does installing an amp help in distortion? an amp will just allow me to turn up the volume and not have distortion?

 

Distortion occurs when you are pushing the limits of your amplifier (such as the internal amp in your radio). By adding an aftermarket amplifier, you can make more power available to you, therefore you can play at higher volumes without distortion - but there is still a point where you will be pushing the amp and get distortion.

 

Also, when adding an amp to increase the power, you will need to have speakers that can handle the power. If you add a 150 watt amp to the stock speakers, they will distort, then they will blow.

 

I am utilizing a 4-channel amp as follows:
Front channels of amp power component speakers in front doors
Rear channels of amp bridged to power 1 10-inch subwoofer
Rear channels of headunit powering rear deck speakers at very low level

I like it a lot

 

thanks. i just got some infinity reference 6.5 coaxials running on my alpine hu.

 

I think one of the nicer things about using an external amp vs.a regular headunit drawing power from the factory harness is the power feed--external amps with fused connections to the battery typically have a MUCH nicer power feed (thicker wire, probably lower resistance) than the stock factory harness, so headunits that use the stock harness can have problems with irregular power signals... although headunits that demand fused battery connections solve that problem. Then again, headunits with high-power internal amps can generate a lot of heat in a very tight space... so external amps with plenty of breathing room become more attractive for that reason.