A Quick Amp Tip

[konradac 10+ year member]

Hey guys, so I'm finally slapping together some new speakers together in my car. (everything is blown) Well my quick question is do I need an amp to power these indoor speakers? (I think its a yes) But if I do, what kind of amp, as in How many channels, and what power?

My Deck is the Eclipse CD 4000

Here are the speakers. 2 Kicker RS 56.2 5.25"

and 4 Infinity Kappa 42.7i

For the Kickers, Should I toss in some Dynamat Behind them? (They will be in the doors)

Any tips would be awesome, thanks guys

Click to read more...

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Get a 4x100w rms amp and you could wire the speakers like so:

Kickers on the front 2 channels.

2 Infinity's wired in series to each of the back channels.

And yes, sound deadening is recommended.

 

[konradac 10+ year member]

Awesome, I'm looking into such amps right now. And for sound deadening Dynamat? or perhaps a generic brand will do the same thing?

Also since my deck does not have an equalizer, will I need to get one to have all the speakers playing at the right frequencies and such?

 

[Brian Owens 10+ year member]

Just a question to see if I am thinking clearly -

When you wire the coaxial speakers in series, don't you affect the crossover point of the tweeter? The tweeter should have a single cap in series with it that is normally tied directly to (+) and (-) from the source. It is now in series with the other speaker which changes the impedance of the circuit, which changes the high pass F3 point the cap was designed to.

I would wire the 4" in parallel, and then turn the gain down vs. the two channels that have the kickers on them.

The 4 channel amp will have crossovers that can be used to control the low frequencies. With good speakers like those, an EQ should not be needed.

Brian

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Just a question to see if I am thinking clearly -
When you wire the coaxial speakers in series, don't you affect the crossover point of the tweeter? The tweeter should have a single cap in series with it that is normally tied directly to (+) and (-) from the source. It is now in series with the other speaker which changes the impedance of the circuit, which changes the high pass F3 point the cap was designed to.

Yes, that is correct. The coaxials will have the crossover points altered when multiples are wired in series. Thanks for pointing that out.

To get everything working as intended without screwing with those kinds of things, you may want to look at 2 separate amps: 2x100w @ 4 Ohms for the Kickers and 4x50w @ 2 Ohms for the Infinitys.

Wiring two of the Infinity coaxs in parallel would necessiate the need for a 1 Ohm stable amp.

 

[Brian Owens 10+ year member]

Man I did not see those are 2 ohm speakers. . . .

Brian

 

[konradac 10+ year member]

Hmmm, so whats the final verdict on Amps. 2 Amps or can I still do the 4x100, sounds like I can't.

 

[Brian Owens 10+ year member]

Hard to say. The 4" speakers are going to be an easy load to drive, so some 4 channel amps might be ok if they do not go into protect mode.

To be on the safe side, you can go with (2) amps or find a 4 channel amp that is 1 ohm stable.

edit: The bad thing about a 1 ohm stable amp is the 4" may get a lot more power than the 5.25", depending on the amp rating.

Brian

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Xenon X100.4 amp. 4x100w rms at 1-4 ohms in stereo and 2x200w rms at 2-8 ohms bridged. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

The JL slash amps are very similar (but 1.5 ohms minimum).

 

[konradac 10+ year member]

That Xenon looks like it might be my solution!

Would I run into the problem that Brian is suggesting of the 4" getting more power. Because I obviously want the 5.25 powered more, just because they can be and will sound the best I think.

I'm looking at some 2 channel amps, would I get identical amps, or could I get a smaller one for the 4"s and then a more powerful amp for the 5.25?

This is more confusing than I hoped for, **** 2ohm kappas!

Thanks for the help though guys, I would be very lost otherwise.

EDIT: I think I'm gonna go with Dejawiz's suggestion of 2x100w @ 4 Ohms for the Kickers and 4x50w @ 2 Ohms

 

[konradac 10+ year member]

To power the 4 Kappa's I have found these potential Amp's so far.

XPA4100 Cheap, but maybe will get the job done.

http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Alpine_MRP_F240

Alpine MRP-F240

Kicker 04KX200.4 I think this one is discontinued, not sure if that matters, I'll check other Kickers.

As for the 2 Kicker Components.

Kicker MXA4002 This one is out of my budget...

Sony XM-2100GTX I don't know about Sony's, but it has the right specs.

Jensen JPA285 This one is 5 watts under what I need, I think undercutting is a no-no?

Sony Xplod 2 CH

Kicker ZX 350.2This is one I'm leaning to for the Kicker components, 20 Watts overhead.

 

[Brian Owens 10+ year member]

Xenon would be good.

It is the same power 1-4 ohms, so the 5.25" will get 100 watts each, the 4" will get 50 watts each.

I have used that amp in two installs and it is a nice amp for the $$$.

Brian