Does more speaker wattage drain my battery?

Question

I have a set of 250 watt car speakers for the rear deck of my car and i was thinking about moving up to an insane 1000 watts just for the rear deck of my car. Im not adding an amplifier at all i just want a new set of 1000 watt speakers. Will that drain my battery? if you get higher wattage speakers does it take more out of your battery?

Answer 1

Bigger speakers won't change a thing. It's all about the amount of power you use. You need speakers with a high enough power rating to handle the applied power.

In fact without enough amplifier power 1000Watt rated speakers may not perform as well as the lower rated ones. This has to do with the speaker's overall mass and sensitivity.

Most music listening is done with only a few Watts. Only when it plays at full blast do you get into high power consumption.

And yes, using lots of audio power is taxing on the vehicle's electrical system. A large enough alternator is required, supply capacitors are very helpful, and it can be rough on the battery.

Answer 2

no it wont take any more power, your stereo puts out a certain amount of wattage. and nothing can change that. but if you ask me i say you should buy a amplifier cause using your stereo is barely gonna show the full potential of those speakers!

Answer 3

Check these sites out...it is a good reference.

http://www.bcae1.com/

http://www.termpro.com/articles/articles...

If your headlight dims with the bass notes, this might work.  If not an H.O. alternator will be needed, or else be prepared to pour a lot of $$$ for batteries.

This site explains the "BIG 3" upgrades.

http://www.sounddomain.com/ubbthreads.ph...

Answer 4

First of all, if your engine is running, your audio system shouldn't drain your battery under any circumstances.

The power rating of a speaker measures the maximum amount of power it can handle, not the minimum level that it requires.  Higher-rated speakers don't change your system's current requirements, unless you have to use more power to get the same volume level.  If your volume k**b stays in the same spot, then you'll probably be using the same amount of power as before.

Finally, I can't imagine any rear-deck speaker that can really handle anything close to 1000 watts.  If you're looking at a pair of speakers (not subwoofers) that claim 1000-watt power handling, then they're certain to be a flea-market brand that you should avoid like the plague.  Manufacturers that make good-quality speakers don't wildly inflate their power ratings.  For example, the most entertainment you'd get out of these speakers: http://www.americanthunderaudio.com/Prod... would be in pointing at them and laughing.

Answer 5

Reguardless of what type of deck speaker you get, as long as its rms is higher then your radio, your current will not change. Basically the same current (wattage) your pulling now is going to be the same because if your radio can only push out 50watts, its only going to push that much out wheither you have 250 watts in the back or 1000. i would get an amp. but to prevent drainage of your battery just play radio up high when you got car running.