Help with amp choice

[m.glisson003]

I honestly dont know squat about amps. So if someone could give me a quick barney style tutorial that would be amazing.

I havent ordered all of the speakers yet. But here is what I plan on ordering...

2 Component speakers to go in door panels
2 Tweeters to go in door panels
2 12 inch Subwoofers
2 three way speakers

I suppose the amp I am going to need will be based on the amount of RMS wattage of all the speakers and subs. Is that correct?

[PaulD]

normally, I would get a 4 channel amp for the mid/tweets in the doors or front area - maybe 100 watts RMS/ch X 4. Skip the back speakers all together. Get at least a 500 watt RMS clas D mono amp for the subs, that puts out max power into 1 ohm. Get subs that are dual 4 ohm so the final load will be 1 ohm when you wire everything in parallel.

[m.glisson003]

Originally Posted by PaulD

normally, I would get a 4 channel amp for the mid/tweets in the doors or front area - maybe 100 watts RMS/ch X 4. Skip the back speakers all together. Get at least a 500 watt RMS clas D mono amp for the subs, that puts out max power into 1 ohm. Get subs that are dual 4 ohm so the final load will be 1 ohm when you wire everything in parallel.

Why do you say skip the back speakers? Are they not necessary? Everything I mentioned before is stock except for the subs.

So you are recommending me get 2 amps? One for the front speakers and one for the subs. Is that correct?

[PaulD]

speakers in the rear is a stock set-up, these set-ups are usually average at best. You can also go the 5 channel amp route and just get 1 amp OR get a 4 channel amp and use the front 2 channels for the front speakers and combine the rear two channels (called bridging) for a sub. Are you going to use the stock headunit or an aftermarket one ?

[m.glisson003]

Originally Posted by PaulD

speakers in the rear is a stock set-up, these set-ups are usually average at best. You can also go the 5 channel amp route and just get 1 amp OR get a 4 channel amp and use the front 2 channels for the front speakers and combine the rear two channels (called bridging) for a sub. Are you going to use the stock headunit or an aftermarket one ?

I planned on getting an aftermarket headunit as well.

So its better to go without the speakers in the rear and just the sub or subs. Is that what your saying?

Either way I am going to need either a 4 or 5 channel amp right?

[PaulD]

yes, if you want to keep the "body count" down, you will need a single amp that is a 4 channel or a 5 channel. Your choice mostly depends on whether you want seperate amp channels for the mids and tweets. You also have to ask yourself how much bass you really want. The 5 the channel of a 5 channel amp or the bridged output of the two rear channel of a 4 channel amp are NOT going to provide enough power to pound the pavement.

The reason most people ditch the rear speakers is becasue in a STEREO recording, you only need a pair of speakers. Rear speakers are for surround sound in a home theatre environment and there are painfully few titles of real music recorded in 5.1.

[m.glisson003]

Originally Posted by PaulD

yes, if you want to keep the "body count" down, you will need a single amp that is a 4 channel or a 5 channel. Your choice mostly depends on whether you want seperate amp channels for the mids and tweets. You also have to ask yourself how much bass you really want. The 5 the channel of a 5 channel amp or the bridged output of the two rear channel of a 4 channel amp are NOT going to provide enough power to pound the pavement.

The reason most people ditch the rear speakers is becasue in a STEREO recording, you only need a pair of speakers. Rear speakers are for surround sound in a home theatre environment and there are painfully few titles of real music recorded in 5.1.

Alright. What if I powered my two component speakers and tweeters using the headunit. And then use the amp to power the two subs. The subs I got have a peak handling power of 600 watts. It didnt mention RMS wattage anywhere. What would be the most inexpensive amp I should get for this application?

[PaulD]

you can certainly do that, just won't be very loud. Subs should be fine on a 500 watt amp (rated for the load the speakers are wired for)