Which amp setup? Single 4ch or 5ch or Dual Amps for Subwoofer?

[ungraphic]

My current setup:

Front Speakers: Focal PS 165 (80w RMS, 160w peak)

Rear Speakers: Focal 165CA1 (60w RMS, 120w peak)

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I need help picking an amplifier. I have an Alpine MRP-F300 (4x50w) in my old car which I could reuse. Ideally, I’d like to add a small subwoofer as well.

My choices for a new amp are:

Alpine PDX-V9 (5 channel x 100w + 1 channel 500w for subwoofer)

Alpine MRV-V500 (5 channel x 40w + 1 channel 150w for subwoofer)

Not sure which I should get, I never crank my music really loud anymore so clarity is more important to me.

I have the following questions:

1) My Focal 165CA1 speakers are rated 120w peak, would the 100w max from the PDX-V9 be potentially too much and possibly blow my speakers?

2) Considering I don’t crank up my music high, would the MRV-V500 suffice considering the main 4 channels are less powerful than my current amp (50w vs 40w)? Since my MRP-F300 is 50w per channel, when I did crank up my speakers in my old car (Focal 165CA1 @ 60w RMS + Focal 690CA1 @ 75w RMS) I still got distortion at high volumes. Is this an amp issue or a speaker issue?

3) The MRV-V500 is going to cost me about $450+ tax, while the PDX-V9 I can get for $600. Should I spend the extra $150 and get the more powerful unit? Is the sound any better?

4) Thoughts on two amps? Alpine MRP-F300 + Alpine MRV-M250 (mono for subwoofer)??

Getting a subwoofer will get my frequency range down to maybe around 30hz. My Focal speakers are rated to 60hz.

5) Is the extra $450/$600 for a 5 channel amp + whatever sub I get really worth getting maybe 30hz of extra frequency range?

Seems like spending nearly another $1,000 for just a subwoofer to get a little more range isn’t really worth it… unless of course 60hz from my mains is a wildly optimistic (as most speaker manufacturers claim).

I don’t know what to do. I know I’m going for clarity out of my main front and rears, but would like to have a simple, clean and cost effective (relatively) setup that would include a subwoofer. Just not sure which route is best.

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Considering I don’t crank up my music high, would the MRV-V500 suffice considering the main 4 channels are less powerful than my current amp (50w vs 40w)? Since my MRP-F300 is 50w per channel, when I did crank up my speakers in my old car (Focal 165CA1 @ 60w RMS + Focal 690CA1 @ 75w RMS) I still got distortion at high volumes. Is this an amp issue or a speaker issue?

3) The MRV-V500 is going to cost me about $450+ tax, while the PDX-V9 I can get for $600. Should I spend the extra $150 and get the more powerful unit? Is the sound any better?

4) Thoughts on two amps? Alpine MRP-F300 + Alpine MRV-M250 (mono for subwoofer)??

 

Getting a subwoofer will get my frequency range down to maybe around 30hz. My Focal speakers are rated to 60hz.

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always get the one with higher power if you want better quality sound. Power translates to bringing out more sound quality, clarity, midbass and details in the music more than loudness. The weaker amp will have very little detail along with higher amounts of distortion at moderate to higher volumes aka the problem you were running into with that mrp f300 So going down to 40 watts is a horrible and terrible idea if you are already running into distortion with 50 watts. Yes thats completely an amplifier issue not a speaker issue. You need to realize how much power is actually needed to get actual potential out of speakers.

 

Just because you have 100 watts doesnt mean you are using them all the times, you wont blow sh*t as long as you arent maxing out the amp settings like a ret*rd. A subwoofer is always worth it. Places less strain on the mids and highs allowing them to focus on their jobs rather then forcing the mids to compensate for lack of bass.

 

 

Just for reference i'm having 450 watts to each 6.5 i'm running and they are rated at 250 watts rms, they dont even come close to smelling or burning/stressed or distorted and the clarity/overall sound quality improved immensely vs only getting 145 watts beforehand. Always have headroom with power, anyone that says too much power will blow stuff obviously doesnt know what proper gain settings are. Most of the times not having enough power and overdriving the smaller amp will lead to a dirty signal which blows speakers faster vs a stronger amp being worked at less than 80% capacity providing clean power, staying cool and efficient and overall lasting longer than an amp working at 120% capacity.

 

[ungraphic]

Most of the times not having enough power and overdriving the smaller amp will lead to a dirty signal which blows speakers faster vs a stronger amp being worked at less than 80% capacity providing clean power, staying cool and efficient and overall lasting longer than an amp working at 120% capacity.

Excellent point! I actually had thoughts of this, which reminds a lot of how power supply units for desktop PCs work; too powerful of a PSU will run inefficient, and too weak of a PSU will wear it out faster. Looks like I'm gonna have to go with the PDX-V9 then, seems like a lifelong AMP given all the power and compact size (I don't want amps and cables everywhere).

Now just need to find a small 8" subwoofer (shallow, preferably, I don't care much for huge bass, but do for a little bit of kick).

Thank you!