Can someone explain to me watts on a radio.

My Clarion has 16 watts RMS / 45 peak X 4 channels

I saw another radio with 120 watts with 30 watts X 4

I don't know what my factory has (97 2.5TL)

What is the difference?
What has more power?
Is my Clarion better than my factory?
What speakers would go good with my Clarion?

 

HELP!! YOU GUYS ARE TECHNICAL EXPERTS PLEASE HELP A NOVICE.

 

Welcome the the wonderful world of marketing.
A watt is a unit of measure of power. RMS-root mean square - think of it as the average watts the HU will put out over normal operations. Peak is just that for a very short time to say...produce a low bass note. The more watts a HU/amp has does not mean it will play louder nor sound better than a lower rated one-there are many other factors involved. You do not hear watts. Watts are really used just to roughly match your systems needs together thru the efficiencies of your loads. There are more important factors of an amp then just its wattage.
As to which HU sounds better, only your ears can tell you that. IMHO

 

BREWBOY thank you sir your wisdom is beyond your years.

 

I agree with Brewboy, but there is a lot more going on than just what you hear, or think you hear.
Typically, if a head unit says 30 x 4, it will probably be in the area of 7-12 watts x 4 through the full bandwidth (20hz to 20khz) at 1% THD (total harmonic distortion). The 30 watt number is usually based on 10%thd and only at a 1khz level, not the 20-20k range. In order for a wattage number to be even considered true, it must show x-watts from x-x range with no more than x-thd. With any of those missing, it really means little.
Manufacturers have found that all amps put out their most output at the 1khz range, but, there's more.
Most cars are 12 volts systems, right? When they (the cars) are running, typically the alternator will boost that to about 13.5 to 14.5 volts, but not always. How these companies show 30 watts x 4 for example in a head unit is based on the above info PLUS running a true 14.4 volts into the head unit itself. This is also how amplifier companies can produce an amp rated at 18 watts x 2 with peak power of over 1000 watts. One is true power, where the other is using this other formula. (18 watts x 2, 20-20k, less than 1% thd, at 12V, vs. 1000 watts x 1, 1khz sine wave, greater than 10% thd, and at 14.4V) These are actually numbers for the same amp!
Lastly, about 95% of the systems you hear that 'sound' really loud usually are that way because of distortion. What I mean is, if you had a system running at 1% or less distortion with say 2000 watts of power, it would not "sound" as loud as a system with 200 watts running at 10% or more distortion. It's all in the way your ear "hears".
Anyway, I could go on and on, and if you want more info, just let me know, but I hope this gives even more insight into the way most companies can manipulate the truth to make them look bigger and better than the next guy!
Regards,
SonyMan (Daryl)

 

Another item to add is in the power supply. How much power(watts) the power supply can produce. Car stereos that claim 30 watts x 4 usually don't have a large enough power supply to produce that kinda of power for any length of time, not to mention the distortion to do so, because the power supply becomes very unstable.

Another thing to look at is the amps efficientcy. Most amps are only 25-35 % efficient, Class 'C' amps.

One way to decide the power of an amp is to look at the in-line fuse going to the amp. If it has a 10 amp fuse, you can say that the maxiumum power is 120 watts(volts x amps) and if you multiple that be the efficientcy of 30%, one can say that it is a 2 x 18 watt amp.