5 Channel Amp Decision

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

Wouldnt touch one. None of them bench tested at rated power from what Ive seen.
OP you can look at the Eclipse XA5000 or the Eclipse EA3532 as well. Both are under rated and will run you somewhere around $200-$250 on the high side.

Adding to this... The NX5 is also known to overheat.

EDIT: to the OP.... I wish you luck with the PDX V9. Make certain you purchase it from an authorized source and note the return policy. Mine had a turn on/off pop and hissed as soon as signal was applied to the RCAs. I sold it at a significant loss because I was outside the return period. I could have sent it back to Alpine, but I had a been there, done that experience with a PDX-5 years ago doing the same thing. Alpine returned it back to me and stated that nothing was wrong with it. As a result, I am 2 for 2 with problematic PDX amplifiers, so I sure as heck wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

American bass ph 5100 120 x 4 rms at 4 ohms and 800 rms for the sub at 1 ohm very small foot print too. As for subs look into an 8" sub. In the right box it will sound great and be very small

 

[Shinju 10+ year member]

Incriminator Audio 5.1 450 Watt mono Amplifier
amazing amp and a better option than the alpine imho and only 7 inches by 7 inches

lol junk... The v9 is a 5 channel and does very well on the sub channel (2/4 ohm) and more then what this thing AB amp is rated for at 1ohm. second this is a monoblock.... Op wanted a 5 channel.

Trust me op go with the v9 rather you buy mine or get a new one you will be happy. As I said I got team pricing on JL audio HD stuff and it was WAY to good of a deal to pass up otherwise I would NOT be selling mine.

Stick with 4ohm raitings all around if you are trying to achieve good SQ, remember the lower the ohm raiting the highter the distortion rate. The good thing with PDX/HD and other 2/4/1 balanced power rated amplifiers is that the distortion rate stay's pretty close.

Also if you want to do SQ get an external processor.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

I will be sticking with a double din receiver, I have already purchased the Pioneer AVH-P8400BH. Is there an affordable crossover that you would recommend in addition to it? Looking at the manual for the Pioneer, it looks like it has just a basic HP filter, not quite enough to do it from just the HU.
I understand what you're saying about the inconvenience of going to the amp to adjust, but let's say I spent quite a few hours adjusting it. Once I get it set how I like, wouldn't I be done with that disadvantage? Wouldn't I have to deal with this same inconvenience if I had an addon crossover since it wouldn't be mounted where I can access it from the drivers seat?

Is there any significant degradation in quality using the amp to do it instead of the head unit, or is it more of a convenience factor?

Regarding the numbers labeled on the dial issue, from the very limited browsing I've done on separate crossovers, it seems they all are dials until you fork over some serious cash for versions that hook up to a computer.

I definitely plan on investing in all of the above, just forgot to mention it originally. Thank you for the reminder though.

Thanks again for the help.

The add on crossovers for the Alpine HU's can be adjusted through the headunit. You will spend days/weeks getting the tuning right. Its not as simple as a few hours.

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

The add on crossovers for the Alpine HU's can be adjusted through the headunit. You will spend days/weeks getting the tuning right. Its not as simple as a few hours.

This. I pretty much never stopped tuning over the course of months.

do yourself a favor and keep the ability to adjust up front with you.