sorry...new question about amps

[pwmin]

I've been out of car stereos for quite a while besides a few headunits as of late, so I'm out of the loop. I would like to put something back in the camaro so I can at least have some tunes in it. I took the amps out and used them in the '91, so it only has speakers and subs, the head and wiring as of right now. Ideally, I would just want a 5-channel. The speakers are the old green Infinity Kappa 4x6 plates in the front and the next gen silver Kappa 3-way 6x9's in the rear and two cheapo 10" MTX subs run free-air. I don't really need the subs, but it would be nice to have them. The H/U is a Panasonic CQ-C8400U and I have 4 ga wiring. I'm actually trying to sell it and money is super tight, so i can't spend much, but I'm not going to go Jensen. I know Power Acoustik isn't much better, but Best Buy has a 4-channel 100x4 RMS @ 4 ohm for under 200. Any suggestions? Please help...thanks.

[xtremerevolution]

I've been out of car stereos for quite a while besides a few headunits as of late, so I'm out of the loop. I would like to put something back in the camaro so I can at least have some tunes in it. I took the amps out and used them in the '91, so it only has speakers and subs, the head and wiring as of right now. Ideally, I would just want a 5-channel. The speakers are the old green Infinity Kappa 4x6 plates in the front and the next gen silver Kappa 3-way 6x9's in the rear and two cheapo 10" MTX subs run free-air. I don't really need the subs, but it would be nice to have them. The H/U is a Panasonic CQ-C8400U and I have 4 ga wiring. I'm actually trying to sell it and money is super tight, so i can't spend much, but I'm not going to go Jensen. I know Power Acoustik isn't much better, but Best Buy has a 4-channel 100x4 RMS @ 4 ohm for under 200. Any suggestions? Please help...thanks.

 

Yeah, here's a suggestion. Stay the hell away from Best Buy if you're trying to get a deal. Chain stores overprice their car audio like you wouldn't believe.

 

Have a look around here:

 

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/

 

And for multi channel amps in particular:

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/c_3_Car_Amplifiers_Amp_Multi_Channel_Ascending_Price.aspx?RowIndex=0&PageNum=1&SortField=1&ShowAll=False&SortOrder=0&

[BXX]

Im running an Infinity 7540a 4-channel.. 111wRMS x4 @ 4ohm.. SQ is fantastic as well. They can be had for a decent price used on ebay.

 

Im a fan on Infinity for highs (reference series components one of the best bangs for the buck) and the amps never skip a beat under punishment,.

[pwmin]

Yeah, here's a suggestion. Stay the hell away from Best Buy if you're trying to get a deal. Chain stores overprice their car audio like you wouldn't believe.

 

Have a look around here:

 

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/

 

And for multi channel amps in particular:

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/c_3_Car_Amplifiers_Amp_Multi_Channel_Ascending_Price.aspx?RowIndex=0&PageNum=1&SortField=1&ShowAll=False&SortOrder=0&

ya, i was just looking to see what was out there right now. I haven't bought anything from a local store in many years.

 

this seams like a pretty good deal?, but I'm not sure if it's enough power?...http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/memphis16-mc450.aspx

[pwmin]

Im running an Infinity 7540a 4-channel.. 111wRMS x4 @ 4ohm.. SQ is fantastic as well. They can be had for a decent price used on ebay.

 

Im a fan on Infinity for highs (reference series components one of the best bangs for the buck) and the amps never skip a beat under punishment,.

thanks for the input. I didn't think they were that great, but IDK anything anymore, so it would be cool to match the speakers

[xtremerevolution]

ya, i was just looking to see what was out there right now. I haven't bought anything from a local store in many years.

 

this seams like a pretty good deal?, but I'm not sure if it's enough power?...http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/memphis16-mc450.aspx

 

Looks like a very small amount of power for the price you pay.

 

I bought two Kenwood KAC-7203 2-channel amps, for $125 EACH brand new 2 years ago. These put down 170W RMS x 2 @ 4 ohms, for a total of 680W RMS for the front components and rear 6x9's. These things with my PolkAudio DB5250's and DB690's deliver extremely crisp, clear, and non-distorted sound no matter how loud you go. You could get two of these for the same price as that memphis amp if you didn't mind installing two amps instead of just one. Surprisingly, they even sound better than the 4-channel Eclipse amp I used before them, at 75W x 4 @ 4ohms, and the Eclipse amp was a pretty damn good amp.

 

 

You can get the newer models for fairly cheap online.

 

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/p_19354_Kenwood_KAC-7204.aspx

 

For a price difference of $15 for two of these over the one you posted and almost 3.5x the power output with no compromise in sound quality, sounds like a no brainer to me.

[Addicted2bass]

ya, i was just looking to see what was out there right now. I haven't bought anything from a local store in many years.

 

this seams like a pretty good deal?, but I'm not sure if it's enough power?...http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/memphis16-mc450.aspx

That is a GREAT amp. A little pricey yes, but Memphis M-class amps are always under rated. The amp will probably put out around 70w-80w per channel. All their amps come with a birth sheet telling you exactly how may watts they are putting out. But beware of buying Memphis anywhere online!! That website is NOT authorized to sell Memphis and Memphis WILL NOT warrenty that amp should anything happen. Memphis makes a great 5 channel amp, the MC 16-MC5.700. Its pricey though, but if you want a 5 channel its not gonna be real cheap if you want something good quality.

 

And i second staying far far away from Best Buy, they sell mostly overpriced crap. Find a reputable local shop or buy online.

[pwmin]

Looks like a very small amount of power for the price you pay.

 

I bought two Kenwood KAC-7203 2-channel amps, for $125 EACH brand new 2 years ago. These put down 170W RMS x 2 @ 4 ohms, for a total of 680W RMS for the front components and rear 6x9's. These things with my PolkAudio DB5250's and DB690's deliver extremely crisp, clear, and non-distorted sound no matter how loud you go. You could get two of these for the same price as that memphis amp if you didn't mind installing two amps instead of just one. Surprisingly, they even sound better than the 4-channel Eclipse amp I used before them, at 75W x 4 @ 4ohms, and the Eclipse amp was a pretty damn good amp.

 

 

You can get the newer models for fairly cheap online.

 

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/p_19354_Kenwood_KAC-7204.aspx

 

For a price difference of $15 for two of these over the one you posted and almost 3.5x the power output with no compromise in sound quality, sounds like a no brainer to me.

 

I recall having a few problems with the last Kenwood amps I had, but that's not to say I shouldn't get their stuff again. I don't mind running 2 amps, but if I decide to run the subs also, I'm going to be running 3 amps and I don't really want to do that. I'm thinking about the Kappa Five amp...can get one around $300. I think the 4x6's run @ 50W on 2ohm and the 6x9's run @ 100W on 2 ohm, so IDK if it would be enough since it puts out 75x4@2.

[pwmin]

That is a GREAT amp. A little pricey yes, but Memphis M-class amps are always under rated. The amp will probably put out around 70w-80w per channel. All their amps come with a birth sheet telling you exactly how may watts they are putting out. But beware of buying Memphis anywhere online!! That website is NOT authorized to sell Memphis and Memphis WILL NOT warrenty that amp should anything happen. Memphis makes a great 5 channel amp, the MC 16-MC5.700. Its pricey though, but if you want a 5 channel its not gonna be real cheap if you want something good quality.

 

And i second staying far far away from Best Buy, they sell mostly overpriced crap. Find a reputable local shop or buy online.

I've been wanting a memphis for a long time, but IDK if I can afford one right now. Does this website have their own warranty or is it b.s.? http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/memphis16-mc5700.aspx

[Addicted2bass]

Yea the website will have their own warrenty through them, probably one year. But i would be leary of that website. There are tons of "fly by night" car audio sites and the fact that they are selling Memphis to begin with is kind of sketchy. Read the Memphis warrenty information here http://www.memphiscaraudio.com/internet-sales-policy/. For comparison we sell that amp at the shop i work at for $650. It should be in that range at any authorized dealer. Granted its cheaper online, but you might be SOL if you get a bad amp. Plus its always good to build up a relationship with a local car audio place.

 

That Infinty 5 channel should power your speakers just fine. The wattage you listed sounds like a max rating to me. The 4x6s wont need much power, 25-30w a piece maybe. The 6x9s will be fine with the 50w a piece. Have you thought about putting 6.5s or 5.25s up front? 4x6s SUCK and cant usually handle much power. Oh and where is the sub channel rating on that amp? All i saw was "up to 300 watts". Do you know what the subs are rated for? One more thing, what do you mean by running the subs "free air"?

[pwmin]

Yea the website will have their own warrenty through them, probably one year. But i would be leary of that website. There are tons of "fly by night" car audio sites and the fact that they are selling Memphis to begin with is kind of sketchy. Read the Memphis warrenty information here http://www.memphiscaraudio.com/internet-sales-policy/. For comparison we sell that amp at the shop i work at for $650. It should be in that range at any authorized dealer. Granted its cheaper online, but you might be SOL if you get a bad amp. Plus its always good to build up a relationship with a local car audio place.

 

That Infinty 5 channel should power your speakers just fine. The wattage you listed sounds like a max rating to me. The 4x6s wont need much power, 25-30w a piece maybe. The 6x9s will be fine with the 50w a piece. Have you thought about putting 6.5s or 5.25s up front? 4x6s SUCK and cant usually handle much power. Oh and where is the sub channel rating on that amp? All i saw was "up to 300 watts". Do you know what the subs are rated for? One more thing, what do you mean by running the subs "free air"?

According to what I've read, those are RMS ratings, not max. The amp is supposed to be 300x1@2ohms on the 5th channel. The subs aren't in an enclosed box. I know they aren't supposed to be ran that way, but they were free and I have an extra, so I don't care if they blow and because of the car they're in, they still hit pretty hard. They're recommended from 100-200 W RMS per sub. I got these speakers a long time ago before I really knew a whole lot about car stereos or I would have done it differently, but I'm not going to change it now.

And I don't want to get a good rep going w/ a local shop or else I'll be there all the time spending money and going even more broke, lol.

Edited May 10, 2010 by pwmin

[xtremerevolution]

I recall having a few problems with the last Kenwood amps I had, but that's not to say I shouldn't get their stuff again. I don't mind running 2 amps, but if I decide to run the subs also, I'm going to be running 3 amps and I don't really want to do that. I'm thinking about the Kappa Five amp...can get one around $300. I think the 4x6's run @ 50W on 2ohm and the 6x9's run @ 100W on 2 ohm, so IDK if it would be enough since it puts out 75x4@2.

 

I've had mine for a little over 2 years now. Highly doubt you'll be going louder than I have been. Both the two stereo amps and the mono amp have been rock solid.

 

I'm missing how subs that aren't in an enclosed box will produce any respectable amount of sound.

 

It is true that stereo speakers won't really need a whole lot of power. I'm overpowering mine simply for the fact that I have heard repeatedly that its a lot better to overpower your speakers than it is to underpower them.

 

But wow, those speakers really don't take a whole lot of power. My fronts and rears each take 100W RMS.

[Addicted2bass]

First an foremost, get a box for your subs! Boxes arent terribly expensive, or you could build your own, which would be even cheaper. What are these subs mounted to right now? Subs are NOT meant to run free air, i cant believe they havent blown yet. That Infinity amp should be fine for those subs, just make sure you wire them at a two ohm load. If you're overpowering the speakers that fine, just set your gains accordingly! 95% of the time speakers blow because people turn the gain, volume, bass boost, etc. all the way up. This clips the amp and send a dirty signal to your speakers.

[pwmin]

I've had mine for a little over 2 years now. Highly doubt you'll be going louder than I have been. Both the two stereo amps and the mono amp have been rock solid.

 

I'm missing how subs that aren't in an enclosed box will produce any respectable amount of sound.

 

It is true that stereo speakers won't really need a whole lot of power. I'm overpowering mine simply for the fact that I have heard repeatedly that its a lot better to overpower your speakers than it is to underpower them.

 

But wow, those speakers really don't take a whole lot of power. My fronts and rears each take 100W RMS.

because they're in a camaro. I've even set off car alarms, which I know really isn't that big of a deal.

 

First an foremost, get a box for your subs! Boxes arent terribly expensive, or you could build your own, which would be even cheaper. What are these subs mounted to right now? Subs are NOT meant to run free air, i cant believe they havent blown yet. That Infinity amp should be fine for those subs, just make sure you wire them at a two ohm load. If you're overpowering the speakers that fine, just set your gains accordingly! 95% of the time speakers blow because people turn the gain, volume, bass boost, etc. all the way up. This clips the amp and send a dirty signal to your speakers.

yeah, I never turn my amps up the whole way and I don't use bass boost, either. I really don't care about the subs. I've built plenty of boxes, so I can do that if I want, but I just don't care. I have them mounted on MDF raised up with 2x4's on their sides (obviously screwed down), which sits inside the trunk well.

[pwmin]

I've had mine for a little over 2 years now. Highly doubt you'll be going louder than I have been. Both the two stereo amps and the mono amp have been rock solid.

 

I'm missing how subs that aren't in an enclosed box will produce any respectable amount of sound.

 

It is true that stereo speakers won't really need a whole lot of power. I'm overpowering mine simply for the fact that I have heard repeatedly that its a lot better to overpower your speakers than it is to underpower them.

 

But wow, those speakers really don't take a whole lot of power. My fronts and rears each take 100W RMS.

because they're in a camaro. I've even set off car alarms, which I know really isn't that big of a deal.

 

First an foremost, get a box for your subs! Boxes arent terribly expensive, or you could build your own, which would be even cheaper. What are these subs mounted to right now? Subs are NOT meant to run free air, i cant believe they havent blown yet. That Infinity amp should be fine for those subs, just make sure you wire them at a two ohm load. If you're overpowering the speakers that fine, just set your gains accordingly! 95% of the time speakers blow because people turn the gain, volume, bass boost, etc. all the way up. This clips the amp and send a dirty signal to your speakers.

yeah, I never turn my amps up the whole way and I don't use bass boost, either. I really don't care about the subs. I've built plenty of boxes, so I can do that if I want, but I just don't care. I have them mounted on 3/4" MDF raised up with 2x4's on their sides (obviously screwed down), which sits on the lip in the trunk well so it's flat with the section behind the seats.

[Addicted2bass]

If you have them sitting in the trunk well then they may be using that airspace. Even so the airspace is not completly sealed off like they would be in a real box so i would still build something. The subs will sound 100x better in a real box.

[pwmin]

If you have them sitting in the trunk well then they may be using that airspace. Even so the airspace is not completly sealed off like they would be in a real box so i would still build something. The subs will sound 100x better in a real box.

I'm really not worried about it, especially since I can't even run them right now, lol, and I can't even afford the amp, let alone more MDF. I'm sure they're using that airspace or otherwise they'd sound like shit. I still need to figure out what amp I want. I wish there was someplace local I could pick one up, so I don't have to worry about when it's going to be shipped as I'll be gone a lot over the next couple weeks.

[pwmin]

you guys are probably going to kill me, but I'm thinking about going cheap and getting a 4-channel and a 2-channel Crunch PowerZone...$200 shipped w/ 3-year warranty

[xtremerevolution]

you guys are probably going to kill me, but I'm thinking about going cheap and getting a 4-channel and a 2-channel Crunch PowerZone...$200 shipped w/ 3-year warranty

 

Just remember, you often get what you pay for with cheap amps.

[pwmin]

Just remember, you often get what you pay for with cheap amps.

yeah, i know. I don't really feel good about it, but I just can't really afford much more. My friend had some back in the day that worked pretty decent, although they were a lot cooler looking then.

[xtremerevolution]

I would suggest having a look at the two amps I recommended again, if you want high quality and reliability. I will admit most kenwood equipment isn't of the highest caliber, but everyone I've talked to has said these are solid amps. They're very affordable, and will get the job done. If you have to run 3 amps, well, tough luck. I run 3 amps and I manage perfectly fine. Can't really have everything you want when you can't afford it if you know what I mean.

 

I wouldn't go with a really cheap amp just for the sake of saving money though. If you can't afford something decent, don't even bother until you can.

[pwmin]

I don't have any music in the car at all! Would you drive a car around without a stereo? Fuck it, I'll just get a McIntosh, then

[xtremerevolution]

I don't have any music in the car at all! Would you drive a car around without a stereo? Fuck it, I'll just get a McIntosh, then

 

Had to do that for about a month. It sucked pretty bad considering I commute 1.5 hours every day. I just wired up the front speakers directly to my head unit so I could have *something*.

 

A few weeks ago my sub blew out. The PolkAudio speakers I have in there now are terrible for bass, so all my music sounded very bright, crisp, and clear, with absolutely no bass at all. That sucked too.

 

Would you rather get a cheap amp now and have it fail on you in a year or two? Or get one that's heavily underrated or has craptastic sound quality? At that point, you might as well pull some factory speakers off a junkyard car. Do it right or don't do it at all, because you'll regret it later.

[pwmin]

I don't drive the car much at all, but I'd like to have something when i do drive it and I'm trying to sell it, so I don't want to spend much and people probably won't like a car without a working stereo and I really don't want to dick around with wiring the speakers to the head. And since I don't drive it much, I'm not going to be using the amps much, so they should last plus they will be warrantied for 3 years.

 

not sure if this is the exact model RedZ used to have, but these are the ones I wish they looked like. Not sure why, must be nostalgia or something, lol.

Edited May 14, 2010 by pwmin

[Addicted2bass]

Why not just forget about the amp then? You have a radio right? Just wire your speakers up to that for the time being.