what to do with my setup...

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Alright heres my problem in a nutshell... I have too many amps!

 

I currently have a Kenwood 800w(peak) for the sub- that's good and it will stay there.

 

Have a 250w(peak) going to the rears, and I'm happy with how they sound. I have Infinity components going up front (I have an identical 800w amp I was planning to use for them).

 

I really don't want to have 3 amps in the trunk. The 2 that are in there right now are taking up enough space, plus I might wanna add a second subwoofer down the road.. so I'm thinking I should sell the one 800w and the 250w amp and get a decent 4ch to run all the interior speakers. 800w amp (150w x2 RMS) for the front OR rear speakers seems like a little overkill, IMO.

 

I do like having the rear speakers amped at the moment, so I don't really wanna just run them off the headunit.

 

Your thoughts?

[19Cutlass94]

Get rid of all those amps and get a nice 4 channel that will power everything nicely.

 

But honestly, if you have a component set up front ans ubs in the back, I wouldnt bother with the rear 6x9's. Get a 2 channel or bridge a 4 channel for the components and get a nice amp for the sub(s). Because once you have all the power goign to teh subs and if you get another one, you will not notice the rear speakers.

[DaveFromColorado]

here's the thing about Peak vs RMS ...

 

Peak = freek accident less then 50ms of ability to handle this power without the potential for a catastrophic failure. This means if your 150x2 amp (300watt) probably rated at 14.4vDC were to get a surge of 38.4vDC *may* hit it's peak output, and the speaker may survive it. So unless your alternator surges or your battery somehow more then doubles it's output you'll never reach your peak

 

RMS (with speakers) = 75-90% usable power. Kenwood and JL Audio are famous for underrating their RMS output and overrating their Peak outputs. RMS for Amp's is usually rated at 14.4vDC constant output at a certian rated ohm load before it starts to overheat or kill internal componants.

 

Anyhow sepperate amps = less internal componants per amp = cleaner sound - the more shit you pack into a smaller box the more distortion will be created.

 

I'd personally get one mono-block amp rated at 600w @ 4ohm RMS for the sub(s), and two 300x2 @ 4 ohm (600w @4 ohm) amps to power the speakers inside the car ... the power output I'm recomending is about double what your speakers require, and this is for a reason - you can often overpower speakers without a problem, but as soon as you start to underpower them, they start to distort and have other issues, and it's easier to turn the gain down on the amp, then it is to turn the gain up. (turning the gain up picks up more distortion)

 

--Dave.

[chemicalbrother]

I'm going to mix up what they said^. Get a nice four channel amp and a monoblock amp. That way, you could experiment around with what you have: All four channels powering all speakers, or just bridging the 4 channel to power your components. And then the 600w RMS @ 4ohms monoblock can power your subs. That way, if you upgrade your subs or change setup, you will always have a dedicated sub amp that can handle the load (4 ohm, 2 ohm, even 1> ohms). I wouldn't bother with the 6x9s either, like 19Cutlass94, they will just take the sound away from the front stage, unless you have a smaller component upfront and you need the midbass.

[Bake82]

Dave,

 

I would experiment with your system right now.

 

Since you already have everything set up for 2 amps right now as it is...it should be relatively easy.

 

I would first start off with removing your big amp and sub. run all 4 interior speakers off the two smaller amps and see how it sounds. If you find you need a little more bass to your system, then swap out the smaller amp that is on the rear speakers and put the biger one on the sub woofer. Run your rear speakers off the deck and see how they sound. If you think you are still missing some sound then hook up all 3 amps. If you like what you hear best and are concerned about space, I'd be looking at getting a 4 channel amp and selling the two smaller 2 channels.

 

I suggest taking out the subwoofer, because I find with in my car I have enough good quality sound with the interior speakers that I do not need the subwoofer to add any bass. Ofcourse we're all different. But I'd be experiementing with different combinations.

 

But one thing is for sure...you NEED to run those front comps off of the smaller amps. If you don't, you are wasting your $$ on those comps.

 

 

Hit me up on MSN if you like,

 

EDIT: I missed you had 2 bigger amps and one small amp thought it was the other way around. Hook up the small amp to the fronts, and then big amp to your subwoofer. If you still feel you're missing something, then look into picking up a 4 channel and sell the small one and one big one

[19Cutlass94]

I duno about anyone else, but messing with everything, and trying an amp for this then that just seems like a shit load of work. From wiring all the speakers to the amp, to now bridging the components to the amp and the subwoofer take that out or put it in.... Its just seems like to much work and if you go through all that 2 out of 3 times you wont be happy with the sound.

 

You want your sound to come from the front, or front stage, as once said, you want to hear the sound so that when you close your eyes, you can see the band playing on a stage in front of you. Thats how you want it sound. The only way youll get that is to hook up ( the right amp in the right spot ) to the component set and to the subs, and since youll be adding another on later on, or maybe not, your sub will put out enough bass your 6x9 will only make that bass sound like shit.

 

Amping your component set and your subs will help you achieve that front stage quality.

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Okay first off I just want to make this clear- I am HAPPY with my sub, and the amp powering it. The sub handles 500w RMS, the amp puts out 460w bridged. Sure, I could get a bigger amp, but I've seen smaller amps put out more sound out of more speakers, so this is not an issue for me.

 

1 Kenwood 800w- subwoofer

1 Kenwood 800w- spare

1 Kenwood 250w- currently on 6x9s

 

I FINALLY got my components put in the car, and yes indeed they sound nice but definatly need more power. The 250w amp I have in the rear for the 6x9s is putting out pretty good sound, so I don't know if I really need to have a large 800w amp powering the components, but I will experiment and see.

 

When it gets a little bit warmer out I will do some experimenting with what I have, that is a good idea and won't cost me anything.