Hi Recently bought a 2014 Prius plug in and was using crutchfield to buy some car audio equipment. crutchfield is telling me to the Prius has a 300w system limit because it’s a hybrid can anyone help confirm or deny this? thx
Probably because of the 12v battery/inverter limits. Since the 12v battery doesn't turn the engine, it only powers the computers and accessories, it's not a high amperage battery. That's why some people install a 2nd 12v battery when they install a louder radio.
The DC/DC converter in a Prius is good for about 1000 watts. The car will need maybe 350 for itself. But keep in mind that's a converter- it can't react as fast as a battery. If you have sudden current draws (think subwoofer amp) it will be hitting your battery pretty hard, because it's a tiny battery. Capacitors are even faster; same idea. So no, there is no 300W hard limit. But you'll be wanting either a battery upgrade or some caps feeding the amp more/sooner than a regular car with normal size 12v battery. If the amp you pick isn't very sensitive to low voltage hits, you might be fine as-is. Also keep in mind the difference between steady-state draw and peaks. You could have a sound system advertised as "1500 watts" that only pulls 250W steady- the peaks may be a true 1500 but if averaged over a few seconds the result is much lower.
People tow, jump start other cars and use other weight oil as not suggested on the manual. I’m all for debunking the manual, lets go pull 300 watts or more!
's funny, I'm still listening—in my living room, which is bigger than a Prius—using the same twenty-five watt per channel amp I built in seventh grade. And it can go louder than I want, without any clipping. To see a number like 1500 watts in a context that isn't a theatre design or something ... just weird.
True. A fella on youtube Williston audio labs performs amp dyno tests and debunks amp watts specs. 3,000 wrms but pushes 1/4 of spec’d power. Bill norton would be entertained by his videos; actual numbers from actual tests with conclusive evidence.
