[Fish Chris 2]

Now of course I know their are going to be infinite variables here. Systems can be totally geared towards efficiency or ridiculously high powered with powerful huge and / or multiple subwoofers.
But I've always stood by the adage, that its better to have a bunch of extra power and not need it, than to need more power, and not have it.
IMPO, even if a person is not into ground shaking bass, or ridiculous loud mid-bass through highs, I think 1000 wts is totally reasonable.
Also, I think that a LOT of folks who would tell you that the stock 30 wt system in their car, already gets louder than they can stand (because they are mistaking distortion, for loudness) might totally use 200 watts, of a 1000 wt system, and not even realize the music is actually pretty loud, but it doesn't bother them, because of the lack of distortion.

Even for you non-bass heads, I think a very efficiently set up system, is going to benefit from at least a couple hundred watts.... And so what would you say to the guys that say their little 30 wt stock stereo already gets louder than they need it to ?

Hypothetically: You just won a contest put on by a stereo shop, and they will put in your dream system, totally free. How many watts RMS will it end up being ?

I understand that their are factors other than cost to consider, such as space, weight, etc.... which means, I'd hand them my F150 and build a ridiculous SQL system, vs. giving them my Prius, and building an even nicer daily driver, which I could more likely do on my own. Oh, and I think 30 or 40 Kwts would do it... as long as I kept it efficient, for this "modest amount" of power lol

 

[Granite]

1 jl w7 in the spare wheel
One set of esotar 3-ways
1500 w max
And it’s stealth with no extra battery needed (assuming a v6 or better)
That would be my dream system, and I’m wondering if anyone can think up anything significantly better.

 

[Fish Chris 2]

1 jl w7 in the spare wheel
One set of esotar 3-ways
1500 w max
And it’s stealth with no extra battery needed (assuming a v6 or better)

Right on. I bet that would sound nice

 

[Thomasluke7899]

1 jl w7 in the spare wheel
One set of esotar 3-ways
1500 w max
And it’s stealth with no extra battery needed (assuming a v6 or better)
That would be my dream system, and I’m wondering if anyone can think up anything significantly better.

Better....maybe different. The only thing the w7 has over the competition at this point is efficiency.
Anything else that moves that much takes about double the amount of power.
And the cool mounting ring that gives the bolts as well giving it more cone area and making it hard af to steal with the box bolted down.

 

[dumdum]

Twin ae ib15au off 1kw plus nearly 1kw into the front stage is energetic enough for me, just swapping to a lithium/supercap power source for them to give me more stable voltage 🙃 class ab sub amp may not have been the best idea from a stock 100a alt even with a big agm setup…

I have already contemplated my money no object setup

Probably a couple of mosconi zero 4 and a zero 1 for good measure with some serious power supply upgrades 😎 but that would be overkill… plus four ae ib15au as well just because they are so clean they don’t ‘sound loud’ but they sure do wobble! 🥰

 

[SWRocket]

I think your point about "clean" loud vs distorted loud is well made. In my wife's car with a "high end" OEM system, that has about 600W (that's what they say) I can't stand to listen to music any louder than a quarter volume. After that it grates. In my car, which has a maximum of 480W front stage plus maximum 600W sub I can turn it up almost full and listen for a long time and still want louder on some songs.
I think 600W front stage plus 1200W sub would be just right...

 

[hella356]

6x100 for my 3-way front stage, ~1,500 on sub, plays cleanly to a volume level way above what my ears can handle for more than a few seconds. Doubt the mids and especially tweeters ever come close to seeing 100W, although perhaps the woofers might. Sub would probably still be fine with less power. So technically 2.1KW total, but probably rarely uses half that. I'd rather have the rig not break a sweat at high volume, so I'm fine with the likely excess power on tap.

 

[Granite]

Better....maybe different. The only thing the w7 has over the competition at this point is efficiency.
Anything else that moves that much takes about double the amount of power.
And the cool mounting ring that gives the bolts as well giving it more cone area and making it hard af to steal with the box bolted down.

It’s just tried and true. You can’t get better for an all around sub - but many are superior in one or two categories. JL just found a sound that was able to appeal to the most amount of people. I’ve got their fathom line in my HT and there really is nothing better than those - at least nothing under 10k.

 

[Thomasluke7899]

It’s just tried and true. You can’t get better for an all around sub - but many are superior in one or two categories. JL just found a sound that was able to appeal to the most amount of people. I’ve got their fathom line in my HT and there really is nothing better than those - at least nothing under 10k.

That fathom line up. Fantastic. My house is too small.
It would sound like the trunk of a 1990 cadi

 

[Nocturnal Thunder]

Well, I'm not an sq guy like most people here so if we are talking a dream system, then I'd be over 18,000 watts. I'd keep my front stage, which is around 2,500 watts and I'd replace my subs with 2 DD Z3 10" subs and pump 8,000 watts into each subwoofer. However, in my real world system, I'll be around 7,500 watts.

 

[Fish Chris 2]

Well, I'm not an sq guy like most people here so if we are talking a dream system, then I'd be over 18,000 watts. I'd keep my front stage, which is around 2,500 watts and I'd replace my subs with 2 DD Z3 10" subs and pump 8,000 watts into each subwoofer. However, in my real world system, I'll be around 7,500 watts.

I definitely like "loud" too 🙂👍
But like I say, I bet a person who says they are not a loud music freak, would listen to a setup like you described, using 1000 wts, and not even realize how loud it actually was.

 

[Biggeh]

Been a while since I had anything worth while but my last cool setup had the 04-05 era RE XXX 15 in 2.5 cubes sealed with a Hifonics Brutus 1500 rms powering it and a 4 channel phoenix gold xenon 4 channel that was 200 x4 rms powering CDT HD line components and my friend called it deceivingly loud it was so clean. I hate myself at least once a week for selling that sub.

 

[Fish Chris 2]

Been a while since I had anything worth while but my last cool setup had the 04-05 era RE XXX 15 in 2.5 cubes sealed with a Hifonics Brutus 1500 rms powering it and a 4 channel phoenix gold xenon 4 channel that was 200 x4 rms powering CDT HD line components and my friend called it deceivingly loud it was so clean. I hate myself at least once a week for selling that sub.

Yep. That is exactly my point. Its crazy how one can listen to a many Kwt system, at a 1000 wts, and it not "seem" too awfully loud... but rather, just beautiful Then, you try to listen to a little stock 40 wt POS, and you can barely stand it at 35 wts, because its already making all kinds of horrendous distortion.

 

[Purplehazeffc]

Mine is a Helix M6, 6 channel for the front stage. Ch1-2 & Ch3-4 bridged for 200w to run the Mid's in the doors. Ch5-6 100w to the tweeters.
Then a Helix M One X sub amp running at 2ohm for 800W going to a single 12" dual 4 ohm sub. All controlled from a Helix Mini DSP.
System is tuned for max volume at 40 on the headunit.. I pretty much run it at 30 on the headunit, which is plenty loud enough..