Car Stereos: sub set up, dual voice coils, watts rms

Question
hi, i just bought a boss audio 4 channel 200w head unit it has one set of rca output plugs, i have two 50watt component speakers and a 300watt 4ohm subwoofer... can i hook the subwoofer and speaker up to the head unit, and split the power 100watts to the sub and 100watts to the speakers??

Answer
Matt,

You can not really hook it up that way.  You possibly could, if your subwoofer had dual voice coils.  You would not want to do that, because the subwoofer needs more power than the speakers.  If I were you, I would hook up the speakers to the headunit power.  Then, I would run a set of RCA wires to an amp that would power the subwoofer.  You can use the amp to combine both channels of stereo, plus you can have twice the power available to power the sub.  The main problem that you need to understand is to pay attention to "rms" watts, not just total watts.  Your headunit has an output of about 18-25 watts "rms" per channel.  To power your sub, you need an amp with about 50 watts "rms" bridged power.  Bridged means two channels into one 4 ohm sub.  It will sound great.  Hope this helps, Scott