Shopping for a Car PA System: Is 15W Loud Enough?

[dusty8683]

i want to buy a PA system for my car. the one I'm looking at has a 15W speaker... and it's the megaphone sort of speaker. i was wondering if someone could tell me whether this is a worthwhile system... if it will be loud enough... like the kind cops have in their cars. or does it just depend on the amplification after the mic? any info would be great. thanks.

 

[brewnog]

Worthwhile for what? Loud enough for what?

 

[dusty8683]

loud enough for other people to hear, basically to have fun because i have money to waste. how would it compare to a cop car's pa system? they said it has a mod that would cost $100 and make it a lot louder. any comments on that?

 

[megashawn]

I don't have the specs readily availible, but I put a PA system together for my car for right around $80 bucks. I purchased a CB with a PA mode on it, and the speaker from radio shack.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&product_id=40-1440

it is a 50W speaker. It rocks. You can sit across the street from churches on sunday, say "Hello children, the rapture is upon thee" and watch people start looking for jesus in the sky.

You can say hello to police, and they never suspect you because they can't tell exactly where it is coming from.

Anyhow, the more watts the louder, although your CB is only going to put out so much power. A small amplifier, such as used to push mids and highs in a car stereo would do the trick.

Also, if you got money to burn, (send me some) look for a cb with built in sound effects.

Here is a pretty neat looking PA,
http://www.theavguy.com/rei_files/rei-pa.htm
20w output, with adjustable gain (volume control) on the mic.