What kind of Amp should I add to my car Alpine setup? How much will my stock speakers handle? (i30t stock "premium sound" speakers)

Given that I have audio from the PC, audio from the Cva-1005 (connected to dvd, cd-changer, etc.) and might eventually want to add digital surround, etc...

Recommendations?

/aac

 

OK, while there are some great brands out there, and I tested quite a few of the best before I bought, I chose Tube Driver. It is a kick *** amp. Beutiful style, an the sound is unreal. It has the precision of the best solid state amps, and the warmth of tubes. And they have tons of headroom. They can be adjusted as to how much or little they use the tubes, so you can tailor the sound to your speakers and listening tastes. I've known of no one to regret the purchase, and that can be seen buy trying to find them on E-Bay.

 

you stock speakers probabily only handle 50 watts rms or so. You don't need a powerful amp, but get a decent name brand

 

Nice amplifier Whitemax....

To MacGyver:

Look for anamplifier of about 40-50Wrms per channel for your system. Anything larger will probably hurt your factory speakers and you'll be looking for replacements before too long

 

I called the Jamaican psychic lady from the TV commercials, and she told me you're the type who will be replacing your factory speakers sooner or later anyway... (Kidding, of course, about the Jamaican Psychic, anyway)

So, get the amp you want to keep long term, and because it's all clean power, your speakers may survive for a while if you're lucky, or they may not.

As far as Tube Drivers or other super-duper high priced brands, I suggest finding a store that demo's them, and judge for yourself with your own ears... (Some people swear by them, some don't really see the benefits). A good quality brand may sound just fine to you too

Disclaimers: The following Amplifier comments are 100 percent pure my opinion, by the way... No flames, please..
- Kenwood, Sony, Pioneer = "good", as in, much better than no amp, and no physical injuries to your ears will result from your listening to them
- Sony Xplod, Kenwood Excelon, Alpine, MTX = "better", as in, you'll be very happy with them, and you're not quite spending "high end audio" dollar amounts yet
- Sounstream, PPI, Phoenix Gold, ADS = "best", as in, you spent a bit more again, but for some good reasons (features, extras, 2 or 1 ohm stability in some cases, etc.)
- Xtant, McIntosh, Tube Driver, Zapco = "Best also, but...." as in, nobody will ever say these are not great amps, but some will debate whether they're worth the extra dollars.

More disclaimers... These are broad generalities... There are exceptions on a model by model basis

Good luck!

 

Depends upon the price you want to spend. The JBL amps offer tons of power and great sound quality for a great price. As far as the power get something you can use for awhile and just keep the gain down. And as preivously stated if its a clean amp your speakers should last awhile. By the way I have two PPI limited edtion Chrome amps I'm selling if you interested but I'm asking $2,000 for both the are only 9 months old and are in almost perfect shape, got the books and all. Email me if you interested.
1995 GXE 1st Place NOPI Nationals 2000