2 channel amps? Whats the point!

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Im serious though I hate 2 channel amps unless they are stable at 2 ohms or less. I mean if you have a truck two speakers are ok right? And people dissing rear fill?! Thats bs my car ***** without the rear fill. 2 rockford fosgates up front and two alpine type s in the back. Both are weak without eachother and deffinately get faded to -2 to the back. My car is huge. Lincoln Mark vii. Also though again with the subs... Subs just plain **** playing in stereo. They need to be mono. Recomend me good 2 channel amp if you can that doesnt cost 500$ and is 1 ohm stable bridged...

You dont use 2 channels for subs bro thats what monoblocks are for and thats probably your main/only viable argument.

Also If you think you need rear fill that just means your front stage is that weak.

In a 3 way active, 2 channels are very useful if you have midbass that are able to take over 200 watts, a 200 x 2 channel will be perfect for the midbass while your 4 x 100 4 channel can be use for midrange and tweeters. Or have a small 40 x 2 channel for the tweeters while you have 4 x 100 for midbass and midrange.

You need to get out more and see proper systems rather than living in your closed bubble with dual gear.

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

Tell me how you would get 200W at 8 ohms on 4 channels and 150W at 4 ohms on 2 channels. Just so you don't get confused here, 6 channels total. And that doesn't include subs.

 

[Hellrazor1200]

Why would anyone run anything off of a head unit amp? Someone said running highs off a head unit amp and mids off the 2 channel. Them you have to run both speakers full range or put a cross over on one or the other or both depending on the speaker. Btw I have expirience with good amps. I literally just sold my zapco comp amp. It blew my kicker-.- with the gain almost to nothing. And also what is life without arguing? People didnt get anywhere in the past because they simly agreed. I thoroughly enjoy what everyone has to say.

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

From an industry stand point, 2 channels are fading away fast. Trust me, if I had the room, I would personally run a number of big A/B 2 channels for a full active system. In the current market of clean full range class-D amplifiers with flexible on board crossovers, the days of the 2 channels and outboard cross overs are numbered. Much of this comes from the precipitous drop in average amplifier pricing, so many are moving to smaller footprint amplifiers as less heat sink means less cost.

 

I love my Draconia/Minotaur combo, outstanding amplifiers with out question, but If I had the room to install the Gladius' and Deuces', I would move to 4 big 2 channel amps.

 

It is very rare to find a large two channel these days. SoundQubed and Sundown stopped production on theirs. American Bass has the SQ-3000 IIRC is rated around 2x300, but it's massive and not that cheap. A SoundStream REF2.640 would be a great choice off ebay. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

They are going away. Also we are getting larger 6 channels to fill that 3 way active market which I imagine is a small market to begin with

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Why would anyone run anything off of a head unit amp? Someone said running highs off a head unit amp and mids off the 2 channel. Them you have to run both speakers full range or put a cross over on one or the other or both depending on the speaker. Btw I have expirience with good amps. I literally just sold my zapco comp amp. It blew my kicker-.- with the gain almost to nothing. And also what is life without arguing? People didnt get anywhere in the past because they simly agreed. I thoroughly enjoy what everyone has to say.

you had good equipment, set it up improperly and blew stuff then sold it and bought dual...

gain at nothing does not tell how clean your source signal is or any other part of your system that can affect the signal. A you can run a 300 rms amp to a 60 rms speaker and not blow as long as you've set gains, head unit volume/other settings properly

then again, with a dual head unit's output signal its not hard to blow anything.

 

[Hellrazor1200]

I'm never gonna hear the end of the Dual thing lmao. i have a brand new Alpine HU in my car. No it does not have all of this fancy touchcreen crap nor does it have a 7 band EQ. It has a 3 band EQ i think 7 band EQ's in HU's are junk anyways. 5 bands are wheres it's at. All of my classic AV recievers have 5 bands and are superior for regular listening...imo. Also I run a 4 chan kenwood in my car. It's some 90's amplifier i found at the pawn shop. It is rated 25x4rms. I have no comlaints while running speakers. There isnt distortion even while my alpine is up to like 35. there is no Dual in my car but there is jl.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

by your logic, my 80 prs 16 band graphic EQ must be absolute garbage. **** shoulda bought a dual 5 band EQ head unit.

 

[garychoffmann 10+ year member]

My head unit has a 9 band. It's not junk

 

[Hellrazor1200]

It really doesn't matter what brand of gear someone has anyways because theres always going to be someone to say, "hey that brand ***** and your gear is cheap trash". I don't care if someone is using or pioneer or jvc or RF prime gear, or scoshe speakers. Like come on the variables are the car itself. Whethere or not it's old or what kind of deadening there is in the doors. At one point in time I robbed the drivers out of a set of technics floor speakers and put them in my car. I had people impressed with how clear they were. In fact the only reoson I don't do that anymore is because they don't hold up to extreme weather conditions like car gear does. and If I had like an extra 5 feet in my dash I'd rather run my vintage pioneer sx-1050 as a deck lol because nothing I'v heard compares.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

not all gear are made equally. Lots of manufacturers love to cut corners.

 

[Hellrazor1200]

It's not unk i just don't like them personally. I find Pioneer gear hard to use just from what I've played with though and sony too. now I haven't used the 80 prs 16 band graphic EQ so I can't say. But I got th GF a sony a month ago and she cant figure out how to use it. It takes a lot of navigation just to get to the EQ. Same with this pioneer we got her Dad for chistmas. Why can't thee just be a button that sais EQ. I cant recall how many times I've almost recked my car trying to navigate to the EQ on a head unit.

 

[trust fund baby]

And people dissing rear fill?! Thats bs my car ***** without the rear fill. 2 rockford fosgates up front and two alpine type s in the back. Both are weak without eachother and deffinately get faded to -2 to the back. My car is huge. Lincoln Mark vii. Also though again with the subs... Subs just plain **** playing in stereo.

If this is true, then your setup "*****". Sorry, but it's true. You most definitely DONT want your soundstage pulled to the rear. You should have invested the rear speaker money into a stronger/better set of fronts that wouldn't have trouble keeping up. You don't want to listen to music, you want to listen to rattling garbage (based on your description of your setup). Since that is apparently the case, go on with yo bad self, no one here wants to change your mind, we're happy that you're happy. But asking this most basic of questions, then defending your stance with half cocked ideas only makes you look a fool. A few other notes on this- what subwoofers do you have that know that they are on a stereo amplifier, as opposed to a mono, and react negatively? I'd like to know what brand builds that technology into their drivers.

Btw- on my setup I run a four channel and mono amp, AND I use mid as speakers as rear fill (attenuated heavily, and actually switched off 99% the time), so my setup isn't a whole lot different than yours, in those ways. That said, your thinking and basis is very wrong, and therefor your argument is flawed from the very foundation.

Sorry if this seems blunt, or if I seem rude, I certainly do not intend that, but what I say is true.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

you normally dont need to touch the EQ at all with a proper head unit with proper 24/28/31 bit DACs. Most of the sub par under 120 dollar head units have 12 or 16 bit DACs which are awful, you'll never be happy with the sound and will continually try to EQ it.

For my prs man, all I need to do is raise or lower volume after everything's set for daily listening. Never needed to change the EQ while driving. Signal processing does wonders for sound quality thats why your reciever sounds better than any head unit you've tried its because of the processing power. Put in a dedicated Digital Signal Processor like a JBL MS8 or audison bit one and get it dialed in and they will easily surpass anything you can ever imagine.

If your family wanted EQ buttons then they should have just stuck with stock head units or non touch screen double dins.

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

In a 3 way active, 2 channels are very useful if you have midbass that are able to take over 200 watts, a 200 x 2 channel will be perfect for the midbass while your 4 x 100 4 channel can be use for midrange and tweeters. Or have a small 40 x 2 channel for the tweeters while you have 4 x 100 for midbass and midrange.

I'm trying to look for a small 2 channel for my tweeters because I'm planning to go active 3 way. I already have a SQ Q4-120 amp that I'm gonna use for my 6.5's and planning to buy 8's soon. Should I buy the Alpine KTP-445U 4 ch power pack? 45x4 @ 4 ohm. You know anything else that has a small footprint for a decent price?