Help picking mids/amp for doorless Jeep

[Pasta]

I haven't messed with car audio in years and forgot everything so I know I'm about to catch noob hell, but here goes. I have a Jeep TJ with no top or doors. It's noisy as hell on the highway, so I need more sound. I can fit 5.25" coaxials in the dash and 6.5" in the roll bar right above and slightly behind my head. Couple questions.

Because of reviews on the Jeep forum I was planning on getting Alpine type-S coaxials all around, and someone recommended this NVX amp for me. NVX MVPA4 Micro-V 400W RMS 4-Channel Car Amp with Small Footprint. But then a friend said since the amp was only 50x4 RMS and the 6.5's handled 80w, they wouldn't be as loud as the cheaper type-E mids that only handled like 45w. I understand wanting to get the most from a speaker but does that sound right? I'm liking the amp because the Jeep is stripped down and everything must stay hidden. I can hide that amp in the dash but not much else. Does that speaker and amp combo sound like a good idea?

After thinking some more, I realized how close those roll bar speakers are to my head. I'm probably not hearing much at all from the dash speakers. Would it be a better idea to say to hell with the dash speakers, bridge the amp into 100x2, and run more power to the roll bar, maybe with something better like an Alpine type-R 6.5"?

I'm not too concerned with perfect soundstage clarity because the acoustics and speaker placement in my Jeep is jacked. Mainly I just need loud and clear to hear over the wind without distorting. And the amp has to be small. So what sounds better? 4 mids or 2 higher power mids since they're right next to my head anyway?

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[pickup1 5,000+ posts]

With the ones right by your head,you could run off the head unit.

Have you found Any other small amps?

You could also amp the fronts,and put in a small sub under the seat?

Or find some 6.5 woofers in the pods near your head.

Have you looked into polk or cdt speakers?

 

[pickup1 5,000+ posts]

Double post.

 

[Pasta]

With the ones right by your head,you could run off the head unit.Have you found Any other small amps?

You could also amp the fronts,and put in a small sub under the seat?

Or find some 6.5 woofers in the pods near your head.

Have you looked into polk or cdt speakers?

I'm running deck power to the ones behind my head now and it isn't enough to compete with the wind noise. Granted they're older blown Alpines and I don't know the model number.

I've looked at other small amps but the brands I knew from back in the day apparently aren't what they used to be, and I see a lot of brands I've never heard of. I'd never heard of NVX but I guess it gets good reviews. Anything wrong with it or is there better for the money? I should also mention I was attracted to it because it won't be the end of the world if it gets jacked. Like I said, no doors.

Can't put a sub under the seat. There's a pistol vault bolted in under there, and I get a couple inches of water in my tub every now and then. I didn't even think of putting 6.5" woofers in the roll bar. Would that sound decent having all the mid range coming from 5.25" speakers way up in the dash? Seems like it would have trouble reaching me in the wind. Also not sure if the roll bar mounting locations would take a deeper woofer. I'd love to have some bass but it's more important to me to be able to crank it and hear vocals on the highway.

Haven't looked at Polk and never heard of CDT, but I'll take a look. Are they better than the Alpines for the money? I'm not stuck on any brand for anything, I just don't know what's good anymore.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

The cdt speakers have something for almost any application. Also are you looking for a new or used amp ? Since there might be the concern of it being stolen. Maybe a used one would be the ticket Or maybe even one small enough to install in the dash

 

[Pasta]

The cdt speakers have something for almost any application. Also are you looking for a new or used amp ? Since there might be the concern of it being stolen. Maybe a used one would be the ticket Or maybe even one small enough to install in the dash

Amp definitely needs to be small enough to stash behind or at least under the dash, the whole Jeep is gutted. Don't even have carpet. I was looking at new amps, wouldn't mind buying gently used if I knew it was in good condition, but I wouldn't know how to check one out.

Haven't had a chance to look at those cdt speakers yet, busy at work today tonight lol. What's the deal with them? Better than Alpine for the money?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

Amp definitely needs to be small enough to stash behind or at least under the dash, the whole Jeep is gutted. Don't even have carpet. I was looking at new amps, wouldn't mind buying gently used if I knew it was in good condition, but I wouldn't know how to check one out.
Haven't had a chance to look at those cdt speakers yet, busy at work today tonight lol. What's the deal with them? Better than Alpine for the money?

Yes much better than alpine and quite a few others as well as far as amp. You'll need to figure out how big size wise you can go , that will determine which one and power

 

[Pasta]

Yes much better than alpine and quite a few others as well as far as amp. You'll need to figure out how big size wise you can go , that will determine which one and power

Don't have exact dimensions yet but space will be extremely tight. For its size would you not recommend that NVX amp? I've been looking at compact amps and simply don't know which brands are good anymore. If I were to pick one other than that NVX I'd probably be looking at an Alpine. Any recommendations? Like I said before though, besides needing to be compact I'm not looking for perfect SQ here, I already know my speaker placement is jacked. Just need it to crank and sound relatively nice.

Looking at those CDT speakers, I see the power handling is a lot higher than I'm going to be able to feed them with any amp small enough. I'm still getting info from friends that I want to have more amp RMS than the speaker will handle, or it won't have enough sound. As in, according to them 50w sent to a speaker with 50w capability will crank louder than 50w sent to a higher end speaker that can handle 180w, given the same speaker sensitivity in dB. Sounds false to me but I need confirmation.

 

[evil_lies]

Looking at those CDT speakers, I see the power handling is a lot higher than I'm going to be able to feed them with any amp small enough. I'm still getting info from friends that I want to have more amp RMS than the speaker will handle, or it won't have enough sound. As in, according to them 50w sent to a speaker with 50w capability will crank louder than 50w sent to a higher end speaker that can handle 180w, given the same speaker sensitivity in dB. Sounds false to me but I need confirmation.

Did you end up buying an amp/speakers? I'm looking to equip my TJ also, and was looking at the NVX amps as well. My plan is to run a 4 channel amp powering the dash speakers and bridging two channels to the sub. I'll run the soundbar speakers off the HU power.