Need help from the pros...amp power vs. head unit power

[mopower440 10+ year member]

long story. I have a small 4-channel kenwood amp i always used in 2 channel bridged mode for a sub and ran my door speakers straight off the radio being it was a single cab truck i didnt need much power for the door speakers. Well, i recently bought an extended cab truck and planned to use this same amp in 3 channel mode, the front channels for the door speakers and bridge the rear channels for the sub. So it would be 16 watts to the door speakers and a bridged 45 watts to the sub.. all good except my new pioneer head unit is rated at 16 watts rms also! so, is there any point in running my door speakers off the amp then since the head unit is rated at the same wattage as the amp or would the amp still help for some reason? Here is the specs on my amp,,

KENWOOD KAC-644 4 CHANNEL AMP

Specs:

Max Power Output (4 Ohms)

4 Channel Mode: 40w x 4

3 Channel Mode: 40w x 2 + 90 W

2 Channel Mode: 90W x 2

Rated Power Output (4 Ohms)

4 Channel Mode: 16w x 4 (20HZ ~ 20 kHZ less than 0.08% THD)

3 Channel Mode: 16w x 2 (20HZ ~ 20 kHZ, 0.08%) + 45 W x 1 (1 kHz 0.8%)

2 Channel Mode: 45w x 2 (1 KHZ, 0.8% THD)

Rated Power Output (2 Ohms)

4 Channel Mode: 25W x 4 (1 KHZ, 0.8% THD)

This amp always seemed like it put out more than its rated at, it will thump a 10" sub quite well!

Click to read more...

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

Personally I like Kenwood equipment. A lot of people hate them on this forum, but I have had all good experience. I would recommend installing the amp. If nothing else, it will give you a little more control over the sound.

 

[DoesDad 10+ year member]

I had an 1800 watt Kenwood for 3 **** years! Got 900 rms @ 2 ohms out of it. Got sick of looking at it and sold it to a buddy a couple years ago who's stil using it! So Kenwood is ok in my book. What sub are you going to run at 45 watts by the way? Seems a little anemic.....

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

The specs you've quoted are basically the same as a typical HU: 45-50 watts peak, 16-20 wrms. I wouldn't expect the amp to be a big improvement over the HU.

 

[mopower440 10+ year member]

hmmm, i wonder why they even would make an amp that low power when the head units are already that powerful...??? I know when i had it bridged at 45 watts to my mtx 10" it hit quite hard, sounded good..

 

[neonblack 10+ year member]

45W to a sub in a car won't push a sub especially with all the road noise, etc. My $40 PC speaker sub produces more power than that.

 

[BnGRacing 10+ year member]

The specs you've quoted are basically the same as a typical HU: 45-50 watts peak, 16-20 wrms. I wouldn't expect the amp to be a big improvement over the HU.

The IC in a HU will start to clip pretty hard at 5w. The amp will be supplying 4x that amount of power before it too starts to clip. All in all, it'll be a HUGE improvement.

 

[J31Rob 5,000+ posts]

Sit back and watch the blind lead the blind.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

Sit back and watch the blind lead the blind.

no shlt !!!

 

[mopower440 10+ year member]

Sit back and watch the blind lead the blind.

what is this comment refering to? Just trying to learn..

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

The HU amp is, as mentioned, going to sound poor above around 5W. The Kenwood amp will sound much, much better. Power ratings are generally misunderstood and misrepresented.