hootb18 on Aug/15/02 said:
actually you defiantely can blow speakers by underpowering them. this happens when there is not enough power going to the speakers and the HU is turned up high.
jeebus DO NOT BLAME BLOWN SPEAKERS oN "UNDERPOWERING" it sounds so stupid. if there is not enough power going to the speakers when the HU is turned up, that means you did NOT SET THE GAINS PROPERLY. it means you adjusted the amp past the sensitivity level of the head unit.
for example, you put in a 5watt amp. if you set the sensitivity, say 2volts, to match the 2volt output on a deck, it will perform perfectly on ANY speaker. the problem lies when 5watts isnt enough for you, so you turn the gain up and in doing so the amp puts out distortion and blows up the speakers.
now overpowering, that is harder to deal with as you can have the gain at the minimum and the speaker still cant handle the load, thermally or mechanically. fyi, some people like giving a 350rms sub 500-600. of course you wouldnt run this continually, but they like the headroom and i guess "less distortion" at lower levels.
read this to understand gains
http://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/gaincon2.htm
the main page is here
http://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/caraudio.htm
i know its a lot of info to take in but after you read through it, you can be confident in any audio situation and probably put most installers/shops to shame. the best part is, is that it always follows basic electronics so a calculator and some common sense goes a long way =D