which 6.5 comps for this amp?

[rmdl51 10+ year member]

Thanks! I was confused because the box said Class A/B, but the specs describe a class D and since I don't really know much about it, I better ask. Also the model you give me had a D at the end so I thought will be a different one.

 

[rmdl51 10+ year member]

Ok! I just placed the order online, I bought the Hifonics and the Phoenix gold comps you suggest earlier. I'm thinking that if I'm gonna work maybe a weekend installing this I would like to start from scratch and do it well, I Mean:

New Amp (hifonics) for my CVR's, and some good shielded RCA's

New comps (PG) and new pair of RCA's also,

and here's when I asked myself if I should buy the new amp for my new comps, I know you guys told me maybe the crappy audiofonics will do it, but will I see any big improvement if I install let's say the Kicker you suggested previously? what about stay with a 4-ch amp to keep my rear coaxials? what do you suggest me to do about that.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

I'd honestly just amp the fronts and leave the rears powered by the HU (or disconnect them altogether to see how you like it). If it's still lacking, then maybe worry about a 4 channel amp down the road.

Try the Audiofonics amp for now, as there's no since in spending more money if you don't have to. If it sounds like butt and you're not pleased with it, then go for the Kicker amp.

 

[rmdl51 10+ year member]

Ok, one more question, (I know too many noobish questions and many subjects) I'm concerned about which AWG I should use. since I want to rewire everything (or at least the most important parts). Can you tell my for my setup which AWG is the best to use to power up the amps? is it ok to bridge the power from one amp to another? or I should run two power cables from the batt? the cable for door speakers seems very thin and cheap, should I replace or it doesn't really make a big difference, I mean the cable that it's going from the amp to the comps.

 

[rmdl51 10+ year member]

Can the Kicker KX250.2 power up efficiently the phoenix gold rsd? I saw it on ebay for about 70+ shipping.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Should be okay, but I'd recommend am amp that can provide them with at least 100-120w rms per channel. Not that that's a whole lot of difference.

 

[kross 10+ year member]

The zx450.2, which can do 150w x 2 @ 4 ohms, would be ideal, if you can find a good deal on one.

 

[kross 10+ year member]

As for your wiring questions, a single run of 4 gauge from the battery to the trunk, into a distro block, which splits it into two for the two amps, should be okay. If you have the budget for it, use 1/0 gauge wire instead, since it will allow you to upgrade your amps without having to run new power wire. But I recall you saying you're on a tight budget. http://www.knukonceptz.com has some inexpensive, good quality wiring kits.

For speaker wire, yes you should use new wire, not the factory wire. If you're buying power wire from knukonceptz, throw in some speaker wire too. The Karma 16 gauge is a good inexpensive choice.

 

[rmdl51 10+ year member]

Pardon my ignorance, isn't less efficient to use 4 AWG in my setup which is 600w for subs and 150w comps? I should be wrong because I don't really know much about how to calculate the total wattage, but my old setup has a power of 10 AWG (which I disconnected already for the annoying noise and thump on the subs) I thought upgrading to 8 AWG would be ok, but I'm surprised about your recommendation of 4 or even 1/0 AWG. I would really appreciate if you let me know where I got lost.

About the amp, the PG RSD are 60w RMS, why do I need 100-150w p/ch? won't that blow the comps?

Besides that I was thinking on getting a 4-ch kicker amp and bridge it for the comps and power up rears from HU, if I don't like it then I already have a 4-ch amp. which 4ch amp will allow me to do that?

Thanks again!

 

[kross 10+ year member]

I was thinking about the zx450.2 when I said that. With a smaller amp, the 4 gauge is plenty for the two amps. Sorry for the confusion.

Also, if you look in the Wire Guide thread http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166038 you'll see 8 gauge is inadequate.

As for the proper amount of power for those speakers, even though the specs say 60wrms, 60w really isn't enough for those speakers. Search the forums here, and you'll find many people giving them 120w (and sometimes more), with great results. Those speakers are actually quite power hungry. You won't blow them as long as you give it a good clean signal that never clips. A clipped signal is the easiest way to overheat a voice coil.

 

[rmdl51 10+ year member]

You're right! I got it now! 600w hifonics + 450w kicker = 1050w = wire guide -> 4AWG

Thanks a lot, everything start making sense for me!

what do you think about the 4-ch idea? I always try to have a few extra options instead of having to buy another amp later on. I was thinking about the zx650.4, the only problem is too expensive for my budget right now (over $200), but if you think is ok I'll wait a little more until I find a good deal. I guess it's ok because it says 120w rms x 4 @ 4ohm p/ch.

 

[kross 10+ year member]

The zx650.4 is indeed nice, it will certainly get the job done. And if you've made up your mind you want 4 channels, that would be a good one. Or you can bridge it for 325w x 2. Or use the front 2 channels for your front speakers, and bridge the two back channels for a 325w sub.

If you want clean power on a budget, check out Profile amps from millionbuy. This one does 160w x 2 for $86 plus shipping

http://www.millionbuy.com/prfap1000.html

 

[rmdl51 10+ year member]

Thanks for the suggestion on the amp but I already place an order for the zx650.4 so now I'm a little bit confused about the distro block? which one would you recommend for my setup, I've seen some that inputs 4 gauge and output 2 line of 8 gauge is that ok? besides some distro block requires fuses, I have no idea which ones to buy and if they are necessary, what do you suggest me to get?

 

[kross 10+ year member]

You cannot use 8 gauge wire at any point with those two amps. You can use a single run of 4-gauge, and split it to two 4-gauge outputs for the amps, but you're getting very close to the current carrying limit of the single 4-gauge power wire to the battery. But since you will only be using 4-ohm loads on the zx650.4, you won't be putting out more than 480w if you run all four channels at full power.

So that being said, you should really look into 1/0 gauge wire. But if you absolutely can't do it, you can use 4 gauge. The fuse that you will put in the wire, near the battery, will be rated around 125 amps. If you start drawing too much current from your amps than the wire can handle, the fuse will blow before the wire melts and starts a fire. But if the fuse ever does blow, DO NOT REPLACE IT WITH A BIGGER FUSE! Turn the amps down, or upgrade the wire! Only if you upgrade the wire, can you use a bigger fuse.

Here's a distro block you can use:

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KNF-12

By the way, you're putting together a pretty decent system. I seem to recall you saying your Pioneer headunit might need replacing, or am I remembering wrong? It's too hard to go back and read a thread while I've already started typing a reply...

 

[rmdl51 10+ year member]

Thanks Kross! That's really my objective, build something decent, not anything fancy or top of the line, but something that really gives me good SQ without issues. I got tired of my old crappy setup which everybody told me it was ok (just co-workers who don't really know much about car audio) but I've listened some systems that sound amazing and when I listen mine there was a HUGE difference. So, with all your help of everybody here and a little research I guess it wasn't necessary to spend a small fortune to get a decent setup:

Hifonics bxi606 $175 shipped

Kicker zx650.4 $186 shipped

PG RSD 6.5 $95 shipped

I just need to buy the cables now and distro block, oh and the L shape RCA's.

I'm gonna keep my 10" CVR's which I'm gonna give them 300w @1 ohm each side.

About the HU I think I'll keep it. I hope the whining noise is not a damaged HU, I'm gonna ground the RCA on the back of the unit to see if that fix the problem, but I was worried about the comment everybody says an internal fuse might blow when you do that.

I don't really want to upgrade HU now because I would really like to get a Pionner NAV system in the future, but I don't know.

BTW I'll check the prices on 1/0 gauge and see if I can afford it, after buying those 3 things I'm pretty much broke right now