does an amp improve SQ over a HU amp?

[MrSwiss 10+ year member]

today i recieved my AA6.5 mids. i proceeded to hook them up to my 4 channel along with some generic 6x9's i had. both pairs which are basically free air at the moment. while sittin in the driver seat i fade in from the rear(where the speakers are sittin in my trunk running off the amp) to the fronts. the fronts are boston acoustics s65 4x6's that i sealed off air tight and is running off the HU internal amp.

between fading in from the rear and front im like holy shyt! the rears sound WAY better! and i did all that extensive work on sealing those 4x6's in my dash!

plz tell me it is the HU amp that on my crappy aiwa HU that is making the speakers sound bad? cuz they sounded awesome b4 i compared the other speakers off my external amp.

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[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Having a real external amplifier increases the dynamic range...basically you have enough headroom to stay well under the clipping threshold even at high volumes. With head unit power, you're often running "out of steam" at a high volume level....and you hear massive amounts of distortion as a result.

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

Maybe you could hook up the other two channels to your front 4x6s and see if the sq improves.

 

[MrSwiss 10+ year member]

yes i plan on doing that sometime this week when i install my other HU and speakers. i really hope i didnt do that almost irreversible sealing for nothing haha. i might have to pull them out free air again and compare as well.

i plan to enclose my 6.5's and 6x9's as well.

 

[BassAddictJ 5,000+ posts]

vice versa too...if you hav an external amp, and you upgrade ur HU, you'll hear the SQ differance VERY much so with that added head room and no clipping

 

[MrSwiss 10+ year member]

good stuff.

edit : i just hooked up my generic 6x9's thru my hu and it still made the fronts sound a lil poopy. i guess when i sealed it, it really brang the midrange out, and its drowning out the highs bigtime. i still have time to think it over b4 destroying the sealed structure.

on another note, boy those aa6.5 mids sound great sealed! =D

 

[CBRworm 10+ year member]

Sealed - how much airspace? Too little and the midrange will really "come alive".

 

[MrSwiss 10+ year member]

thats wut im thinkin. off the top of my head i would say .10 - .15 cuft after displace