[ChevLoRay]

Three-way speakers are supposedly comprised or a woofer, a mid-range and a tweeter. Two-way speakers usually have the woofer and a mid/tweeter sorta speaker.

Anyway, the deal is that power that you mentioned can be measured in a couple of ways. Waaaaaay back in time, manufacturers used to say that amplifiers (like home use) would put out 100 watts. Well, that 100 watts was MUSIC power, as they said. When you hook the speakers to the amp, there is an impedance (resistance) to the current flowing through them that creates the sound that you hear. Speakers could be 4-ohm or 8-ohm. If you had 4-ohm speakers, the amp would "put out" more power, than if you had 8-ohm speakers. So, what may have been 100 watts of "power" at 4-ohms, became about 64-watts of power at 8-ohms. Better grade speakers were 8-ohms. Using the cheaper speakers may have given you the impression that the amp had more power, but what usually happened is the old distortion monster began to wreak havoc. When someone "blows" out their speakers, it is most often due to distortion, not an excess of power. The same distortion can cause damage to the amplifier, whether it is a home unit, or a mobile one.

Think of it like this: If you take a small, lightweight car or truck, and install a large engine, you have more power to move the vehicle, than the same engine would do in a large, heavy vehicle. It's that simple.

Ideally, you'd have tweeters (separate) somewhere near your ear level, like on the slanting windshield post. Mid-range speakers would be in the kick panels and a woofer would be behind the seat. Since our trucks usually have the gas tank behind the seat, we have to compromise. Putting the speakers in the doors is not bad, but you have to protect the speaker from humidity, and putting some sort of sound reflective material on the inside of the door is also better for your ears. There are several schools of thought about what is best for that purpose. DyanMat is one brand, while others have used spray-on undercoating, for example, on the inside of the door shell.

I am sure there are others who will be happy to comment. I still have my 1969 Sansui 2000 receiver (32 watts RMS/channel @ 8ohms) driving my 1969 Coral BX-300 speakers, rated at 16 watts RMS. I have not "blown" them in 34 years, nor do I expect to do so. The amp is the engine, and the speakers are the vehicle. Whether or not this philosophy is valid now, is conjecture, at best.