Help/Opinions needing on wiring my sound sytem!

[dat240zg]

Guys:

 

I'm at the point where I'm wiring my audio stuff.

 

The setup that I have is:

 

A Kenwood Excelon head unit (CD/MP3, other stuff)

Alpine 6.5" Type S component speakers (for front)

Alpine 6.5" Type S speakers for rear

Alpine 10" sub

Alpine 800 watt 4 channel amp

 

My question is this: should I run my front speakers through the amp or through the head unit? Initially, I was thinking that I would run both the rear speakers and sub through the amp, but I hooked up the fronts through the head unit and it sounds, well, kinda limp.

 

Opinions, thoughts, etc?

 

Bryan

[TravRMK]

You would be better off running the 4 channel amp to the front and rear speakers, and getting another mono amp for the sub.

[Armand]

If I were you I would sell that amp you have now and go for a much smaller amp, something like an Alpine mrp 250. TRUST ME you DO NOT need 800 watts for those tiny 6.5" speakers. A 250x4 amp will be enough to blow your 6.5" speakers. Invest the money in a better separate mono amp for your sub.

[Evan Purple240zt]

Bryan, I agree with above. Way overkill for the 6.5" speakers. If you can't return the amp I would do the following.

 

Not sure how stable that amp is. I had a four channel in my Z a long time ago I had wired like this;

 

Front and rear right wired paralell to a 2 ohm load

Front and rear left wired in paralell to a 2 ohm load

 

Rear channels on the amp bridged mono to the subwoofer.

 

You must make sure your amp will tolerate the 2 ohm load on a pair of channels. Same deal with the sub. I can double check if you have model numbers.

 

Also, you won't have front/rear fader capability. I would definitely do it this way if possible and your dead set on using what you have.

 

Evan

[SSuspect]

Hi Bryan,

 

Just FYI... I am an audio freak and have been planning the Z system. I am going to go with a similar setup, but I am doing it with an Alpine PDX-5, 5-channel amp. A friend has this amp in his Silverado and it has great, clean power and is very compact (obviously important in these cars).

 

I will just save my pennies a little longer and use this amp due to it's flexibility.

 

Details:

 

5-channel car amplifier

75 watts RMS x 4 + 300 watts RMS x 1 at 4 or 2 ohms

150 watts RMS x 2 + 300 watts RMS x 1 in bridged mode (4-ohm stable in bridged mode)

CEA-2006 compliant

stackable installation design with front-panel controls

variable high- and low-pass filters (30-400 Hz, 12 dB/octave)

quick-connect speaker connectors

Class-D amplifier design

MOSFET power and output stages

fuse rating: 20A x 4

10-3/16"W x 2-1/2"H x 8-7/8"D

 

 

 

Here is an eBay link - You can find it cheaper, but this link has good detail: http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ALPINE-PDX-5-CLASS-D-5-3-CHANNEL-AMP-CAR-AMPLIFIER_W0QQitemZ180254063314QQihZ008QQcategoryZ39739QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Six_Shooter]

I have seen no mention of the model number of this "800W 4 Ch" amp.

 

I doubt that it is an 800W amp, or more specifically 200W per channel.

 

It is likely a 50W per channel amp, and with the old technique of rating max power of the amp, bridged and add all bridged pairings together for "max power", is what I would expect.

 

I would agree that using the 4Ch amp to run the front and rear highs and get a dedicated sub amp would be ideal.

 

If it was my car (and this is how I have ran all of my cars), I would nix the rear speakers, run just fronts and sub. How I have amplified them has differed over the years. My prefered amplification route is a dedicated amp for the highs and dedicated amp to the sub(s).

 

The reason I prefer to use a dedicated sub amp is becaue the power supplies will be sperated from each other (sub and highs), and when you're jammin' that latest great tune, with the sub(s) just pumping away, the demand of the power needed to drive the sub will not pull needed power away from the front channels as it would in a 4ch amp, where two channels are driving the highs and two channels are driving the sub(s). Makes for a cleaner sound at higher listening levels.

 

Currently I am running a 4ch amp, driving my 5.25" mids and seperate tweeters, along with my 12" sub. This isn't in my Z, I haven't started on the audio in it yet. This amplifier set-up is only until I can get my sub amp repaired, and then will be moving the sub over to it's own dedicated amplifier, and each mid will end up on it's own channel along with each tweet on it's own channel, for a fully actively crossed over system, my very favorite way to set up the amplification.

 

In my Z, I plan to use a 4ch amp, with a set of front speakers, likely 5.25" components mounted in the kick panels via custom kick panels, and a single sub, likely molded into one of the rear sides of the car. The Z for me is meant to be a fast toy, the audio is basically a secondary item, even for someone like me, who's occupation is car audio and electronic accessory installation.

I haven't decided on where I will mount the mount, I may go with a false floor in the rear to help keep the audio hidden, mostly. In this idea of design I may nix the spare and build a spare tire well enclosure that I could very easy combine an amp/processor rack into.

 

Sorry got into a bit of a ramble there.

 

In short, yes run the front speakers off the amp. If you really want to keep the rears, run them off the deck. The rears should really be used to add ambiance to the system, to help make the car sound a bit larger or more spacious than it is and NOT take away from the front soundstage and definatly should not create a rear sound stage. In most vehciles that I install rear speakers in, or leave in, that are connected to the deck, I will actually fade the controls forward to the point where you just don't hear the rear speakers, but shut them off and you will notice that they are not on.