is 230 watts enough

[casmith71]

i just ordered a pair of samson s7hd's. i really dont wanna shell out $500+ for a new amp until maybe next year. so my question is just that is 230 watts enough? my current tower amp is 4ch that will push 230 wattsx2 if bridged. the s7hd's are 250 watts rms. i know they can handle and really need more but will they sound punie with 20 watts less than rms? the towers are the only thing running off of this amp. i also have a ws420 so i can tune it if the lower watts affect one aspect over another.

[KG's Supra24]

I think anything near a clean 200w would be fine. The 4 speaker Exile bundle pushes approx 210 to each of the 9's for reference.

[MLA]

The wattage is fine, but I would spend a little more and get the 8" version, seriously! There will not be an audible difference between 230 and 250 watts, besides, 250W rms is a little ambitious for a 6.5" speaker anyway. The amp, how its set up and tuned will have more to do with how the speaker sounds, then wattage thats below the advertised spec.

[casmith71]

I think anything near a clean 200w would be fine. The 4 speaker Exile bundle pushes approx 210 to each of the 9's for reference.

that's a good point. didn't think about the exile bundle watts

[casmith71]

The wattage is fine, but I would spend a little more and get the 8" version, seriously! There will not be an audible difference between 230 and 250 watts, besides, 250W rms is a little ambitious for a 6.5" speaker anyway. The amp, how its set up and tuned will have more to do with how the speaker sounds, then wattage thats below the advertised spec.

I really wanted the 8's but after new cabin speakers, wifes new board, ws 420, new sub amp, and complete overhaul of all the wiring, budget just didn't allow the extra $250. next year I will probably get the bundle with the 8's and the amp to add to the s7's. im going from 4 6.5 coax with about 38w each to two 6.5 HLCD's with 230w each so I would hope it makes a huge difference.

[MLA]

Huge difference for sure. Those are unbridled compression drivers with very little mid-bass to add balance. At higher levels, they will be be very dominate for any rear seated passenger.

[casmith71]

So is it better next year to go with the xm9 or the 9q. Paired with the s7's?


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[MLA]

neither. If you want a 4 pod setup, start building it now with a single pair of the 8". Im not a fan of mixing different size speaker as it requires different amping. Meaning, you would need 2 chnls for the small pair and 2 more amp chnls for the larger pair. They dont use/sum/divide the wattage evenly as well as you have to tune to the smaller speaker when they are wired together on a single chnl. At that point, you negate some of the advantage of having the larger speaker to begin with. To take it further, you dont want to mix a traditional coaxial speaker with an HLCD.

[casmith71]

So what about the smt65. I thought a pair of hlcd and a pair of coax was the same as the hybrid package. We surf and wakeboard about 50/50 so I really didn't know which way to lean vs the two. I figured hlcd this year and coax next year. I plan on buying another amp next year so keeping my old one plus a new is an option if needed


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[David Analog]

71,
MLA is giving you some pretty darn solid advice. And I would also strongly recommend staying away from any/all 6.5" HLCDs. They all are hideously bright and strident with very little lower midrange or midbass to offer balance. There was a time that if you wanted an HLCD in order to get better projection to a rider, you didn't have many choices beyond a smaller 6.5" version. But today most of those same manufacturers have discontinued their 6.5" HLCD offerings for good reason. The only decent sounding 6.5" HLCD (to my ears) would be the Kicker HLCD with two pair of 6.5" midbass drivers. So in order to get the surface area of an 8", great projection, and a more balanced sound with the Kicker HLCD, you needed to double up on the midbass drivers and have six tower pods. So my only exception would not be a single pair of 6.5" HLCD speakers.
Also, as mentioned above, mixing smaller and larger, or conventional with HLCD on the tower, will not give you the equivalent output per your total speaker and amplifier investment. Yes, you save now going with the lower cost 6.5", but in the long run, it's not the best investment. Wait and step up to the 8".