to amp or not to amp

[fiznat]

I cant decide. Should I purchase a small amp to power my new speakers (and possibly a small sub), or should I just let it ride with the head unit power and hope that the components give me what I need?

Anybody have any advice on the advantages (and disadvantages) of powering up a system with an amp? Also, what brands would you guys reccomend and what places would you suggest buying them at?

[Touchdown038]

You should definitely go amped. Even with a low-power amp, the 30+ more watts going to the components will make them sound so much better than without an amp.

Advantages: Much better sound quality, less likely to blow speakers (if you keep the gain at a reasonable level,) more speaker hookups.

Disadvantages: Cost and labor to install (which isn't too bad,)

And you can get a fairly decent on at a car stereo store, or even Wal-Mart, as long as you get a Pioneer or Kenwood and not the crappy Jensen ones they have.

[agne24us]

go with an amp, you have so many possibilites you can do after you upgrade, the sound is much better and cleaner plus you can crank the radio and not have to worry about that lovely distortion, (pending you tune your system correctly) the only draw back to getting into stereo equipment is that it is a never ending process, once you start it you always see things you want to upgrade to and then you are spending tons of money on sound. with stereo equipment the phrase "you get what you pay for" is never the more true. dont buy the 1000w amps for sale for $120 they suck!!! In the past 10 years i have been into car stereo stuff my tastes have gone from 1 sub to 4 subs and all over the place with designs and installs that me and my friends would do, I am at a nice little set up of a 5 channel Alpine amp and 1 JL audio sub requiring only half a cubic foot enclosure, so the sound is great, and there is very little extra weight, plus i still have room in my hatch of my 91 240sx, but be prepared to start spending money. I have put in around $2k in my car presently, with all Alpine products. They are expensive but well worth it in the long run.

[vwluv10338]

If you go amp, save up and get what you really want. Dont do what I did. 1st -60w 2-ch, not enought power, no sub 2nd- well now I have a sub, 250w 4-ch3rd- now a sub and a box, 800w 5-ch

I wasted a lot of money buying cheap amps and subs and then just going bigger. Design what you want and then save and slowly build it, just like performance parts.

Eric

[Rockenreno]

I chose not to go with an amp simply because I have a good head unit, have no plans of a subwoofer, and never will be playing the radio at full volume (3/5 is super loud as is). If I was getting a subwoofer, however, then I would definately buy an amp...

[nolaws4evr]

if you have a true component set, then you will definately need an amp. At the most w/out one you will only get about 20-30% of there true capabilities. What set did you get? Power rating? we need to know this stuff before we can really recommend what you need, but more often than not I would get a amp. If you spent like 300 on a nice set of say focals, then you should get an amp of equal quality = $$$ to really appreciate the music. let us know what you got.

Josh

[SloMoe]

External amps usualy use better transistors/mosfets to make power, and they arent affected as much by interference from the other electronics in the head unit (CD/tape player, preamp...) so they make your music sound cleaner and more defined. The majority of the headunits out there are rated at power peak, meaning if your headunit says 50Wx4 it can only deliver 50W to all 4 channels for a short amount of time (usually a few milliseconds). Most external amps (not the cheap no name brands you find at clearance wherehouses) are rated at RMS power levels (maximum sustained) meaning it can deliver the power rating continiously. So if you have an amp thats 50Wx4 your able to get 50Wx4 for more than a few milliseconds, where as your head unit thats rated at 50Wx4 is probably only gonna give you about 20Wx4 RMS. Just look for the RMS power levels, thats what counts, peak levels are too vague. There are standardized tests for RMS power ratings, whereas peak ratings are not regulated and can be manipulated by the manufacture to look bigger. I once saw a cheap 1600W 4ch amp at an outlet store, in reading the fine print it was only 80Wx4 RMS 400Wx4 peak, and this was at 14.4v. Unless you have a brand new battery and new high current alternator, chances of your vehicle outputting 14v isnt very good, usually more like 11v-13v. That can affect the power level too. So that 1600W amp only has about 240W of useable power (60wx4 after the voltage drop) Just watch out and dont get screwed.

[fiznat]

hmmm thanks guys for all the info!!

uhm well I havnt actually bought the components yet, I'm basically pricing everything together to see if I can afford it. The answer is I pretty much cant, but hey... that's what cars are about, right? haha

Yeah I guess I'm gonna have to go with an amp... I didnt want to spend that much money but it looks like if I really want quality (especially with my low RMS head unit- its at like 17 or 18), I'm going to have to.

Now that I know this, what brands would you guys reccomend? I think I would like to get a single 8" JL sub as well, just to add a little extra oomph when I want it. So figure the 8" JL, some type of components, and some amp. I'll keep my current head unit to save money. Watcha guys reccomend if I want to stay under say $600-$700 (if that's even possible)? I'm not against ebay...

[nolaws4evr]

there may be some people here that know stuff about the car audio world, but you should check out a forum dedicated to this stuff, like this place http://www.caraudioforum.com. I see you have the hatch, that will work in your favor for the sub b/c it forces the noise into the cabin. Since you are gettin a sub, now you will have to decide if you want to run your components and sub from the same amp or buy 2 different ones. I have a kove amp for my speakers, but I know some of the better names are Cadence, JL, Kicker, and a couple others. Also, dont skimp on the amp and get a cheap one, you will be sorry. Not only will it not be built well, but the power it supplies will not be clean and will be audible through the speakers. But check out those fourums and ask some questions, you should get alot of help.

Josh

[maxI30t]

you're keep the headunit right? that probably save you 2-3 hundred $$ right there. its possible, but its not gonna be easy. I have a Buget system off of ebay and I spent about a grand on it. doesn't include the the distribution block, Deep Cycle battery, wires & fuses, etc.

[fiznat]

christ deep cycle battery? Is that really necessary?

alright well.... how many watts per channel do you think I'll need? I'm not talkin about some crazy window shaking sound here (not goin for the double amp either... thats just too much $$)... I just want nice clean sound with a thump of bass when I want it.

I'll check out that other forum too.. thanks man

[nolaws4evr]

for a good component set you will need at least 75w per channel RMS, then for the sub you would need about 200-300w RMS if you want it to sound good. Go check out http://www.cadencesound.com, I think thats it. They have really sweet quality amps and they dont cost a whole lot. Also, that other forum has tons of information and you might be able to get a good deal on some used stuff.

Josh

[maxI30t]

christ deep cycle battery? Is that really necessary?

dude, when my system was install i had a brand new Die hard gold battery. i dont' have a big system...i'm only making about 900 watts. its not what you would call small, but its not earth shaking power either. back to the subject after have the system for about a week it died on me. i had to call sopdadope for a ride. if only i bought the battery like everyone told my i could of saved $90 dollars for the dir hard. the moral of the story....better save than sorry.

john