A challenging impedance question... or is it?

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

So good luck with this question, but hoping someone can help me answer this(it's been a while since I did speaker wiring with impedance ratings):

I have a four channel amp for all four speakers in my 350Z, but something happened and channels 1 and 2(front speakers) don't work anymore.

SOO... I have four speakers that I need to wire to my two channels, BUT here are their specs:

Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.5

100/300 @ 4 ohm

Infinity Kappa 63.9i

75/225 @ 2 ohm

Power Acoustik Gothic OVN4-840

4x80 RMS @ 4ohm

4x95 RMS @ 2ohm

2x190 Bridged @ 4ohm

Max Power 840

Questions with this information:

1. How am I going to wire all four speakers to get their impedance ratings while still not going overkill on the amp on only 2 channels?

2. Would I just wire both sets bridged and split that 190 in half for each speakers power rating? I did a lot of impedance stuff a while ago, but haven't lately so I'm a bit rusty.

(Bonus Question) Why the F did Infinity rate their speakers at different impedance ratings while they're the same product line?

Click to read more...

 

[QuikSilverRS91 10+ year member]

I would go with one channel being the front stage and one channel being the rear. Wire the Kappa Perfect 6.5's in parallel for a 2 ohm load and then the Kappa 63.9i's in series for a 4 ohm load.

It's not ideal, but you won't blow the amp.

As for your bonus question.... Kappa and Kappa Perfect are two different lines.

EDIT: Almost forgot to mention.. the real solution here is to repair/replace the amp.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

Not quite sure of why I didn't think of it in terms of each channel being wired separately... but yeah... I definitely need a new amp.. just not sure what are good brands anymore while still not being a ripoff because they're selling more of their name than their product.

 

[QuikSilverRS91 10+ year member]

Stay away from Rockford Fosgate and JL //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

But yeah wire the channels separetely. You won't have left and right separation, though.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

Stay away from Rockford Fosgate and JL //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
But yeah wire the channels separetely. You won't have left and right separation, though.

I'm lucky I have working speakers with that amp, much less left and right separation haha. Any recommendations on brands(even though just about everyone has different opinions)?

Also... to make sure I remember:

Series is SPK1- to amp, SPK1+ to SPK2-, then SPK2+ to amp;

Parallel is BOTH- to amp, and BOTH+ to amp..... correct?

 

[QuikSilverRS91 10+ year member]

I'm lucky I have working speakers with that amp, much less left and right separation haha. Any recommendations on brands(even though just about everyone has different opinions)?
Also... to make sure I remember:

Series is SPK1- to amp, SPK1+ to SPK2-, then SPK2+ to amp;

Parallel is BOTH- to amp, and BOTH+ to amp..... correct?

Correct, but remember in series its + to -. So its AMP - to SPK 1 +; SPK 1 - to SPK 2 +; SPK 2 - to AMP +

I'm partial to Alpine, Infinity, and Eclipse. Actually, I've had several Kenwood amps and have been very impressed with them. Infinity's 4 channels are very clean but tend to be a little underpowered by comparison. For the price they give you good performance. With any brand though, make sure you shop around. Almost all amps are a crappy deal if you buy them retail.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

Gotcha. Got it all wired up, but the perfect components in the front still sound like crap.... I'm starting to question if I should have gotten those or the 6.5' 3ways.... is there THAT big of a difference?