Amps quick question.

[mssansserif 10+ year member]

Ok I have a quick question about amps. Is an amp needed for clearer sound? I currently have a Kenwood deh 4400R (quite old and only 4x40W max) and a set of pioneer PIONEER TS-G 1316 (they are 13cm and 120w max 25w RMS) and the same model except 10cm in the back (these are TS-G1016 and are 100w max 20w RMS).

They sound ok (I only have a very small car). The only thing is there is basically no bass unless I turn the bass on the HU all the way up. This however means that whenever there is a bass drum hit etc the speakers distort, the highs and mids dont distort it's just the bass.

Would an amp make this better (possibly dissapear?), Or will my newly ordered HU (Sony CDX MP30 4x50w max) make it any better?

Im not looking for earth shattering bass just enough so that rock music sounds acceptable.

Any advice?

Note: Ok so maybe this wasn't a quick question sorry

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[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

Well it might be hard to put an amp on for the speakers since they can only take 20-25 watts each. The internal amp on the h/u probably puts out around 20 watts RMS, so I don't know what your options are there. I would suggest, however, that maybe you look for a nice sings 10"or 12" sub in a sealed enclosure, to give you that tight accurate bass that you're looking for, maybe an alpine type r.

 

[Matador 10+ year member]

does ur hu have a subwoofer control? (it controls the bass of just the sw, so that there will be 2 bass controls).

if not, i m not sure, but maybe other ppl can tell u about this. u can use some bass blockers in ur speakers, which i believe would block the bass part.

wait, hmm, do u have a subwoofer or u just talkin bout speakers?

 

[CarAudioAddict 10+ year member]

The speakers are distortng because your HU cannot put out enough power to push the speakers.

I would recommend getting a subwoofer and an amplifier to run the bass. You will also need some passive cross-overs to remove the bass from the speakers attached to your HU.

most "high power" HU's run about 5 watts RMS per channel. The HU's built in amplifier is made from extremely low quality parts, and is incapabe of putting out any real power

 

[mssansserif 10+ year member]

Right, in not really to hot with all the audio terminolgy and ideas ATM. But at the moment im just looking for some good sound (doesn't need to be earth shattering just not make rather horible noise instead of a bass drum or tom hit)

I don't think my HU will have a seperate bass output control, it has 2 pre outs (one front, one rear).

I don't have a sub, just the speakers and hopefully very very soon the new sony HU.

It has a little more power than my current one so ill see if it is any better, If not I will prob get a reasonable set of 6X9's (hopefull the 4 way sony x-plod ones 250W max power) and an amp and ditch the 10cm in the rear. Im not really up for getting a sub cause the car is really only very small and it would be a waste of money (I think)

How big an amp will I need? (I would like to run the 6x9's in the rear and the 13cm in the front)

Thanx for the help so far //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Well.. (after converting from metric) you're saying that the speakers you have are 5.25" and 4"? Then those speakers are your problem. They're too small to give you any real bass. And with such meager power handling (20-25 wrms) that means they will distort easily when you turn up the bass. Using an external amp would only make it worse. A new head unit won't help either.

First, get better quality speakers that can handle more power. You can set your bass controls up higher then without distortion. After that, consider adding a sub and amp somewhere. Even an 8" subwoofer can make a world of difference to an otherwise inadequate system. If you do that, you can put bass blockers in your main speaker wires so you can turn them up even higher.

If a sub isn't an option, see if you can fit bigger speakers into the car somehow. Replacing 5.25's with 6.5's makes a huge difference.

 

[Savant 10+ year member]

My suggestion would be to see about getting another set of speakers (or just one in a 8" or 10" for a sub).. Filter off the bass from the smaller (older) set you have so they don't distort on bass hits, and have the 'new' speakers pass off all the high stuff, only run bass on it.

Distortion on 'X' way speakers normally comes from the speaker trying to create too many frequencies at one time. If you lessen the amount of work that has to be done by any one speaker (frequency wise) you should get better sound from it..

Yes, the amp in the HU is probably junk, but if the rest of the sounds are clean at the volume he listens to, it's fine. I say the speakers are being over-loaded..

I'd suggest an 8" sub and a small amp to run it. I think you can run 8" in free-air (don't need a box for them) as long as you don't run too much power to them, and you might be able to find some designed for free-air... Put some crossovers before the stock speakers to cut out the bottom of the bass curve and let the 8" handle it.. You might do just as well with a pair of 6" speakers (maybe 6.5"?) to handle the bottom..

When you get new speakers later (you mentioned 6x9s?) you might want to avoid 6x9s and go round speakers instead.. someone here (Jmac I believe) pointed out that the non-uniform shape of the cone causes issues with power handling and SQ.. Round is better..

Anyway, in a nut-shell.. remove the bass from the speakers you have now and have some other speakers run just the low stuff.. that should help a ton..

Hope that helps..