complete.
3. To exaggerate.
4. To produce amplification of: amplify an electrical signal.

Theres amplify you should be able to figure it out.
Danny

"John in NH" --SP4M--> wrote in message
...
> What's the benefit of having an amp hooked up to your car stereo.
>
> I'm not trolling. :)
>
> Please be gentle,
> John in NH
> ~~~
>
> That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
>
> My eBay stuff:
> http://tinyurl.com/u0fi
>

John in NH

April 14th 04, 12:38 AM

>
>
>His response was a good one...I will save you the trouble of having to look
>it up urself:
>
>am·pli·fy
>
>v. tr.
>1. To make larger or more powerful; increase.
>2. To add to, as by illustrations; make complete.
>3. To exaggerate.
>4. To produce amplification of: amplify an electrical signal.
>
>Theres amplify you should be able to figure it out.
>Danny
>
>"John in NH" --SP4M--> wrote in message
...
>> What's the benefit of having an amp hooked up to your car stereo.
>>
>> I'm not trolling. :)
>>
>> Please be gentle,
>> John in NH
>> ~~~
>>
>> That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
>>
>> My eBay stuff:
>> http://tinyurl.com/u0fi
>>
>

Sigh. . .
~~~

That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?

My eBay stuff:
http://tinyurl.com/u0fi

John in NH

April 14th 04, 12:47 AM

>>
>>His response was a good one...I will save you the trouble of having to look
>>it up urself:

No, it's a suck answer to a newbie. Does it simply make things louder?
Clearer? And if it only makes the signal louder, why would I need an amp when
I have a volume knob that does that.

Plus, I asked for someone who could spell.

0 for 2 and I'm outta here. :/

~~~

That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?

My eBay stuff:
http://tinyurl.com/u0fi

Danny-Boi

April 14th 04, 01:02 AM

It's not that I dont kno how to spell I jus shorten words when I am typing
on the internet you dumbass.

Here's a site that might answer your audio questions because we obviously
arent helping.
http://www.bcae1.com/

"John in NH" --SP4M--> wrote in message
...
> >>
> >>His response was a good one...I will save you the trouble of having to
look
> >>it up urself:
>
> No, it's a suck answer to a newbie. Does it simply make things louder?
> Clearer? And if it only makes the signal louder, why would I need an amp
when
> I have a volume knob that does that.
>
> Plus, I asked for someone who could spell.
>
> 0 for 2 and I'm outta here. :/
>
>
> ~~~
>
> That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
>
> My eBay stuff:
> http://tinyurl.com/u0fi
>

Dave

April 14th 04, 01:43 AM

Don't you think the question was a little overly "broad", John. There's a
bunch of sharp folks in here
but you have to give us more to go on. Why are you asking the question?

dave

"John in NH" --SP4M--> wrote in message
...
> >>
> >>His response was a good one...I will save you the trouble of having to
look
> >>it up urself:
>
> No, it's a suck answer to a newbie. Does it simply make things louder?
> Clearer? And if it only makes the signal louder, why would I need an amp
when
> I have a volume knob that does that.
>
> Plus, I asked for someone who could spell.
>
> 0 for 2 and I'm outta here. :/
>
>
> ~~~
>
> That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
>
> My eBay stuff:
> http://tinyurl.com/u0fi
>

April 14th 04, 02:41 AM

Ignore Tony. English is not his first language.

--
Mark
remove "remove" and "spam" to reply

"John in NH" --SP4M--> wrote in message
...
> >Hi,
> >How about looking up the dictioinary for the word amp(lifier)
> >to bigin with?
> >Tony
>
>
> Priceless.
>
> Anyone with any serious replies - preferably someone who can spell.
> ~~~
>
> That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
>
> My eBay stuff:
> http://tinyurl.com/u0fi
>

Scott Johnson

April 14th 04, 02:41 AM

1st, It can make the sound much louder. incase the stock sound isn't loud
enough for you or you drive a very noisy vehicle.

2nd, with the added power, the system will have better dynamic range so
music that has a loud crash of cymbals will have enough power to reproduce
the sound without distorting.

some people only need a little more power than the stock system. maybe they
have trouble hearing also and need a little extra to make the music
enjoyable to them.

"John in NH" --SP4M--> wrote in message
...
> What's the benefit of having an amp hooked up to your car stereo.
>
> I'm not trolling. :)
>
> Please be gentle,
> John in NH
> ~~~
>
> That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
>
> My eBay stuff:
> http://tinyurl.com/u0fi
>

April 14th 04, 02:44 AM

It's a perfectly reasonable question, and I'm a bit surprised these trolls
are hassling you about it.

Essentially, an amplifier increases the amount of power you can deliver to
your speakers. As you start to exceed the capabilities of the amplification
in a car stereo (which tends to max out at about 15 watts per channel,
despite the inflated claims by the manufacturer), distortion skyrockets
because your signal is becoming saturated.

At low volume levels, the difference is negligible.

--
Mark
remove "remove" and "spam" to reply

"John in NH" --SP4M--> wrote in message
...
> >>
> >>His response was a good one...I will save you the trouble of having to
look
> >>it up urself:
>
> No, it's a suck answer to a newbie. Does it simply make things louder?
> Clearer? And if it only makes the signal louder, why would I need an amp
when
> I have a volume knob that does that.
>
> Plus, I asked for someone who could spell.
>
> 0 for 2 and I'm outta here. :/
>
>
> ~~~
>
> That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
>
> My eBay stuff:
> http://tinyurl.com/u0fi
>

April 14th 04, 02:45 AM

> It's not that I dont kno how to spell I jus shorten words when I am typing
> on the internet you dumbass.

Haven't quite mastered the keyboard yet, I see. Are you new to computers?

Danny-Boi

April 14th 04, 04:10 AM

You aren't very bright...read what I said, I shorten words when i am typing
on the internet because I dont feel like spelling everything out. I work
for a computer company so I am sure I kno a helluva lot more about computers
than you do.

"MZ" > wrote in message
...
> > It's not that I dont kno how to spell I jus shorten words when I am
typing
> > on the internet you dumbass.
>
> Haven't quite mastered the keyboard yet, I see. Are you new to computers?
>
>

April 14th 04, 04:13 AM

> You aren't very bright...read what I said, I shorten words when i am
typing
> on the internet because I dont feel like spelling everything out.

It's worth saving a few hundred milliseconds, even at the expense of
presenting yourself as an inarticulate boob?

> I work
> for a computer company so I am sure I kno a helluva lot more about
computers
> than you do.

Are you the "dude, you're gettin' a Dell" guy?

Danny-Boi

April 14th 04, 04:33 AM

Yes it is worth saving that time. Yea I am the "dude, you're getting dell"
guy...good one.
"MZ" > wrote in message
...
> > You aren't very bright...read what I said, I shorten words when i am
> typing
> > on the internet because I dont feel like spelling everything out.
>
> It's worth saving a few hundred milliseconds, even at the expense of
> presenting yourself as an inarticulate boob?
>
> > I work
> > for a computer company so I am sure I kno a helluva lot more about
> computers
> > than you do.
>
> Are you the "dude, you're gettin' a Dell" guy?
>
>

April 14th 04, 04:37 AM

> Yes it is worth saving that time. Yea I am the "dude, you're getting
dell"
> guy...good one.

Just think of all the things you can do now that you've saved 60ms by not
having to type the "y" and "o" in front of "ur"! Now you have extra time
to, say, argue with someone over the internet about whether or not your job
in computers is at Office Max.

> "MZ" > wrote in message
> ...
> > > You aren't very bright...read what I said, I shorten words when i am
> > typing
> > > on the internet because I dont feel like spelling everything out.
> >
> > It's worth saving a few hundred milliseconds, even at the expense of
> > presenting yourself as an inarticulate boob?
> >
> > > I work
> > > for a computer company so I am sure I kno a helluva lot more about
> > computers
> > > than you do.
> >
> > Are you the "dude, you're gettin' a Dell" guy?
> >
> >
>
>

Danny-Boi

April 14th 04, 05:21 AM

I don't see how you are saying where I work at...I could say you work at
mcdonalds but i doubt they would hire you. You are more suited to a grammer
police or something. I am done arguing with a 10 year old.
Latez
"MZ" > wrote in message
...
> > Yes it is worth saving that time. Yea I am the "dude, you're getting
> dell"
> > guy...good one.
>
> Just think of all the things you can do now that you've saved 60ms by not
> having to type the "y" and "o" in front of "ur"! Now you have extra time
> to, say, argue with someone over the internet about whether or not your
job
> in computers is at Office Max.
>
> > "MZ" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > > You aren't very bright...read what I said, I shorten words when i am
> > > typing
> > > > on the internet because I dont feel like spelling everything out.
> > >
> > > It's worth saving a few hundred milliseconds, even at the expense of
> > > presenting yourself as an inarticulate boob?
> > >
> > > > I work
> > > > for a computer company so I am sure I kno a helluva lot more about
> > > computers
> > > > than you do.
> > >
> > > Are you the "dude, you're gettin' a Dell" guy?
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

April 14th 04, 05:22 AM

> You are more suited to a grammer
> police or something.

I am not!

(PS - it's "grammar")

Danny-Boi

April 14th 04, 05:39 AM

Hahahah thats funny that I spelled it wrong. Ending this thread.
"MZ" > wrote in message
...
> > You are more suited to a grammer
> > police or something.
>
> I am not!
>
> (PS - it's "grammar")
>
>

Scott Gardner

April 14th 04, 06:20 AM

On 13 Apr 2004 22:06:31 GMT, --SP4M-- (John in NH)
wrote:

>What's the benefit of having an amp hooked up to your car stereo.
>
>I'm not trolling. :)
>
>Please be gentle,
>John in NH
>~~~
>
>That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
>
>My eBay stuff:
>http://tinyurl.com/u0fi

In addition to the other reasons given, an external amp often becomes
necessary when adding more/larger speakers to your system. You could
wire a subwoofer into your stock system using a passive crossover, but
there's no way the power from the stock head unit will adequately
power a large subwoofer.

Also, the passive crossover networks that come with component speakers
consume power from the head unit's amp, leaving that much less for the
speakers. I'm not talking about the little first-order crossover that
separates the mids from the highs on a coaxial speaker, I'm referring
more to the larger second- and third-order crossover networks, like
the kind you get with MB Quart component sets.

Scott Gardner

April 14th 04, 06:35 AM

> Hahahah thats funny that I spelled it wrong. Ending this thread.

Haven't you said that in your last two posts already?

(guessing this isn't the end of the thread either)

Chad Wahls lt

April 14th 04, 02:17 PM

"Danny-Boi" > wrote in message news:<Qh2fc.34411$rg5.58927@attbi_s52>...
> Yes it is worth saving that time. Yea I am the "dude, you're getting dell"
> guy...good one.

No he cant be the dell guy, he's the computer support guy on Saturday
Night Live!

Damn this is funny, If the hassle of finishing words bugs you, how do
you deal with say....... the microwave. One should cook their food
all the way.

Chad

Scott Johnson

April 14th 04, 10:41 PM

"Scott Gardner" > wrote in message
...
> On 13 Apr 2004 22:06:31 GMT, --SP4M-- (John in NH)
> wrote:
>
> >What's the benefit of having an amp hooked up to your car stereo.
> >
> >I'm not trolling. :)
> >
> >Please be gentle,
> >John in NH
> >~~~
> >
> >That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
> >
> >My eBay stuff:
> >http://tinyurl.com/u0fi
>
> In addition to the other reasons given, an external amp often becomes
> necessary when adding more/larger speakers to your system. You could
> wire a subwoofer into your stock system using a passive crossover, but
> there's no way the power from the stock head unit will adequately
> power a large subwoofer.

that would depend on the car and the listener.

>
> Also, the passive crossover networks that come with component speakers
> consume power from the head unit's amp, leaving that much less for the
> speakers.

eh? a little.

I'm not talking about the little first-order crossover that
> separates the mids from the highs on a coaxial speaker, I'm referring
> more to the larger second- and third-order crossover networks, like
> the kind you get with MB Quart component sets.
>
> Scott Gardner
>

Scott Gardner

April 15th 04, 05:24 AM

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 17:41:27 -0400, "Scott Johnson"
> wrote:

>
>"Scott Gardner" > wrote in message
...
>> On 13 Apr 2004 22:06:31 GMT, --SP4M-- (John in NH)
>> wrote:
>>
>> >What's the benefit of having an amp hooked up to your car stereo.
>> >
>> >I'm not trolling. :)
>> >
>> >Please be gentle,
>> >John in NH
>> >~~~
>> >
>> >That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
>> >
>> >My eBay stuff:
>> >http://tinyurl.com/u0fi
>>
>> In addition to the other reasons given, an external amp often becomes
>> necessary when adding more/larger speakers to your system. You could
>> wire a subwoofer into your stock system using a passive crossover, but
>> there's no way the power from the stock head unit will adequately
>> power a large subwoofer.
>
>that would depend on the car and the listener.

True - everything in this business is subjective, but if you have a
stock head unit that only puts out an honest 15W by four channels, I
can't see passively connecting a 12- or 15-inch sub along with the
rear speakers and being very happy with the results.

>
>>
>> Also, the passive crossover networks that come with component speakers
>> consume power from the head unit's amp, leaving that much less for the
>> speakers.
>
>eh? a little.

Only a little, but it's still significant. The term is "insertion
loss", and it can consume 10% of the amplifier power (or more), which
is significant if we're only talking about a 15 watt-per-channel head
unit to begin with. The insertion loss goes up as you add more and
more passive components, so a 12db/octave or 18 db/octave passive
crossover will consume more power than a 6db/octave crossover.
Low-pass filters are the worst offenders, because the inductors used
are made up of many turns of wire, and have a measurable DC
resistance. This causes them to dissipate power in the form of heat
while they're operating. Also, the lower the crossover point, the
larger the DC resistance of the inductors will be.

>
>>I'm not talking about the little first-order crossover that
>> separates the mids from the highs on a coaxial speaker, I'm referring
>> more to the larger second- and third-order crossover networks, like
>> the kind you get with MB Quart component sets.
>>
>> Scott Gardner
>>
>

Scott Gardner

John in NH

April 20th 04, 08:05 PM

MZ and the Scotts,

Thanx for the serious replies. :)

In short, I was getting some clipping when running from just my HU. Research
showed that an AMP would help get more juice to the speakers when they needed
it, therefore negating the clipping.

Since my initial post, I've installed an AMP and some nice Boston Accoustics
and Polks. TREMENDOUS difference!

Take care,
John in NH
~~~

If you're not annoyed, you're not paying attention.

My eBay stuff:
http://tinyurl.com/u0fi

Peter Klein

April 22nd 04, 09:30 PM

Adding an amplifier between the head unit and the speakers provides a huge
increase in clarity, not louder sound. Louder is controlled by the volume.
The output from a cd head unit is usually provided by a couple of integrated
circuits. The real thing is usually called "discrete outputs", meaning
transistor outputs. Car stereo dealers frown upon "deck power", and
knowledgeably suggest an amplifier. Speakers are accoustic motors which run
on wattage. If there is enough wattage, everything works fine, but if there
is not enough wattage, when the music volume is increased, the sound will
distort.. This is the condition preceding "clipping" where there is not
enough "fuel" for the speakers, and much of the musical passage is not
heard. It is not necessary to have an amplifier with hundreds of watts.
Remember, more wattage doesn't mean louder, volume means louder. All
aftermarket speakers (coaxial=midrange driver with a tweeter, or 2-way) are
stronger built than o.e. ones and are four ohms impedance. All aftermarket
head units have four ohm outputs to match the speakers. Very few companies
(Bose) provide car builders with four ohm systems so replacing the junk head
unit with a today technology CD head unit requires changing the speakers as
well for a reliable, good sounding system. P. (car stereo rep for eight
years)

"John in NH" --SP4M--> wrote in message
...
> What's the benefit of having an amp hooked up to your car stereo.
>
> I'm not trolling. :)
>
> Please be gentle,
> John in NH
> ~~~
>
> That's nice, but what does this have to do with Rush?
>
> My eBay stuff:
> http://tinyurl.com/u0fi
>

April 23rd 04, 12:06 AM

> Adding an amplifier between the head unit and the speakers provides a huge
> increase in clarity, not louder sound. Louder is controlled by the volume.

I think you got this from Crutchfield.

> The output from a cd head unit is usually provided by a couple of
integrated
> circuits. The real thing is usually called "discrete outputs", meaning
> transistor outputs. Car stereo dealers frown upon "deck power", and
> knowledgeably suggest an amplifier.

They frown upon deck power because they make more money selling an amp allow
with it.

> Speakers are accoustic motors which run
> on wattage. If there is enough wattage, everything works fine, but if
there
> is not enough wattage, when the music volume is increased, the sound will
> distort.. This is the condition preceding "clipping" where there is not
> enough "fuel" for the speakers,

This isn't the condition preceding clipping. It IS clipping. Prior to the
onset of clipping, there is virtually no distortion present, regardless of
whether it's a McIntosh amp or a Jensen head unit.

> and much of the musical passage is not
> heard. It is not necessary to have an amplifier with hundreds of watts.
> Remember, more wattage doesn't mean louder, volume means louder.

Increased volume can only be obtained by more power. When you turn the
volume knob up, you're increasing the input voltage to the amplifier
(whether it's in the head unit or an external amplifier), which in turn
increases the voltage output of the amplifier (which increases the power
delivered to the speakers).

> All
> aftermarket speakers (coaxial=midrange driver with a tweeter, or 2-way)
are
> stronger built than o.e. ones and are four ohms impedance.

Not necessarily and not necessarily.

> All aftermarket
> head units have four ohm outputs to match the speakers. Very few companies
> (Bose) provide car builders with four ohm systems so replacing the junk
head
> unit with a today technology CD head unit requires changing the speakers
as
> well for a reliable, good sounding system. P. (car stereo rep for eight
> years)

Be glad that I was kind. When Les comes across this post...nevermind.

Les

April 23rd 04, 04:22 AM

"MZ" > wrote in message

>> today technology CD head unit requires changing the speakers
> as
> > well for a reliable, good sounding system. P. (car stereo rep for eight
> > years)

> Be glad that I was kind. When Les comes across this post...nevermind.
>
>

Mah, too tired today, 3 17 hour days working on an install and arguing with
idiots about clipping and underpowering has taken it out of me. I'm sure our
car audio rep for 8 years guy here will give me another chance :)

Les

April 23rd 04, 05:23 AM

> Mah, too tired today, 3 17 hour days working on an install and arguing
with
> idiots about clipping and underpowering has taken it out of me. I'm sure
our
> car audio rep for 8 years guy here will give me another chance :)

You really must be tired. Fresh meat. (unlike spoiled meat, like pug and
the captain)

rossshan

January 5th 05, 05:12 AM

i couldnt help mentioning how fokin stupid the guy who asked the dumdass
question and MZ is.2 jac@sses alike

--
rossshan
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January 5th 05, 08:09 PM

> i couldnt help mentioning how fokin stupid the guy who asked the dumdass
> question and MZ is.2 jac@sses alike

Learn to quote the text you're replying to, imbecile. Not everyone is using
CAF as a portal to rec.audio.car. Some of us actually know how to use a
newsreader. So when you say something stupid, it's difficult for me to tear
you a new one when it's not even apparent what you're referring to.

(lemme guess...you're a webtv'er too...)

January 5th 05, 08:14 PM

> > i couldnt help mentioning how fokin stupid the guy who asked the dumdass
> > question and MZ is.2 jac@sses alike
>
> Learn to quote the text you're replying to, imbecile. Not everyone is
using
> CAF as a portal to rec.audio.car. Some of us actually know how to use a
> newsreader. So when you say something stupid, it's difficult for me to
tear
> you a new one when it's not even apparent what you're referring to.
>
> (lemme guess...you're a webtv'er too...)

By the way, every time I click on the link forced upon CAF posters at the
bottom of their posts (which supposedly provides the context to which their
unquoted replies are addressing), it comes up with "server is busy." What
kind of half-assed site is caraudioforum.com running, anyway? Clearly, the
site maintainers have the same level of intelligence as the average CAF
poster.

Dark1

January 6th 05, 12:10 PM

"MZ" > wrote in message
...
>> > i couldnt help mentioning how fokin stupid the guy who asked the
>> > dumdass
>> > question and MZ is.2 jac@sses alike
>>
>> Learn to quote the text you're replying to, imbecile. Not everyone is
> using
>> CAF as a portal to rec.audio.car. Some of us actually know how to use a
>> newsreader. So when you say something stupid, it's difficult for me to
> tear
>> you a new one when it's not even apparent what you're referring to.
>>
>> (lemme guess...you're a webtv'er too...)
>
> By the way, every time I click on the link forced upon CAF posters at the
> bottom of their posts (which supposedly provides the context to which
> their
> unquoted replies are addressing), it comes up with "server is busy." What
> kind of half-assed site is caraudioforum.com running, anyway? Clearly,
> the
> site maintainers have the same level of intelligence as the average CAF
> poster.
>
>

it's not about intelligence, it's about money.. buy any web servers lately?
hows you bandwidth bill?
CAF is certainly not profitable.. and it's owner is to be thanked for
providing what he can, not insulted..

January 6th 05, 06:05 PM

> it's not about intelligence, it's about money.. buy any web servers
lately?
> hows you bandwidth bill?
> CAF is certainly not profitable.. and it's owner is to be thanked for
> providing what he can, not insulted..

No, he should be insulted for refusing to remove the link to RAC, and what's
more, for stealing the RAC FAQ and posting it as his own, even against the
wishes of the contributors and maintainer.

rossshan

January 7th 05, 02:22 AM

MZ Wrote:
> > > i couldnt help mentioning how fokin stupid the guy who asked the
> dumdass
> > > question and MZ is.2 jac@sses alike
> >
> > Learn to quote the text you're replying to, imbecile. Not everyone
> is
> using
> > CAF as a portal to rec.audio.car. Some of us actually know how to
> use a
> > newsreader. So when you say something stupid, it's difficult for me
> to
> tear
> > you a new one when it's not even apparent what you're referring to.
> >
> > (lemme guess...you're a webtv'er too...)
>
> By the way, every time I click on the link forced upon CAF posters at
> the
> bottom of their posts (which supposedly provides the context to which
> their
> unquoted replies are addressing), it comes up with "server is busy."
> What
> kind of half-assed site is caraudioforum.com running, anyway? Clearly,
> the
> site maintainers have the same level of intelligence as the average
> CAF
> poster.

forgive if i dont know how to whine like a lil biatch,ill just leave
that to u science u seem to a pro

--
rossshan
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