airspoon
Junior Member
I am a car audio newb, Before the economy went south, i used to just bring my car into the audio shop, give my budget and give the guys creative license. Now however, I'm pinching the pennies and so am a lot more particular. Unfortunately, the shop that I have my car worked on, tries to nickel and dime me for everything and instead of giving me the best advice or recommending the best products for my needs, they recommend whatever will make them the most money. They up-sell and push Stinger products. They are great at what they do, the best in my area as far as I can tell, but I just can't trust their recommendations and what they are trying to sell me.
I currently have the Pioneer appradio 3, which only has two 2-volt pre-outs. I have a Pioneer Premier TS-W1007d4 dual 4ohm voice-coil 10" sub in a 1.8 cubic ft ported box (looking to change to a sealed box), a pair of Infinity Kappa 62.9I co-axles (2ohm each) in the rear deck and a Infinity Ref 475a 4-channel amp powering the rear co-axles and bridged to power the sub. I'm now in the market for a pair of components for up front and an extra amp to power everything.
It was suggested that I power the front components and rear co-axles with the 4 channel infinity Ref amp and get a mono-amp with sub control knob to daisy chain and power the sub (since I only have 2 pre-outs on my head unit). I was unaware of speaker-level inputs.
Would it make more sense to purchase a 5-channel amp with speaker level inputs and connect the two front components and sub with RCA from my 2 only HU pre-outs, while connecting the rear co-axles to the speaker level inputs? That way, I have sub control from my head unit rather than a knob? Or, would it make more sense to simply daisy-chain a mono-amp to power the sub as suggested by the shop? The shop is saying that I will need an extra battery to power the mono-amp so it might even make more economical sense to get a 5-channel amp with speaker level inputs and sell the 4 channel I currently have.
Is there any difference in sound quality from RCA inputs versus speaker level inputs? Is it even possible to hook a 5-channel amp up that way (2 channels via speaker-level inputs and the other three channels via RCA)?
In the near future (within a few months, I plan on upgrading the HU to one with 3 4v pre-outs so I'm thinking I could then just switch the speaker level inputs to RCA at that time. However, in the meantime, I'm looking to hook up a pair of components soon (like next week).
So in sum, should I get a 5-channel amp and use the speaker level inputs on the back co-axles (RCA on the Sub and front components), or should I keep the four-channel amp and daisy chain a mono-amp with sub control knob and extra battery in the back to power it?
For the record, I'm more interested in sound quality than loudness and I have a 2006 honda civic (if that matters). I'm just looking for good sound. I also ordered Second Skin Dampener Pro in bulk to cover my entire car (doors, trunk and floor) with luxury liner pro to filter out airborne noise -and this was against the advice of the shop who was trying to sell me Stinger dampener at a higher cost.
Can anyone please help with advice? Am I thinking along the right track with the 5 channel amp with speaker level inputs or should I just take the advice from the shop I use and daisy chain a mono-amp with sub control knob?
Any and all help/advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm looking to quickly get a pair of components up front to complete the sound-stage. Also, can I mix abd natch 2-ohm rears (co-axles) with 4-ohm fronts (components) and 2-ohm sub, or should I be shopping for 2-ohm components?
I currently have the Pioneer appradio 3, which only has two 2-volt pre-outs. I have a Pioneer Premier TS-W1007d4 dual 4ohm voice-coil 10" sub in a 1.8 cubic ft ported box (looking to change to a sealed box), a pair of Infinity Kappa 62.9I co-axles (2ohm each) in the rear deck and a Infinity Ref 475a 4-channel amp powering the rear co-axles and bridged to power the sub. I'm now in the market for a pair of components for up front and an extra amp to power everything.
It was suggested that I power the front components and rear co-axles with the 4 channel infinity Ref amp and get a mono-amp with sub control knob to daisy chain and power the sub (since I only have 2 pre-outs on my head unit). I was unaware of speaker-level inputs.
Would it make more sense to purchase a 5-channel amp with speaker level inputs and connect the two front components and sub with RCA from my 2 only HU pre-outs, while connecting the rear co-axles to the speaker level inputs? That way, I have sub control from my head unit rather than a knob? Or, would it make more sense to simply daisy-chain a mono-amp to power the sub as suggested by the shop? The shop is saying that I will need an extra battery to power the mono-amp so it might even make more economical sense to get a 5-channel amp with speaker level inputs and sell the 4 channel I currently have.
Is there any difference in sound quality from RCA inputs versus speaker level inputs? Is it even possible to hook a 5-channel amp up that way (2 channels via speaker-level inputs and the other three channels via RCA)?
In the near future (within a few months, I plan on upgrading the HU to one with 3 4v pre-outs so I'm thinking I could then just switch the speaker level inputs to RCA at that time. However, in the meantime, I'm looking to hook up a pair of components soon (like next week).
So in sum, should I get a 5-channel amp and use the speaker level inputs on the back co-axles (RCA on the Sub and front components), or should I keep the four-channel amp and daisy chain a mono-amp with sub control knob and extra battery in the back to power it?
For the record, I'm more interested in sound quality than loudness and I have a 2006 honda civic (if that matters). I'm just looking for good sound. I also ordered Second Skin Dampener Pro in bulk to cover my entire car (doors, trunk and floor) with luxury liner pro to filter out airborne noise -and this was against the advice of the shop who was trying to sell me Stinger dampener at a higher cost.
Can anyone please help with advice? Am I thinking along the right track with the 5 channel amp with speaker level inputs or should I just take the advice from the shop I use and daisy chain a mono-amp with sub control knob?
Any and all help/advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm looking to quickly get a pair of components up front to complete the sound-stage. Also, can I mix abd natch 2-ohm rears (co-axles) with 4-ohm fronts (components) and 2-ohm sub, or should I be shopping for 2-ohm components?
