Lexus stock amplifier took a crap, suggestions on replacement?

[robbyboy32 10+ year member]

Sooooo I spilled some "stuff" (lol) while driving and it fried my stock amp underneath the passenger seat. I have a 1999 Lexus LS400. My question is would it be better to replace the stock amp with a nicer 4 channel amp such as a PPI PC450? Also, the stock system has tweets, 5.25" front doors, 6" rear doors, and 8" rear deck sub. Will a 4 channel amp cover all front 6 speakers? How could I do that to include the tweets, or are the tweeters wired to the 5.25s? I have a PC2600.2 for either a Image Dynamics IDQ 10, or a JL 12w3v2; I have all three in my possession. Which will be the better sub setup? What 4 channel amp do you all recommend to complete the fronts? Should I investigate replacing the front stage or will that be way too costly?

For reference, my 96 Camry had Orion XTR 6.5 components, Infinity Kappa Perfect 693.9i rear deck, PPI Art a404, PPI PC2600 (my favorite amp), and 2 JL 12w3s. I was extremely happy with that setup.

I have a budget of about $100-150 for the right USED amp(will wait for a great deal, of course). I don't believe in buying new. Suggestions?

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[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

Best bet is to buy an used replacement from a junkyard or eBay, you can't just replace a factory amp that powers a car full of speakers with an aftermarket amp when everything else stays stock.

 

[*SlappinAzz*]

Best bet is to buy an used replacement from a junkyard or eBay, you can't just replace a factory amp that powers a car full of speakers with an aftermarket amp when everything else stays stock.

yes you can, set the gains right, and he be fine

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

yes you can, set the gains right, and he be fine

Well he's gonna have to get signals from somewhere, usually you can tap it from the speaker outputs from the stock headunit but in this case he's got one of those "premium systems" and the stock amp is fried... so unless he figured out a way to get the preamp signal(assuming it outputs enough voltage to drive a normal amp) from the stock headunit there's no way to get sound to the new amp. I hate all stock premium systems... Bose, JBL, Infinity, Lexicon... they all **** when you compare it to aftermarket setups.

I would go ahead and replace the entire factory system with a new headunit & amps and then run all new speaker wires to the mids and tweeters.

 

[robbyboy32 10+ year member]

Well he's gonna have to get signals from somewhere, usually you can tap it from the speaker outputs from the stock headunit but in this case he's got one of those "premium systems" and the stock amp is fried... so unless he figured out a way to get the preamp signal(assuming it outputs enough voltage to drive a normal amp) from the stock headunit there's no way to get sound to the new amp. I hate all stock I would go ahead and replace the entire factory system with a new headunit & amps and then run all new speaker wires to the mids and tweeters.

Very good advice. I did all of the work on my Camry, but that seemed easy compared to this Lexus. If I did get a new headunit and speaker wires would I be okay to at least leave the stock, "garbage" as you call them, speakers up front? Also, should I consider a very low power 4 channel amp, ie. 4 x 25 watts, or go 4 x 50? I know some of the old ppi stuff kicks ***, but I don't want to mess with external crossovers and active system adjustments.

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

Very good advice. I did all of the work on my Camry, but that seemed easy compared to this Lexus. If I did get a new headunit and speaker wires would I be okay to at least leave the stock, "garbage" as you call them, speakers up front? Also, should I consider a very low power 4 channel amp, ie. 4 x 25 watts, or go 4 x 50? I know some of the old ppi stuff kicks ***, but I don't want to mess with external crossovers and active system adjustments.

The stock speakers should be fine as long as you don't crank the bass too high, most 4 channel amps do at least 50 watts RMS x 4 these days so you can go with any brand that you like. 99% of them have built-in crossovers so you can just set it high-pass around 80~120Hz to save the stock speakers from bass duty. A new headunit will allow you to add a mono amp for a subwoofer too.