Kenny T.

I'm considering fitting a panasonic cassette player / receiver (CQ-FX88 phaseII) coupled to a 6 disc changer (CX-DP9061)to my MY99 saloon. I think this set up looks pretty good at a reasonable price (£493 all in). Any comments on panasonic gear likes/dislikes. Would this be powerfull enough to drive 6x9 speakers in the rear without an amp bearing in mind it is 4x60w. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Lee

Just a quickie few pointers...

1. 4x60W Max Power no doubt. This is worthless to you. The RMS figure has far more importance. I would estimate that your unit pushes out 4x25W useable power. I visited Panasonic's website but they do not publish rms figures. Should be in your manual though.

2. When not using an amp the most critical element of a speaker is it's efficiency. Since you have limited power to play with you want the speaker to make most use of it.
This is the "sensitivity" figure..its normally xx decibels at 1w/1m. I think (and probably woefully wrong) that this is the volume produced from the speaker given 1W input measured at a distance of 1metre. Anyhows the bigger the decibels the more efficient the speaker.

3. 6x9's are good for producing a fair bit of bass. No doubt a few people will post how 6x9's are crap and you shouldnt have rear speakers etc etc but if you are going for a sub-less no-amp system 6x9s rear and components up front will be good.
Incidentally MaxPower 6x9 test..they rated :
No 1 : MB Quart DKC 169
No 2 : Alpine SPS-6939.

I don't know the efficiency ratings and to be fair MaxPower probably tested them with an amplifier.

4. As to whether the panasonic gear is any good or not..when running speakers off a head unit you will not get the punch and response of an amplified system. fact of life 'fraid. I don't think the choice of manufacturer would make much difference.

regs
lee.

robski

If you are going to spend that much, plan on buying a small amp in the future. For max a couple of hundred quid you will be amazed by the difference. The amps built into head units are ****e. Feel how heavy a decent 4x100 watt amp is, to see how miniturised the head unit amp has had to become. Lee is right, the 4x60 will be well well under that RMS. I would be surprised to see much over 4x15 RMS.

robski

Mike Tuckwood

'Control is nothing without Power'.

<I>Well something like that anyway</I>

Mike.

Kenny T.

Thanks all for reply.
60Wx4 is maxoutput but there is no RMS value quoted in the brochure I have. It does however have;
Output power 10% THD=30Wx4
1% THD=18Wx4.
These figures mean nothing to me this is why I ask.

robski

Those numbers sound about right, rough rule of thumb is that music power is 50% of peak music power (what is normally quoted), and that RMS is 50% of music power. Its more scientific than that, but its a good rule of thumb and ties up roughly with the numbers you quote.
Also bear in mind that thats will all settings at standard, as soon as you "tweak" the setting you will deviate from those numbers. Adding bass to a head unit is particularly bad, cos they really are limited on the current they can pull.
As I said previously seriously think of a small amp, you will be impressed.

robski

Lee

Or to put it another way..
the ear cannot hear distortion above 1%. Therefore the figure you are interested in is at 1% Total Harmonic Distortion (THD).

This is your RMS power rating effectively..
4x18W.

My Alpine head unit has a 4x55W output which equates to 4x15W RMS. I did try using this on the original speakers and I thought it was good, certainly I could have lived with it. I then tried the head unit on my 6x9's (150W RMS input!) and it sounded naff. No bass, nothing. The addition of a 4x60W RMS Amp blew me away..

If you can stretch to an amp then robski is correct..you will be impressed.

Failing that..it is likely that your head unit has 2 thick wires which will be the ones drawing the current for the amp. Wire these straight to the battery cap (in-line fuse should be present in the positive one).
Do NOT wire these into the car's loom. At best you will be able to draw little current and at worst you will blow fuses.

DAZ

buy an amp ive got an m50 phenix gold running in tri mode only cost me 150 pound ex demo powers the whole of my system and sounds good to.

try the head unit but i think it will distort
with 6x9

Adam M

hello, have to add my bit
not sure I agree with all this rms figure should be... and that you cant hear distortion abopve 1%. Lee could you explain that sometime.

Aside from that, I agree with Lee, if running from the head unit 6X9s are the way to go to get bass (stuff imaging) and that efficiency is the important factor. The new amps of current head units should be fine doing this regardless.

I must say just this one thing. I have had a lot of discussions with importers regarding their products and advertising etc. and the one thing they have always told me is never listen to THAT magazine. Apparently (cant reveal sources) the review of products is highly dependent on the amount of cash the relevant distributor is willing to guarantee the magazine for advertising in the next few months. I have seen the same products reveiwed twice under different badges and distributors with massively different outcomes. (reviewed by the same bloke).

I know this deviates somewhat from the point but please take it into account.