Basically, I just wanted to know if you would have to supply the same amount of power to a subwoofer to recieve the same performance from it whether it is in a Home Theatre (HT) setup or a car audio (CA) setup.

Lets take the RL-S for example (seems to be the popular sub out right now which could be used in both applications),

If we supplied the RL-S with 1500 watts of power with a caraudio amp such as one from MTX, and then we took the same RL-S and powered it with 1500 watts from a HT type amp such as one from the QSC PLX series, would the RL-S perform the same, assuming all other variables are the same.

Or could you use a lesser powered HT amp and have an identical performance to that of a higher powered CA amp.

I was just wondering since it has been something that was in the back of my head for some time now.

Depends on the room size.

I get buy just fine with a 100W Onkyo 8" sub in my living room.

My friend has a Klipsch 8" sub in a rather large room with 2x the power, its way quieter.

As supa_c stated, the physical environment that you are designing your system for is of greater significance/consideration than the amount of power used (providing you are powering the driver within its recommended range). To ensure the RL-s is operating at full steam during even the most draining excursions, I would suggest having a solid 1.5-2.5 kW on hand. So far as the box - the bigger the better .. though you can get away with 2 and 4 cu ft respectively, for the RL-s 12 and 15.

Given the same variables such as box size and wattage used the driver wouldnt know the difference between the car or home, however YOU will. The simple fact that the home will have a much larger room to fill will make it seem as though the sub isnt as loud which of course it isnt but you arent trying to hit 140 dB in a house either (at least I hope you arent)

I believe(if I'm reading this right) what he's asking is, is there a differance between HT watts and car audio guy watts.

I've seen Dan post something about this before, but I just assumed he was talking more about true RMS or some car amps being wildly overrated.

But please if anyone has anymore thoughts on the matter or could go more into detail, please chime in.

Also, in the home you can have loudspeakers with far greater efficiency than in the car, part of why low powered amps can be used at home while massive amounts of power are needed in a vehicle (also to overcome road noise and other things that kill dynamic range).

But a watt is a watt, as far as measurement goes...

I think Kyle hit the answer to the question right on the head.

The subwoofer itself will perform the same in both enviornments (assuming same enclosure, same actual power, etc). However, what you actually hear will change due to the different enviornments. The home setup will have far less "cabin gain", etc etc.

If they're measured properly, watts are watts no matter their source.