I orded a 3way set of Hertz components (High Energy), and I do have an active thread on it.. They are supposed to be in tomorrow, so I went ahead and began prepping my car.. Previous setup (what i just changed) was that I was pushing focal components up front and kappa 6x9's in back with a 4x70rms alpine amp. The kappas can handle more power and are more effecient, so at equal fade my image was almost completely from the rear of the car... My plan was to buy a set of components that could handle the power of that amp in bridged mode, 200x2rms instead of 70x4rms.. and also run the kappas off the head unit for rear fill..
So I ran the speaker wire from the HU to the kappas and got that done.. They aren't nearly as loud as they were off the alpine amp. but w/e I loose in that I expect to gain by utilizing the amp bridged to the front stage alone..
So I bridged the amp and hooked up my focals... I'm pulling them out tomorrow, so I decided to experiment with how the focals liked the almost triple power... They went from 70x2 to 200x2. With the gain on the amp at mid (nominal), I must say that the focals are loving the power. They are supposedly rated at 70rms, which is what I was giving them, but I've been able to crank it (63/80) on the HU without any distortion.
I feel kinda stupid for not running it this way in the past, but I didnt think they could handle it.. Just by doing what I did, and not even adding the new components, I've corrected my soundstage and gotten more volume. If I would have known I could have done this all along, I'm might not have even bought a new set. I love the focals..
I must say, it seems that the extra power didn't so much add a bunch of volume, but my midbass is alot richer and they do have extra punch. They are louder too, but as I said, they made impressive gains in midbass...
bla... early morning rant
