11 replies to this topic

[crossy71]

So ive bought a sub 2day but have been told my current amp wont power it with my current setup.

At the moment it stands at:

Alpine SXE-1025S - 4" (10cm) Coaxial 2-Way Speakers up front

Alpine SXE-69C2 6"x9" Coaxial 2-Way Speakers under the rear seats

and a MUTANT AMP mtpk12-a 600 watt peak power 300 watt rms 2 channel powering it all.

This is the sub ive bought to add to the system Mutant 12" sub

Its Going to be housed in the bootliner kit from optimise automotive so the only problem i have left is the amp. Is it possable to make the amp ive got work, or am i better shelling out for a 4 channel amp?

Any help is greatly appreciated

[andydclements]

How have you got it wired at the moment (the 2 channel amp)?

1) parallel: Left rear and left front speakers to the same terminals of the amp.
2) Series: Left front with one wire to amp, other to left rear and then other left rear wire to amp.
3) Partial amped: One set of speakers powered by head unit, one set powered by amp.


In a way I hope it's option 3, as option 2 will mean the amp is working very lightly, sending a signal out that's suitable for standard speakers, but finding only half the normal current draw. Option 1 may (depending if the map is designed to run this way) be OK, but more likely it's drawing too much current and the bass is being distorted as the amp cannot adequately control the speakers.


If you current 2 channel amp can run in bridge mode:
If you're willing to do so, but a reasonably good, but no high-powered 4 channel amp to run the two pairs of speakers and run the sub off the existing amp.

If your current amp is designed to run speakers in parallel:
Get a separate amp to run the sub.

If your current amp cannot be bridged but is not designed to run speakers in parallel:
Get a 3 channel amp (or 4 channel that can have one pair bridged to be a 3 channel amp. run one pair of speakers from the existing amp, one pair form the new amp and the sub from the other bridged/ single channel.

[Brams96]

I would buy a 4-ch amp to power your existing sets of front & rear speakers & use your Mutant amp bridged to power the sub. It will put out about 300Wrms & your Sub will handle about 200Wrms so you'll have to set up the gains properly. With the 2 amp set up you'll get some flexability back as in fade & balance.

[jay whiting]

Get yourself a monoblock amp to run the sub and sub alone........

[crossy71]

Thanks for the replys guys really helps. Any ideas for a good 4 channel amp then? Dont want to spend the earth on one but what ever it is, it can usually be found cheap on ebay

[haggz]

Get yourself a monoblock amp to run the sub and sub alone........

that exactly what i done, bought all audio parts from ebay and to me sounds very good, 2 x speakers up front, 2 x 6x9 under rear seat ( powered from head unit only) sub and amp in the boot, im old anyway so 80's music sounds good at any level

[andydclements]

I just did a quick search, with an hour to go there was an Infinity 4 channel amp at £50 + p&p, a Pioneer at £80 + p&p.
Go for a good brand, as it will give a much better (more accurate) sound even at its full output than many of the cheap ones will at any output, even if those cheap ones are twice the power output.



JBL, Phoexix Gold, Genesis, Pioneer, Kenwood all good, as are many more.

[Rich.]

Personally i wouldnt class JBL and Infinity as good makes, there still very much budget end of the market.

Rockford, Jl, Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, Rainbow, MTX, Focal, Audison would be my recommendations.

Rich

[andydclements]

Rich, I would agree Pioneer, Kenwood etc are not top-end, but I'd class them as good in that they are built to a reasonable standard, use reasonable components etc, far from the £30 400W never heard of brands you can obtain from markets, cheap motor factor shops and some sellers on eBay.

Back when I built my system with Dynaudio drivers the supplier would only suggest using one of two brands of amp Genesis or Phoenix Gold. So good is all a matter of limitations. I was going for the up to £100 market recommendations.

[Rich.]

Sorry bud, think you misunderstood me slightly,

I mean that pioneer and Kenwood are perfectly fine for this application, as you say not top end but with Alpine SXE speakers it wont make alot of difference!

What i was saying is to stay away from JBL and infinity and the like, as they are pretty awful, as you say still way above the £30 Chinese copies, but for an extra £20 you may as well step up to one of the other brands i mentioned, which can all be had second hand for under £100 or so, well, most of them can.

Rich

[jay whiting]

I would agree with the above, but for something on a budget i would still use the monoblock for the sub. Run the rest of the system from what you already have.

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item51941fd287

The link above will take you to a monoblock amp that is more than enough for your application and needs. Its not top end by far but will serve for what you want. Unless you are looking for real shake the car apart stuff, then a better sub and a quality amp is what you want. It all depends on what sort of money you want to spend and the sound you are after. Dont go expecting to win any sound OFF's whith what you have at the moment, but if its just BOOM BOOM BOOM to make you feel good then this is fine and not cost the earth...

[Brams96]

I would agree with the above, but for something on a budget i would still use the monoblock for the sub. Run the rest of the system from what you already have.

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item51941fd287

The link above will take you to a monoblock amp that is more than enough for your application and needs. Its not top end by far but will serve for what you want. Unless you are looking for real shake the car apart stuff, then a better sub and a quality amp is what you want. It all depends on what sort of money you want to spend and the sound you are after. Dont go expecting to win any sound OFF's whith what you have at the moment, but if its just BOOM BOOM BOOM to make you feel good then this is fine and not cost the earth...

Sorry but I disagree.

The OP said he has the sub already (200W) and a 2 channel amp (300W) with 4" & 6x9" speakers in the car already so buying a 1900W (actually only 200Wrms) mono-block amp is kind of pointless.

What he needs is more flexability in his system as the 4" speakers aren't going to need that much power and the 6x9's could do with a high pass filter to work with the sub.

There are plenty of cheap 4-ch amps out there that would be a better investment. And just my opinion PYLE are at the bottom end of the scale in terms of quality.

Something like the Kicker impulse Ix404 from ebay would do nicely, there is a review of it on the crutchfield webite. Or any 4-ch amp with 40+ watts rms per channel will do.