2 or 4 channel amp?

[TRINITRON 10+ year member]

i have polk components in front and rear stock speakers in the rear (which ill be replacing with Ifinity reference soon)of my acura integra. and i have a basslink in the trunk. i for sure want to add an amp to take advantage of my front components. my question is; should i just get the US Acoustic 2 channel or 4 channel amp?

i read that the rear dont need too much power cause they are just for fill but my deck (pioneer 840) has controls for imaging. the 2 channel is 100wx2 while the 4 channel is only 80wx4.

Click to read more...

 

[forbidden 10+ year member]

Get yourself the 4 channel amp, I imagine that you either have subs or will be adding them? A 4 channel amp will allow you the luxury of not only gain setting properly for staging, but also will allow the use of a crossover to keep the speakers from reproducing damaging lower frequencies that would otherwise not be heard when using a sub (the sub can produce the same frequencies with alot more force thus masking the distortion from the smaller speakers). A amp needs to be (as a general rule) double the size in watts rms for it to be a noticable difference in output. The amp if it is 80w x 4 rms @ 4ohm (very specific measurement), it would probably be a good amp for you.

 

[TRINITRON 10+ year member]

thnaks for the reply man.

yes i DO have a sub right now, its an INFINITY BASSLINK.

my pioneer 840 can do imaging (sending different freqencies and gain levels independently from front to rear speakers), low and high crossovers, gain to sub.

i guess what im asking is alot of people say that the rear speaker is not necessary because it messes up imaging (or staging i dont know what the correct term is). but since my deck can do these adjsutments, should i get an amp that will power the rear speakers anyway jsut to make sure the rear gets enough juice and doesnt destort?

 

[forbidden 10+ year member]

For the true audio guru, they do not like rear speakers, they do not want rear speakers, will remove rear speakers and preach up and down about front stage and imaging. In the end though, if you are not a competitor and enjoy your music, you probably like a little rear fill. I happen to like rear fill in my vehicles, if I was to compete on a serious level, that would be a different story. i would still use the amp and set the gains and crossovers properly. Do what you want and would be happy with, not what we tell you.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

The 2 channel will be fine. HU power is plenty for fill. The rear speakers are only fill and need very little power to do their job. The 80 watt channels will be wasted if the balance between front and rear is properly set. I imagine that the 2 channel amp is less expensive?