I have a 200 watt (50 watts per channel) Alpine head unit and 230 watt (75 watts RMS) Alpine Type-S speakers in my truck, no amp. Until today I wasn't aware that you could adjust the bass filter on the head unit. It was set to 100%, and now it is off completely. The bass from the speakers is excellent now as long as I keep the volume below "20" (I think 30 is the max, I have never turned it all the way up); above that it begins to distort. I mean it practically sounds like it has a small sub it hits so hard now. Am I going to damage my speakers like this though? I figured since on paper the speakers can handle more than the head unit's output I should be fine, but I'm not sure. The bass filter was probably there for a reason...but the speakers sound awesome with it off, so I want to leave it that way. Any input?

 

Alot of power handling doesnt quite mean it can handle alot of bass... Your speakers should be fine as long as its not distorting...

 

Your headunit only makes around 20 watts per channel

 

i thought that the headunit when it says 50x4 meant that it was 50 watts per channel... or is that peak and about 20 rms

 

Yeah its peak, RMS is around 20 watts on every headunit

 

I just looked in the owner's manual and under the specs it is indeed 18 watts per channel RMS. Elsewhere I have seen it listed as 50 watts per channel, so I'm guessing that's just peak power.

 

yes it is there for a reason... feeding frequencies to a speaker that cannot produce them causes distortion and wastes energy and clips signals..
by turning the filter on just a bit you should be filtering out sub sonic frequencies that are sucking power from the higher notes.
by filtering just a little should allow you to turn the volume up slightly higher and it should hit harder because your redirecting the watts to the areas that the speaker can play.

and yes it can damage your speakers with out the filter at all, but is unlikely at such a low wattage.

best results from your speakers would be to sounddeaden the doors and buy a amp. your missing the potential of your speaks.You could definitely use an amp.

headunits almost never provide enough power for most people with aftermarket speakers...
the on-board power is only really for factory oem speakers.. just enough power so that people wont blow their factory speaks.

 

Unfortunately I answered my own question. The Alpines are done for. I put in some new Pioneers tonight...from now on the filter is staying at 80%-100%.

 

Good one, go easy on those pioneers lol if you want bass buy a sub!

 

what hu. are you using? your should really read up on your "bass filter" in your units manual. this should be a "high pass" crossover. I think the minimum setting is at 80hz. which should be fine (by fine i mean recommended) for your 6x8".
setting it higher only deprives you of mid-bass that you payed for. just to give you an idea, A decent set of component 6.5" speakers should be able to extend down to 60 hz. don't be shy with the filter, but at least have it on. the proper way of setting it is to listen for any distortion at the maximum volume you listen to it. if there is then you have the filter too low or have the amp overdriven.

also, don't max out the volume on your headunit.. most headunits "clip" at 3/4 vol if you need more volume then you need an amp. clipping will shorten the life of your headunits internal amp.

ANY time your speaker is distorting, your doing something wrong... that means your exceeding the mechanical or electrical limits for the speaker or exceeding the amplifiers capability.