I have no idea what I'm doing... (amp and sub upgrade)

[st.ripken]

big scott,

I'm in the DC area, so a decent drive south.

 

[Kai Winters 10+ year member]

Kai Winters,
First off, thank you so much for taking the time to write out such a detailed reply last night.

Secondly, in response to your question about doing my homework: I have spent time browsing Best Buy, Amazon, and Crutchfield. I feel like the time I have spent browsing hasn't done me much good though, just because when I look through all the specs and whatnot, I realize that I am only 60% sure that I understand what I am reading haha.

Over the weekend I stopped by a nearby Best Buy because I knew they had a car audio section. However they were pretty useless in steering me in any kind of direction, and were a bit lacking in terms of customer service. Tomorrow I am taking a small trip to a local car audio specialty store.

No prob...it's easy to spend money only to learn "later" that you could have gotten better for less...sigh been there.

Browsing, reading, reading reviews especially customer reviews are worthwhile.

BB is not the best place imo to learn much...I prefer audio shops where I can play with the gear, using my phones bluetooth to connect...fun to watch so many devices showing up hehehe.

Forum people are also limited...in my case though I've been installing car gear since I got my first car in '72...an FM converter lol...we only have limited hands on experience unless we are installers, shop folk, etc. We have our favorites and/or what we think is great stuff and offer that. You will wind up doing the same as I doubt any or few of us have enough money, time, etc. to buy tons of gear, install it in cars, tune, listen and offer feedback.

Keep moving forward you're doing fine...

 

[st.ripken]

timhof13, thank you for the reply.

I have been browsing 4 and 5 channel amps online. Since my speakers are 80 RMS, would a 50 RMS/channel amp be the best move? I am also seeing amps with 75 RMS. I just know that I shouldn't be getting a more powerful amp than speakers, yeah? (This question is directed to anyone)

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

no problem with a more powerful amp, in fact it will probably sound better due to dynamic headroom (dont worry about it if it doesnt make sense)

keep in mind you can always just turn the gain down if the speaker cant handle it!but you likely wont need to, those power ratings are full white noise for days and days, just be careful not to make a noob mistake and turn the gain to max, set it properly

 

[st.ripken]

Hmm, interesting. So for my 80 watt RMS speakers, is there a golden ratio I should be keeping in mind when looking at the amp's power? Or a golden range, rather (minimum watts, maximum watts, etc).

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

Hmm, interesting. So for my 80 watt RMS speakers, is there a golden ratio I should be keeping in mind when looking at the amp's power? Or a golden range, rather (minimum watts, maximum watts, etc).

nope! it's too hard to say. i thought my rear speakers would handle 50w clean when rated about that, they sounded like crap due to bottoming out so i could of either raised the HPF or reduced power, i chose to reduce power. some drivers will take 2x rated, just set them maxed out clean (using an oscope or other device to set gain) and if its too much power back them down until they dont distort

there's really good information here just to get your feet wet: http://www.bcae1.com/amplfier.htm

dont worry about complex subjects about internals, focus on how amplifiers work in general, filters, and how gain/signal ratios work.

 

[Kai Winters 10+ year member]

no problem with a more powerful amp, in fact it will probably sound better due to dynamic headroom (dont worry about it if it doesnt make sense)
keep in mind you can always just turn the gain down if the speaker cant handle it!but you likely wont need to, those power ratings are full white noise for days and days, just be careful not to make a noob mistake and turn the gain to max, set it properly

Very important and well said.

Properly setting the gains is very important for quality sound at high levels when wanted without damaging the speakers.

I don't think there is a "golden ratio"...it is more a case of buying an amp that provides quality wattage over lots of "noise" but high wattage...it is generally the "noise" that does the most damage to speakers at high levels.

Matching amp wattage to speaker needs/max can be looked at in a financial way if you'd like...you don't "need" more watts than the speaker can handle at its' rated max and will save a few bucks as costs can go up as wattage increases. But again quality wattage is most important...quality of the amp build makes a difference in "clean" sound...imo

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Kai Winters,
First off, thank you so much for taking the time to write out such a detailed reply last night.

Secondly, in response to your question about doing my homework: I have spent time browsing Best Buy, Amazon, and Crutchfield. I feel like the time I have spent browsing hasn't done me much good though, just because when I look through all the specs and whatnot, I realize that I am only 60% sure that I understand what I am reading haha.

Over the weekend I stopped by a nearby Best Buy because I knew they had a car audio section. However they were pretty useless in steering me in any kind of direction, and were a bit lacking in terms of customer service. Tomorrow I am taking a small trip to a local car audio specialty store.

In car audio "specs" are only as good as the company publishing them. Take any of that with a grain of salt until you verify things with folks who have actually tested (that know what they're doing).

Only thing I'd say is that if you like Alpine components/coaxials, the type R is a big step up in quality from the S series. I've been impressed with them for what they are. Also I've had good luck with JBL/Harmon/Infinity brands all around you get good value for your money from their offerings.

 

[timhof13 10+ year member]

Like stated above there is a compromise sometimes with wattage, I prefer to slightly underpowered my speakers so that I can have the hpf set lower. You can always push more clean power to a speaker than you really need too. I feel that dollars to donuts 50 watts to say 75 is not worth the money at all. I'm pushing 50 watts to some Polk db 6.5 on my boat and they are very loud in an open area, if I went to 75 watts I don't feel that the west and tear on the speakers is worth the small amount of volume gained. To me 50-75 watts is a safe power range for most basic coaxials.