what does it mean when an amp has 14.4 volts on it's specs?
I thought a car was 12 volts?!
14.4 is the running voltage of vehicles as opposed to when the car is turned off , then it's 12 volts.
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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA
14.4 V...........
That's what the manufacturer tested the amp at......a lot of them do that...usually when an amp recieves more voltage, it puts out more output.. ( i.e. the SoundStream Lil' Wonder..output was regulated only by voltage input..the more power it got, the more it put out..)
It's a type of deception manufacturers put on their products....whether knowingly or not........
a lot of vehicles only run at about 13.6 to 13.8 when running, instead of the 12.6 or so when it's jsut the battery...of course the 13.6 or so is at idle RPM's...it doesn't increase much as the vehicle runs..maybe on a good day, might go to 14V.....but it's for reasons like that, if oyu go to local sound-offs, outlaws, etc, you'll see the guys revving the engine, it's to get a lil more power to the amp....
But watch out like Nyx said man..you see an amp that was tested at 16V or more...disregard it...and they are out there..I saw an amp one time rated at 1000W........at 19V...LOL.........I think I figured I'd get maybe 400 or 500 outta it under normal situations...
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Đễẳ†ђş 12\/ Ĵęśŧē®™
Hahahaha... I know what your sayin' Jester. I always laugh when I see amps rated at higher than average voltage. Rule of thumb is that for every 10 amps of current draw the MOST any given amplifier is going to put out is 100 watts, so when you see an amp the is rated at 1000W that has a 20 amp fuse on it you know its a crock of
!@#$! Another point is that even if you give an amplifier 14.4V, 13.8V, 13.6V, etc, etc.. it really doesn't matter in the end because that amp is going to have voltage drops as it pumps out the juice (Unless you have a nice charging system, caps, etc. OR an amp with a regulated power supply (Like JL Audio or PPI)) so its not always going to put as much power out as it says its going to on that sheet... Remember your car does not have a regulated power supply, like the one they use to bench test their products before they ship them... Another point is sometimes they only list peak power output (Not labeling it as "peak," but just as "output"), so in the end you could be giving you speakers even less power...
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Jesse
Joseph's Car Everything
I beg to differ, numbers mean everything, but not everyone out there knows what they mean. If anyone needs any help understanding feel free -
jellynutzo@aol.com-------------
Jesse
Joseph's Car Everything