Subwoofer wattage

[Christian Murace]

Yo SMD!

after doing some research i finally realised watts = loudness.

quick tricky question with watts. lets just say I had 12 twelve in subwoofers one was 500w and other one was 200w. I turn the 200w subwoofer on to 200w to make it play at max volume. Now lets just say if I changed the speaker from the 200w speaker to the 500w speaker. now I turn the amp power so it delivers 200w to the 500w subwoofer, now for the actual question. at 200w, would this be just as loud as my 200w on full or would it be quieter because it takes more watts?

thanks people!

[Skullz]

There is more going on than just using watts as a measurement for loudness.

Tuning closer to the resonant frequency of your vehicle will yield the greatest perceived amount of loudness you can get.

The reason being it becomes more violent.

[ShadeTreeMechanic]

If the only thing different between the subs was power handling, they would sound the same. The T/S parameters will determine the personality of the sub.

[Triticum Agricolam]

So your question is: would a 200 watt RMS sub on 200 watts of power be louder than a 500 watt RMS sub on 200 watts of power?

Generally speaking the 200 watt RMS sub would be slightly louder, this is because higher power handling subs usually have higher moving mass, which decreases efficiency. However, like others said, its going to depend on the specs of the particular subs and how they are implemented.

[ChevyBoy95]

So your question is: would a 200 watt RMS sub on 200 watts of power be louder than a 500 watt RMS sub on 200 watts of power?

Generally speaking the 200 watt RMS sub would be slightly louder, this is because higher power handling subs usually have higher moving mass, which decreases efficiency. However, like others said, its going to depend on the specs of the particular subs and how they are implemented.

x2, all things the same except power handling, the 200w sub would probably be louder. But this is by no means a yes or no answer, the amount of variables that come into play make it an impossibility without real world testing to decide.

[DLHgn]

Yo SMD!

after doing some research i finally realised watts = loudness.

quick tricky question with watts. lets just say I had 12 twelve in subwoofers one was 500w and other one was 200w. I turn the 200w subwoofer on to 200w to make it play at max volume. Now lets just say if I changed the speaker from the 200w speaker to the 500w speaker. now I turn the amp power so it delivers 200w to the 500w subwoofer, now for the actual question. at 200w, would this be just as loud as my 200w on full or would it be quieter because it takes more watts?

thanks people!

Just to add onto what everyone else is saying, watts does not equal loudness. If you're going to go for one thing to determine loudness (which you shouldn't b/c there is no one hard and fast parameter to determine it) is the amount of air displacement the sub provides. In other words how much cone area there is and how far it can move back and forth. Generally speaking, the more air being moved by the sub, the more pressure. But, as always, there is much more to it than that that goes way over my head. This is just what i've experienced and read about. I'm sure the fellas who've already commented on here can give a much better explanation/answer than I have seeing as they have much more experience than I do. But I was just trying to help with the common misconception that more power always equals more loudness. Fellas, please correct me if I have made an error or fell into a misconception. I am trying to make sure I fully understand what I know by helping others to the best of my ability and paying forward the help I have received on here!