Component Setup

[Ingleside 10+ year member]

hey there. i had a few questions on setting up my system.

I have a set of MB Quart QM218.61 6.5" components that i finally want to install in my car but i lost the documents that came w/ the speakers and want to double check the wiring.

I have an Alpine F345 4-way amp that specs out at 75x4 with the birth sheets rating it at 103x4.

The crossovers have two inputs and two outputs (high and low) along with a jumper for a normal set up or a bi-amped set up. I'm thinking of running each chanel to each speaker so Ch 1 goes to the driver side tweeter, Ch 2 to the passenger side tweeter, Ch 3 to the driver mid and Ch 4 to the passenger mid.

The FRONT outputs on the deck would run to 1/2 in on the amp and the REAR outputs to the 3/4.

This way each door would be getting the assumed 206 watts RMS. This would require me to switch the jumper to "bi-amp" right? The specs on the MB Quart box say 90w RMS to 170w RMS. Will i be safe running close to 200w?

Another thing. What setting would i have to use on my headunit. I have an Alpine 9855 with the 2-way/3-way switch. from the description in the manual it seems like i should run the 3-way set up.

TIA

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[bikejunkie223 10+ year member]

be careful with the gain on the tweeter side as 100w will likely blow them up. you are still using the passive crossovers, so the 2 way is effectively what you are doing- you don't need to bandpass the woofer, just highpass the entire signal around 63hz or so. You also may want to consider going active (not use the crossovers at all) if that HU can bandpass the mids, as you have enough amp to do it.

 

[Alpineinstaller 10+ year member]

Yeah 9855s bandpass mids.

 

[Ingleside 10+ year member]

forgot to mention the lows.

i have 2 alpine M605 Amps and 2 12W6v2 subs.

I have thoes runing off the SUB out on the HU. I dont know if this changes anything.

All around i'm looking for an optimal setup. If you guys thing i should take a different route setting the system up im open to ideas.

thanks.

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

Well first of all, you have some nice gear there and I understand you wanting to get the best out of it, I would too.

Next, by biamping the Q's your are still going to get 103 watts to them, you are just using two channels of your amp to do it...one goes to the tweet, one goes to the mid. I made this same mistake as you thinking I would double the power to the components with my MBQ Premiums.

I would NOT suggest running those speakers active, because you are leaving out the essense of the Q line which is the passive x-over - I mean look at that thing, it's like a work of art!!! By eliminating the passive x-over in any set up, you are basically saying that you know more about frequency characteristics, phase, dynamic control, and networking than those crazy German engineers.

Having said that, what *I think* the best use of your current equipment would be to bridge the 345 for 300 watts per side. You own some of the finest manufactured car audio speakers available and the more power you give them, the better they will sound!!!

Keep in mind that my advice comes from someone who has "been there, done that"...I have owned the Alpine 345 and sold it because I ran hotter than hell and sounded like shit at high volumes...and I have owned MBQ speakers (inferior to the Q's) and have had 300+ watts on them and they loved it!! I also tryed to do the biamping thing but in the end saw really no benefit, just more headaches. But if you want to "get into" all that is required with setting everything up properly, then by all means knock yourself out!!

In short, keep the passives, give the Q's the power they deserve, spend some money properly deadening and sealing your doors, match the frequency responce of the low end (subs) with that of the rest of the system and ENJOY!!!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

And oh yea, sell that crappy Alpine and buy an Eclipse...sorry I had to get that out