Help understanding Stereo Power

I am going to invest in a 45 watt per channel mini Lepai radio amp, an under-seat amplified sub-woofer and a pair of clone Magnavox Astrosonic mid range horns. All dirt cheap, modular, and at low volume will sound as good (more likely better) than any five hundred dollar in dash "premium" radio and speakers.

Pre-packaged brand name sound systems may be ideal for retro-fitting into a dashboard. But value wise, for general RV use, I wonder...

RobWNY wrote:
I bought the Jensen JWM6A and installed it yesterday. It sounds pretty good. Definitely better than the Jensen AWM965 that was in my camper before. Reasons for going with another Jensen were....Same footprint. No modification needed. Same plug and play harness so no wiring issues. Had all the features I wanted and needed. Price was reasonable. We use the camper 20-30 days a year. Not worth a huge investment for that amount of time. If we ever full time or even "half time" and get a nicer camper, we'll consider an aftermarket setup. Thanks for all of your help!

All good sound reasons. Happy listening:)

I bought the Jensen JWM6A and installed it yesterday. It sounds pretty good. Definitely better than the Jensen AWM965 that was in my camper before. Reasons for going with another Jensen were....Same footprint. No modification needed. Same plug and play harness so no wiring issues. Had all the features I wanted and needed. Price was reasonable. We use the camper 20-30 days a year. Not worth a huge investment for that amount of time. If we ever full time or even "half time" and get a nicer camper, we'll consider an aftermarket setup. Thanks for all of your help!

RobWNY wrote:
Which of the following stereos for RV's offer the most power to drive the speakers. Assume there will be 2 inside speakers and 2 outside speakers. Also assume that I already know that none of these are good and I would be better off going with an aftermarket setup. I'm just trying to understand the power spec since it's so vague on web sites and in manuals. I know RMS means Root Mean Square and refers to continuous power and the spec to look at rather than Peak power output but which one are company's referring to if they only state one and aren't specific like the Jensen.

Jensen JWM6A has 3 Zone/8 Speaker Outputs with a Power Output of 6W X 8

iRV34 says Total Continuous Power Output 50W and has three zones

Furrion DV3300 States 4X40W on the webpage but in the manual states Maximum Power Output 4X24W RMS and has 2 zones.

Unfortunately, the companies are not required to use one value to rate their power output. The most accurate power spec would be the one rated RMS at a stated THD across a frequency range into a stated load (ex. 20W RMS @1% THD, 40-17K Hz @4 ohms). If the units you are comparing do not list the spec with the same values it would be almost impossible to directly rate them.
Also, power and volume are not directly related. The volume is also a function of efficiency of the speakers. It does not take a lot of power to produce a loud sound with the right speaker types.
Typically any unit producing a true 10 watts of power will fill a room 12 x 12 with enough sound to drive you out. It all depends on your quality of product.

A quick primer. You said you have 4ohm speakers. Ck the spec sheet of the head unit and you will find output with THD listed. I just finished my 03 Santa Fe, my wife would not let me have a new truck, and I started out simple. Use the OE amp with a new head unit and 2 sets of 4 ohm 2-ways. I could not get rid of the alt whine with this set up. Threw the factory amp out, a Monsoon, and install an MB Quart 90W, 4 channel for a UTV. The amp was $60.00 online and MB makes great stuff. The reason for the small amp is the lack of space in a Santa FE. New direct power to the amp from the battery and then up to the head unit. Whine gone. The sound is much better but not quite right. Memphis Audio 2.75" midranges added to the front doors. Still not happy when the dog is in her kennel in the back and I am running just the front doors. Change to 3.5" DS18 in the front doors and moved the 2.75" to separate pods in the rear. I now have 3way front and rear crossed at 1975 hz and 15.500 hz. Sounds great and just needs a little more EQ adjustment. Be careful what you start as it most likely will snowball. Most aftermarket head units will provide you with 40 watts power and should be good for your application. For around $150.00 you can get almost any name brand with a 10 to 13 channel EQ. If you do not want bluetooth capabilities you can find a good head unit for around $100.00

RobWNY wrote:
I'm not looking to blow out the campground. I just want enough power so music sounds good. I put in Polk speakers inside and outside and the Jensen that came with my camper doesn't have enough power to make much of a difference from the cheap speakers that came with the camper. I'm not going to get an amp and subwoofer and spend a ton of money. I just want something that isn't total garbage and sounds ok.

Adding a pancake under-seat sub-woofer will fill in the cheap tinny sound of any RV stereo system for the interior sound.
It doesn't have to be loud, it just has to be "there".

RobWNY wrote:
ScottG, the Impedance rating on my Polk DB522 speakers is 4 ohm

i was partially kidding on the South Central setup. But I can tell you that I just installed Polk's in the CRV front and rear, and they not only take more power to drive to the same SPL, but their bass response is non-existent.. i.e. They are exceptionally flat. iMO the Polk claim to fame is clean mid and high range. I added a small bass driver under a seat and that fixed the problem. I have Polks for the surround sound at home and they perform exactly the same. A 1500w SunFire sub fixed that issue too :)

RobWNY wrote:
ScottG, the Impedance rating on my Polk DB522 speakers is 4 ohm

"Sounds" like your GTG ;)
I have a couple of indoor/outdoor 8 ohm Polks I drive with an old car stereo in my garage. They sound good but I can't get squat for volume out of them.

ScottG, the Impedance rating on my Polk DB522 speakers is 4 ohm

The power output is important but so is the impedance of the speakers. You'll notice the amp specifies X watt's into 2 or 4 ohms. If you were to just use 8 ohm speakers you would only get about half the power (and volume).