22 replies to this topic

[samt88]

Hi guys,

 

I'm planning on installing a sony head unit in my car with two 8" woofers and two 4" components. I've gone for two Pioneer low profile woofers (http://www.pioneer.e...841D/specs.html

) and two focal 4" components (http://www.caraudiod...-access-100-ca1). What sort of amp should I be using to power these? I'm slightly lost when it comes to how many watts I need etc. Would this Vibe one do? http://www.caraudiod...-slick-stereo-4

 

Cheers,

Sam 

Edited by samt88, 07 December 2013 - 04:17 PM.

[freshairmini]

Hi guys,

 

I'm planning on installing a sony head unit in my car with two 8" woofers and two 4" components. I've gone for two Pioneer low profile woofers (http://www.pioneer.e...841D/specs.html

) and two focal 4" components (http://www.caraudiod...-access-100-ca1). What sort of amp should I be using to power these? I'm slightly lost when it comes to how many watts I need etc. Would this Vibe one do? http://www.caraudiod...-slick-stereo-4

 

Cheers,

Sam 

 

What kind of budget can you stretch to on the amp?

 

I would recommend genesis amps. You can pick them up for a good price on ebay. I have two of the Profile range amps and they sound brilliant normally go for around £50 to £100, and would make your Focals sing! Very small form factor as well so idea for the mini.

 

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3f2d4545df

Bit rough but is a 4-channel one so would give you good expandability or enough power if you where to upgrade the speakers in the future.

 

If your budget can stretch to it there Series 3 range of amps are even better, top of the range back when they where made, would probably the best you can get. More pricey though, can pick up a Stereo 100 amp for around £100 to £150. Not cheap but unbeatable for the price.

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3cd96ba5b3

This is the one! 22hrs left, if you can get it for £99 it would be a steal.

Edited by freshairmini, 09 December 2013 - 02:14 PM.

[APS]

Being sold by Huets as well, so will have been installed and taken out by them I would assume, so should have been looked after.

[samt88]

Would the series 3 power the woofers and focals?

[samt88]

Sorry just read the description, presuming that's for the focals. What would you suggest for the woofers as I was thinking of initially setting up the focals off the head unit

[APS]

It could run the fronts or possibly the subs depending on how much space and air movement the amp would have, and how hard you want to drive the subs. As they are a 4 ohm VC, you'll probably want to show the amp a 2 ohm mono load, which the amp isn't strictly supposed to do.

Without wishing to be derogatory about your set up, the series 3 amps are a LOT better than anything you have, and are possibly wasted at the moment. I would say buy a good 4 channel amp for something like the £100 you seem to be ok with, as that will get you running. If you decide you like car audio as a hobby, you can then start to upgrade, starting really with the sony CD player. Your source unit is the most important part of the system.

Spend some time and effort getting the front speakers built into pods properly and aimed etc, and then spend some time and money sound deadening everything you can (or can afford) as these two things will make more difference than any amount spent on an amp.

Edited by APS, 09 December 2013 - 05:35 PM.

[samt88]

I wasn't planning on running the subs off the head unit - just the focals. 

 

Please, any opinions welcome, I've got little idea what Im doing... 

 

I've got speaker pods from optimise automotive, the AP ones, for the 4inch ones. The plan was to run these off the sony head unit, probably something like this (http://www.caraudiod...-with-bluetooth). I've then got those two low profile 8" woofers I wanted to run off an amp, (I was recommended this by caraudiodirect http://www.caraudiod...ss-boost-remote) to put them under the rear seats in a kick board at an angle. 

 

In terms of sound deadening I was going to flashing tape the panels and then use closed cell foam. 

 

What would you recommend I change in that?

[APS]

The sound deadening is fine. As much as possible in as many areas as possible is the best advice I can give.

As for the amp from CAD, it's a bit over kill, mainly because it's quite expensive for a 2 Chanel amp at this stage in your build.
You would be better spending £100 on a 4 Chan, which will power your subs, and the front speakers.

I would also say, spend as much as you possibly can on the head unit. Money isn't always the answer, but as a general rule of thumb, especially with a source unit, is you get what you pay for. If you put average in, you'll never get more than average out.

[samt88]

Okay great thanks - I'd be more than happy to put a bit more into the head unit and less into the amp. From CAD, which amp would you therefore recommend?

[sixtyeight]

when looking at the power rating (watts) RMS is the figure you want to use. Peak or PMPO is just a ******* value made to make look cheap speakers and amps look good.

 

For the focals which are 40wrms you need an amp capable of providing that amount on each channel.

For the subs which are 120wrms you need an amp capable of providing that to two channels.

 

You can however run them in parallel at two ohms which would be around 250wrms each. So  you'd need amp capable of providing 500wrms @2ohm. This could be a two channel amp bridging the outputs, or a monoblock amp (single channel)

 

Regarding head unit, stay away from sony. I would suggest Pioneer.

 

You may be lacking some midbass up front with only 4" drivers, if  you could fit some 6" woofers up there it would sound much nicer. The 8's will provide some mid and not much sub bass as they only go down to 30Hz so might sound OK. I would honestly return the 4" focals for some 6" splits you will get a much nicer sounding system.

 

For amps you may be able to find a budget solution - in Australia we have a shop called Jaycar selling Response Amps, which are good bang for buck amps which have won awards in several ICE/CA mags. Not sure if that equipment is available in the UK but there may be some kind of an alternative.

 

Jaycar in Aus do have a UK page set up with UK prices and seem to ship to UK.

 

http://jaycar.co.uk/...&keyform=CAT2#4

[APS]

when looking at the power rating (watts) RMS is the figure you want to use. Peak or PMPO is just a ******* value made to make look cheap speakers and amps look good.
 
For the focals which are 40wrms you need an amp capable of providing that amount on each channel.
For the subs which are 120wrms you need an amp capable of providing that to two channels.
 
You can however run them in parallel at two ohms which would be around 250wrms each. So  you'd need amp capable of providing 500wrms @2ohm. This could be a two channel amp bridging the outputs, or a monoblock amp (single channel)
 
Regarding head unit, stay away from sony. I would suggest Pioneer.
 
You may be lacking some midbass up front with only 4" drivers, if  you could fit some 6" woofers up there it would sound much nicer. The 8's will provide some mid and not much sub bass as they only go down to 30Hz so might sound OK. I would honestly return the 4" focals for some 6" splits you will get a much nicer sounding system.
 
For amps you may be able to find a budget solution - in Australia we have a shop called Jaycar selling Response Amps, which are good bang for buck amps which have won awards in several ICE/CA mags. Not sure if that equipment is available in the UK but there may be some kind of an alternative.
 
Jaycar in Aus do have a UK page set up with UK prices and seem to ship to UK.
 
http://jaycar.co.uk/...&keyform=CAT2#4

The subs are going to be mounted on a board under the rear seat, so will offer good integration, I doubt he'd even notice a lack of mid bass. I would however band pass them to stop them becoming too directional and dragging the stage backwards.
But as you say, it's always better to try and get a 6" mid bass up front.
Alternatively, why not try and mount the 8" subs up front somewhere? If you don't mind doing a bit of fabrication, you could get some good results from the work.

Don't get too caught up with power specs. They are fine as a rough guide, but they can be misleading. The efficiency of the driver, the positioning, wether they are being run through a crossover or run active, wether they are being boxed or run IB, the position of the amp and therefore how hot it will run, the battery in the car and the power cables being used and the type of music and volume it will likely be run at all affect how much power the speaker 'needs'.

[APS]

Okay great thanks - I'd be more than happy to put a bit more into the head unit and less into the amp. From CAD, which amp would you therefore recommend?

Maybe look to going second hand, as you could possibly find a 'better' amp for your budget.

[samt88]

I've got speaker pods in the front for the 4" speakers, id rather not fit the subs there simply due to space. I've got my kit now, except for the head unit and the amp. So really I'm looking for advice on that. If I were to get an upgraded head unit would that have a better amp for the focals so I would then just get a single monoblock amp for the subs?

[APS]

As I said, I'd buy a 4 chan amp. That will let you power the subs and the front components.

The head unit will unlikely have any more power (minimal if it does) and just won't do a set of front components justice.
It is however the place that starts the whole audio process off. If you start with the best source you can buy, you will stand a chance at achieving good car audio.

Again, second hand could be the ideal way of getting the best you can for your budget. £100 second hand might buy you a 4/5/6 year old very very good unit.

[samt88]

Which unit would you recommend? Also what's the reliability of such a unit likely to be like?