Hi folks, I just tried "upgrading" the stereo in my wife's car a 2001 A4 1.8TQ with the non-Bose "Symphony" head unit. I installed one speaker on the rear deck (oh what a pain it was to get back there) and wanted to see the difference between the stock speaker and the new Alpine SPS-17C2 6-1/2"/6-3/4" 2-way. Guess what? THE STOCK SPEAKER SOUNDED BETTER! Can anyone explain to me why this is so? I am thinking that the stock head unit does not have enough power to properly drive the Alpines. Specs for the Alpine are:

2-way car speakers for 6-1/2" and 6-3/4" locations (pair)
aluminum-coated woofer cone with air-injected rubber surround
1" pivoting silk dome tweeter
power range: 2-50 watts RMS (250 watts peak power)
frequency response: 35-30,000 Hz
sensitivity: 92 dB

People tell me that you want the head unit RMS powerto be at least 70% of the speaker power. So in this case, 70% of 50 Watts = 35 Watts. The stock head unit must have at least 35 Watts per channel. I would have thought that the stock head unit would at least have 35 Watts. Does anyone know exactly what the specs for the stock head unit is?

Do you guys think that I need a new amplifier to fully take advantage of the speaker?

Thanks in advance guys...

 

I think the origonal rearspeakers have a built in
amplifier .

 

I don't know about the fronts, but the rears definitely have a vey small "amplifier" (I can't believe they even call it that) attached to the bottom of the driver's side speaker. But does anyone out there know where I can get the specs for these things? The Bentley manual does not show it.