Need some stereo help

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Chad Merry

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I want to put in an amplifier in my ST. I have already removed my stock headunit, with a Kenwood unit, also have infinity door speakers front and rear. I just bought 2 used sub boxes that fit in the stock locations where the jack goes, and the current factory sub. The subs I have can handle 100watts.



So what type of amp should I get? 2,3,4 channel? I dont want an elaborate system and would rather get 1 amp to power all the speakers and call it a day.



I saw this amp at Bestbuy for 199.00 what do you think?



Thanks,

Chad
 
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5 channel if you want to run the door speakers too. That is assuming you want to keep front to rear fade. If you don't mind losing that you can get away with a 3/4 channel amp but it will have to be stable down to 2 ohms.



Do you know what ohm rating your subs have?
 
I believe they are 4ohm. I dont think front and rear fade will matter much, I always have it set in the middle anyways. Am I thinking correctly?





Chad
 
Are the subs 100 MAX or 100 RMS ???



I would get a 2 Chanel amp and be done with it...



IF your speakers are 100 MAX, their RMS is about 50 each... So a 100W-150 peak 2 Chanel will work great... ( 50 per Chanel)



I removed the amp I had on My door speakers, IT was too loud for normal cruising, So i have a switch on the Sub box, problem solved...



Todd Z



 
if you are only gonna use the amp for subs then a mono block amp as the way to go. Subs are non directional speakers which means the dont have to be pointed at you for you to get the most volume out of them so they do not need stereo or fade. a mono block amp will give you the most bang for your buck on subs but dont hook it up to midrange speakers

 
if you want to run all speakers then you have no choice but to get a 5 channel like dingo said. a good one wont be too cheap.

 
That's not necessarily true, I am running all four speakers and a sub from a four channel amp, and everything works great. You just need to find an amp that has the power ratings close to the RMS ratings of the speakers when you wire up everything.
 
I'm not going to go into all the reasons for why what Craig just said is wrong. Just use a 5 or 6 channel amp. Trust me.
 
Well, if you're using a 4 channel amp for 5 speakers, you're either running one speaker bridged on the two rear channels and the other 4 on the remaining 2 channels, or you're running the sub on the same channel as another speaker.



If you're doing the first choice, you have no fader anymore and your impedence is either 2 or 8 ohms to the amp, depending on the wiring. If the amp is capable of 2 ohms, you still have no fader. If it's only 4 ohm capable, you're either slowly killing it with 2 ohms, or you're losing a ton of power running it at 8 ohms.



If you're doing the second option, you're slowly killing the amp AND the speakers. In order to wire 2 on the same channel, you're impedence levels aren't matched from one channel to the other. The amp will surely die off, and probably take at least the sub, the speaker connected to it, and the other speaker on the matching channel with it.
 
I understand what you mean, all I was offering was another option for him to consider. I am running the first option you said, and I knew what I was getting into when I hooked everything up. Granted, I didn't go into as much detail as you did, I was just saying what I was running, again for another option.



I had a hard time finding a good wattage at RMS for everything I am powering and an amp to supply the power I needed, but I got everything I have for a great price. I was looking around at 5 channel amps, and the cheapest one I could find at a reputable site was still extremely expensive. Again just trying to give him another option because at least two posts above are telling him to get a 5 channel, and that there really isn't a point in even considering a 4 channel.
 
I'd agree, buy a nice amp, as per say a JL Audio 5 channel amp, but whatever way you go, do a 5 channel.



sorry for jacking the thread... just bout to buy subs, and wanna make sure I do whats good.



Dingo --



You seem to know your stereo stuff. Question... My current amp is rated at 2x400 @ 4ohms or 2x800 @ 2ohms or 1x1600 @ 4ohms. I want to run 4x Alpine SWS-1043D Subs. Would a 4ohm sub work well with my amp? And which way would you run it? The RMS on the sub is 50-300 watts.



I thought at first to just run the 2x800 @ 2ohms, and run the subs parallel to each other on 1 channel. Or would it be better to run 1x1600, and have all 4 subs running off of the 1 channel?
 
Run the subs in series in pairs. Then you'll have 2 sets at 8 ohms. Then run those two sets in parallel, leaving a single 4 ohm load.



You sure it's 1x1600@4 ohms? That sounds incredibly odd to me.
 
Yeah, the box states that information. The amp is a Precision Power PCX2400. I'm also going to be running Alpine Type R 5x7 Components with a PPI PCX440 amp.
 
Chad: Get a 4 channel and run the door speakers on 2 of the channels with no fader (like you said you keep it in the middle so it doesn't matter) that will be a 2 ohm load on each of the channels.



Then run the subs on the other 2 channels which will be a 4 ohm load.



That is the simple answer.. your best choice would be a 5 channel or 2 amps.



BeerDelivery/Dingo: those subs are dual voice coils



1 channel

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2channel

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thanks dingo. but why do something wrong when you can spend a small amount more to do it right. Im just really particular about my sound i guess. Im running Memphis M Class 55x4 on four M Class Memphis 5x7 combo with tweet. and a Memphis 500 D mono on two M Class 10"s before the last two pieces got stolen. but that set up worked great. my head unit it was a mediocre alpine. i replaced it with JVC KDAVX33 3.5 inch monitor. its small but over all an awesome deck

 

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