Enough power for an 8" Quatro?

[aduncan]

I recently had a set of 2.1 channel computer speakers suffer comsetic damage and decided to take out the amp and rebuild the system. I already have the plate amp in it's own enclosure and a set of decent satellites put together. I had hoped to use my old MTX 8" car sub to complete the system, but the woofer seems to have been damaged while in storage. WinISD reports that this box is just about ideal size for an 8" Quatro, but the computer speaker amp only puts out 20 Watts RMS for the sub. So, is this 20W enough to make the $50 purchase worthwhile? I'll probably use this as a miniature home theater the bedroom, and all I'm hoping for is something that will sound better than the original set of computer speakers (and to have fun in the process of making it). I guess I'm just looking for another opinion on whether 20W is enough to justify the purchase of a Quatro to satisfy my modest demands.

[mike_e]

> I recently had a set of 2.1 channel computer
> speakers suffer comsetic damage and decided
> to take out the amp and rebuild the system.
> I already have the plate amp in it's own
> enclosure and a set of decent satellites put
> together. I had hoped to use my old MTX
> 8" car sub to complete the system, but
> the woofer seems to have been damaged while
> in storage. WinISD reports that this box is
> just about ideal size for an 8" Quatro,
> but the computer speaker amp only puts out
> 20 Watts RMS for the sub. So, is this 20W
> enough to make the $50 purchase worthwhile?
> I'll probably use this as a miniature home
> theater the bedroom, and all I'm hoping for
> is something that will sound better than the
> original set of computer speakers (and to
> have fun in the process of making it). I
> guess I'm just looking for another opinion
> on whether 20W is enough to justify the
> purchase of a Quatro to satisfy my modest
> demands.

might want to try the dvc 8 from dayton ... you might be able to port the box if not done so already...those computer speaker amps are weak compared to what you cant build for the price... gl on the project sound interesting though....

[Dirk]

> might want to try the dvc 8 from dayton ...
> you might be able to port the box if not
> done so already...those computer speaker
> amps are weak compared to what you cant
> build for the price... gl on the project
> sound interesting though....

IIRC, the 8" DVC is an inefficient driver. I may be wrong in that, though.

[mike_e]

> IIRC, the 8" DVC is an inefficient
> driver. I may be wrong in that, though.
it was just a suggestion based on price ... from what some have said with passive's and the dvc's they are nice... for the price with an amp like that i would try it... IMO i wouldnt use anything less then 100watts on the 8 quatro

[jonpike]

The Quatro line is noted for being more efficent than a lot of sub drivers, so it's probably a good choice. Especially if it will be a good fit into the box volume.

You won't be getting the most it could do for you with the 20W amp. That being said, you likely will get as much out as you were getting before, if not more.

If budget is an issue, you might try it that way first, just arrange things such that you could easily cut the hole later for the plate amp. But an amp in the 70-120W range will give you all the BANG for the buck you bought with the Q8.

[aduncan]

I've been thinking about that suggestion with the plate amp, and will most likely go that route. I figure that even if the Quatro doesn't impress me due to the low lower, I can always spend a little extra and get something like the 70W plate amp for it, and then start over with a new box and woofer for this other project. After all, another sub box would give me another opportunity to have fun with another design.

> The Quatro line is noted for being more
> efficent than a lot of sub drivers, so it's
> probably a good choice. Especially if it
> will be a good fit into the box volume.

> You won't be getting the most it could do
> for you with the 20W amp. That being said,
> you likely will get as much out as you were
> getting before, if not more.

> If budget is an issue, you might try it that
> way first, just arrange things such that you
> could easily cut the hole later for the
> plate amp. But an amp in the 70-120W range
> will give you all the BANG for the buck you
> bought with the Q8.