[danny_g]

does anybody know how many watts the 15 speakers in the sts create? thx:duck:

 

[psykiv]

In an effort to keep this thread short:

why does it matter?

 

[danny_g]

im interested to know, because cadillac.com doesnt say and the new s-class got 600 watts out of its 14 speakers!!

 

[Cajonkev]

The Bose "Studio Surround" 15 speaker system puts out 300w total according to Edmunds.

Of course in this day and age of discreet channels, multiple drivers and split equalization, fidelty does not equate to raw power. I have a 500w HK system in another vehicle and the Bose just blows it away. I currently have several DVD-A disks loaded in the changer and they just kill my passengers when I light them up and drop the tranny into Sport mode...

To some of course the raw output number is good for marketing puposes and the "well mine has..." arguments but whatever makes the most out of what the source material works for me. YMMV of course.

BTW, the STS audio system is rated as an Edmunds top 10 among vehicles priced over 30k. They do not individiully rank each of the ten but do note that only Cadillac and Acura went to DVD-A based systems in 05. M/B did not make the cut on any of their vehicles so 2006 was probably their swap to the newer system. And yes there ARE more than 10 manufacturers of high class vehicles...

Keeping in mind with any of the advanced features on these integrated vehicles including NAV, ACC and Audio the engineers spec these years in advance so are not as timely as "retail" releases or custom add-ons for actual roll-out dates.

Happy Listening!

CK

 

[psykiv]

im interested to know, because cadillac.com doesnt say and the new s-class got 600 watts out of its 14 speakers!!

Let me give you a quick lesson in mobile electronics.

Speakers do not make the "watts" you hear so much about. The "watts" come from the amplifier.

Higher wattage does not always equate to higher volume levels and higher sound quality. There are several factors that influence this, and wattage is only one of them. Factors that make a difference are:

the speaker efficiency / sensitivity (how loud does the speaker get with 2.83V (not watt) of power measured from one meter away in decibels)
the enclosure of the speaker
the transfer function of the car (how big and what size is the car?)
the placement of the speaker
how much sound insulation is in the car
the quality of the speaker
etc
etc

In my old car I had a little over 2,500w rms (rms basically means peak constant) going to two tweeters, two mids, and two subs. The speakers I had were somewhat inefficient and needed these massive amounts of power (boston z6's and 10w7's powered by twin soundstreams and an xtant). I also needed an extra battery and 0/1 cable to accomplish this.

In summary, your ears should be the one to decide, not some marketting number. Keep in mind you will almost never see "500w"; obviously the higher the volume is, the higher the actual wattage. Their 500w will usually only be reached with test tones. Its pretty much impossible to reach what the manufacturer claims with regular music unless they seriously under-rate their capabilities.

This is why I wanted to keep it short...

edit: I am probably one of the only ones here that hates surround sound. Even in the sts, i put the fader all the way to the front. I can't stand rear speakers. If the music was meant to be played by two channels, then i will play it from two channels.

 

[Playdrv4me]

Even in the sts, i put the fader all the way to the front. I can't stand rear speakers. If the music was meant to be played by two channels, then i will play it from two channels.

Don't you lose the benefits of the Subwoofer in alot of vehicles by doing this?