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i have a quick question for anyone that can help... i currently have the pioneer 8400 and stock speakers, i've purchased kappa 6x9's for the rear and kappa 6.5 components for the front, with all that, i don't have money for a good quality amp right now. can i put the speakers in and let them run off the hu for now? i know its not going to sound great, but will i cause any damage to the speakers or HU? i apologize in advance if this info is already posted, i looked around and found some info, but not specific to this.

stats on speakers/hu
front: 90RMS
rear: 110RMS
hu: 22RMS [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG]

also, when i do get an amp, i'd like suggestions, everyone has their brand, but i'd like a good mid level that isn't going to cost more than 400 or 500. and.... i read that some only buy an amp to drive the front and let the hu run the rears... is that possible? or should i just get a 4 channel and power all of them. i don't plan on getting a sub, if that helps at all. thanks for all your help and suggestions!!!!

 
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you can use the HU to power them. just dont turn it up to the point where it is distorted. that will damage your speakers. I have a mtx 6304 4 ch amp. it powers my mb quarts just fine. 104 watts x 4 at 2 ohms. 68 watts x 4 at 4 ohms. you can get a 2 ch amp to power your fronts and run the rear speakers from the HU. that's more of a SQ setup. you dont want the rears to pull your soundstage towards the back. however, I like rear fill and it sounds good to me. plus, I've got friends in the back so they can enjoy it too.

 
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ok, so as i was looking around i see that mtx and us acoustics seem to be pretty popular choices here. i saw thezeb.com has a us acoustics USX4085 for 174.99. that seems crazy cheap compared with some of the other 4 channel amps i've seen at similar power. that will put out 85x4 @ 4. the problem is i've always run into 'you get what you pay for'. is this still a good amp or should i still go with something more expensive? like i said before i'm looking for quality and clarity, i'm not worried about making things rattle 10 cars down the road... [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

 
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thanks for the info, i think i'll probably get a 4 channel. my 6x9's are 3 way, i want to be able to still have mids and highs in the back also. do you have a cap in your setup? if i just have the one amp i won't need a cap, right? or would it still be good to get a .5 cap? i don't really listen to things that loud, like i said i just want to to sound good. thanks again...

 
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no I dont have a cap in my setup, although I do need one because my lights are dimming occasionly. (cuz I have a sub amp) since you're not getting a sub amp, then you dont need to get a cap. and if you want to rattle 10 cars down the road, get a sub..or 2! I have no personal experiences with US Acoustics amps, but I've heard that they are okay. since I have 2 mtx amps, I would say that they're pretty darn good and it gets very loud and it is very clean sounding. even though you won't be listening to it that loud, it's still good to have that extra power.

 
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sounds good to me. i don't know about the whole sub thing. i'm considering it more since i'm going to have to tear everything up to put the amp in, might as well run the wiring for the sub too! [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

what gauge wiring did you use for the amp? is 8 ok or should i get 4? oh and when i install the amp, where should i get my speaker wire? i haven't seen a lot of info on that, and i'd like to get some decent stuff... any info on sites and prices would be great. i'll probably get the RF amp kit unless there is a better one or similar for less $$$.

thanks again for your help.

 
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I'm using an RF amp kit. 4 gauge. ran that to a fused distro block and have two 8 gauge wires going to two amps. (MTX 6304 & 4250D) I got the 4 gauge amp kit cuz I knew I was going to upgrade in the future. now that did upgrade, I want to upgrade even more. I might scrap the 4 gauge and go to 2 gauge and run that to a distro block and get two 4 gauge outputs. (planning on getting the mtx 6500D) I bought the amp kit, terminals and speaker wire from circuit city and best buy. any 16 gauge speaker wire is good (oxygen free copper).

 
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thanks. i'll look around and see what i can find. those mtx amps have rca inputs? my hu has preouts for an amp, so i'd like to just run it into those. if not, how do i connect my preouts to the amp?

 
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all, or most amps have RCA inputs. if you have preamp outputs, use 'em. if not, use speaker level inputs on your amp. or, get line output converter.

 
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ok, thanks a lot for all you help. i was looking and is the output on this only 38rms when you run 4 @ 4ohms? i know it goes to like 75 at 2 ohms, but my speakers are all 4 ohms. should i get something more powerful then? or is this wrong? i know some stuff about the different in the votage at different resistance and all that, but this amp seems to be better for 2 ohm speakers. but is that dependent on what my car actually puts out? do most 7th gens put out around 14 or is it closer to 12? does that even matter? damn, i ask questions like a little noob.

 
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mtx amps are underrated. I stated what my mtx 6304 puts out, according to the performance certificate. (look above) that was tested at 12.5 volts. the alternator puts out a little more than 13 volts, so you'll get more wattage outta the amp. I'm running four 4 ohm speakers on my amp. works perfectly. there are other amps too, JL, Kicker, Eclipse, Pheonix Gold, the list goes on. I got the mtx 6304 cuz I already have the 4250d, so they match aesthetically. don't worry about asking "newbie-like" questions. I do the same sh*t too

 
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thanks for your help! i'll definitely look into getting one of those then. i might wait and just do the complete install... i don't want to, but if i'm going to have to tear everything up, maybe i should just do it once. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] i'm thinking i might run the preouts for my sub too, now that i'm going to do this anyway, i might as well run it and maybe be adventurous and just put a 10" in at some point, ya know?

one other question about mounting the amp... i know there is lots of stuff in here about that, but i really don't want to put holes in my frame unless i absolutely have to. where did you mount yours, do you have any pics? oh and if you'd rather just im about this, i'll be on aim all day. liphongl is my handle. thanks again!!

one more add on edit. where did you pick up your MTX and how much $$$?

 
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I got my MTX 4250D from circuit city and 6304 from the good guys. yeah, I paid full retail price but I have peace of mind that I have warranty from them, an extended one at that. I have a picture of my trunk. This is before I got my 6304. I screwed the amp down on the board, not going through the sheet metal. Where you see my jacket, thats where I put my 6304.

 
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id get a 50x2 to 100x2 @ 4 ohm amp and just amp your fronts. at 100 watts the tweets might be bright, but overall it would sound fantastic. the rear ideally you want to keep on deck power to help raise and broaden your stage, not to overpower it.

also a 2 channel amp would be cheaper than a 4 channel amp. maybe a JBL 80.4, i believe it puts out 90x2 at 4 ohm RMS? sounds to me like the perfect amp for those speakers....

 
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whiterabbit, i have 3 way's going into the back also, should i just let my hu power those? as i think about it more and more i might end up putting a 10" in the trunk too. i'm thinking i want a pretty "even" stage, (ok that might not be the right terminology at all), what i mean is since there are 3 way's in the back, to have some of the mids and highs going back there also. would this sound really bad? if it does and i have almost all my mids and highs going up front, was i a dumba$$ to buy 3 way's for the rear? does this even make sense. also, if i decided to get a sub, i just want one and its ONLY for sq. i don't need it to thump, i don't care that no one will really hear it outside the car, i just listen to enough stuff that has low end, i'd like it to come through. i saw onlinecaraudio has the infinity perfects on sale, and they also have the oz subs on sale. i was reading stuff about oz and they seem high end and really good quality. are they? or is it not all that great?

thanks again for everyone's help. if anyone else has ideas and has read all this, please post also... this forum is great!

 
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you definitely want just your deck power going to those rear speakers! deck power is plenty for them, and in fact you dont want higher frequencies playing out of them! often times, in a more simple system, its not worth the trouble of putting a crossover on them to block out teh higer frequencies, but its DEFINITELY not worth amping, becasue that not only costs you more money in the long run, but you are destroying your stage!

if you ever have teh chance to sit down and do some heavy reading, check this out:

http://www.teamcaf.org/geolemon/

just scanning, i realize that really has nothing to do with rearfill, i had hoped he wrote a paper about it. basically, you want your music coming from in front of you, just like the way you listen at concert, or basically, the way it was recorded. rearfill is used to broaden and raise teh stage in a symple system like this, its a job even a stock speaker can often accomplish very well! but since you already have aftermarket speakers in there, you may as well leave them in and run them off deck power. If your deck is a pioneer or some deck with a low pass filter for teh rear outputs, i highly reccommend using that, set as high as it will go (usually around 250 Hz or so) this will allow full responsibility for your soundstage to come from teh front. also amping those low frequencies for those rear speakers is a quick way to kill them, as they were not made to take an excessive amount of power for those frequencies.

cheaper AND better quality by just getting an amp for the front instead of all round? cant beat that.

besides, your components were made to take some power, your coxials were not built as sturdy, for sure. best to optimize your front then the rear and leave yoru fronts begging.

 
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whiterabbit - thanks for the info!!!! i'm definitely in this for the HQ and i really appreciate all the help, and the lower cost will help out a ton. another question for you, could i still get a 4 channel amp, power the front two and then run a sub off the rear channels of the amp or should i just get a separate sub amp? i wasn't originally going to do this, but heck, if i'm going to rip it up, i want this to be sounding F I N E. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] thanks again!!!


btw, sorry about the late response, i've been out for a few days....

 
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if you can find a 4 channel amp that has the power per channel for your fronts that you want, and the power bridged in teh back that you want for your bottom end, why not? I ran this for awhile in my very first system before i realized 100 watts is not enuff for bass [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG] its personal preference!

 
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hmm... i don't know. i might end up still doing two different ones... my hu has preouts for front, rear and sub. i want to be able to run off those. well the front and sub anyway... [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] any suggestions on amps? mtx is what i'm looking at right now.... thanks again for all your help!

 
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MTX is a pretty good choice because the amps aren't too pricey..and put out a fair bit more power than they claim..

 
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mohak - thanks for the input! i'll probably get a mtx 2 channel for the front and then just get a nice sized class D for a sub.

i think i'm going to wait and get everything so i only have to tear up the car once. i really appreciate everyones help and input on this. i'm excited to tackle this project now, i think its going to be quite an adventure. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] i'll let everyone know how it goes once i start doing the install.... it'll probably be a few weeks at least. thanks again! i love this site!!!!!