i posted this in the audio/electronics forum too, but it seems not many people look at it so i'm gonna post here as well to get some more input.

right now, my system only consists of 4 infinity speakers (2 front, 2 rear) and a pioneer hu. i'm interested in getting an amp, but i honestly don't know much in terms of audio. i want to try and spend no more than $200 for the amp. any suggestions for a good amp for my current setup? also, are there any manufacturers who are better/more reliable than others?

 

memphis are awesome, rockfords are good too

 

i have been working with car audio equipment for 3 year and i KNOW for a fact that ROCKFORD is quality stuff....memphis is also good but its hard to find places that carry that brand

 

wait he did say 200 bucks so for that much i would get me a sony xplod amp. 2200 watt rms.

 

Try hifonics if money is a limit. I assume you are looking for 4 channel amp. Try thezeb.com they are an authorized online dealer and have warrenties for all the products they sell. A hifonics amp will do the same thing as a rockford amp but for half the price. Also take a look at the forums at sounddomain.com they will guide you to the products that are on the "Bang for the buck A-list" since it changes every couple of months.

For reference I am running... a CDT component set off a hifonics 2 channel amp and 2 12" cerwin-vega vega subs off a JBL 600.1.

 

sony amps sound like crap imo. they claim big power, but if you were to buy a Sony xplod 200x2 rms amp, and compare that to an alpine or audiobahn of the same power, you would notice a HUGE difference. just my .02 tho. go with fosgate.

 

Try www.soundcity.com and look in open box or closeouts for Soundstream, good amps, "gourmet" stereo.

I tried Kenwood eXcelon. MTX and others before settling on an Alpine V12 5 chan amp and I think it's perfect for me (have an MTX 12" "Blue Thunder" Sub, seems to be the best size for sound, have tried 10" also, but something was missing).

Keep in mind that an amp wiring kit will run you $50 to $100 (RCA cables, 4gauge power lead, fuse panels, speaker wire, etc.) If you were ever thinking of adding a sub, you might want to wait and incorporate that at the same time, but now you are approaching $400.

 

Sony sucks when it comes to car audio PERIOD!

 

agreed on the sony sucking... stick to rockford, alpine, mtx, soundstream, along those lines...

 

Me again. I'm not sure what Infinity you have, the 6002si maybe? It's very efficient, 92db at 1 watt/1 meter, so you don't need as much power to crank them up as you would a less efficient speaker.

For example, you would need an amp 4X as powerful for speakers with an efficiency of 86db at 1W/1M to achieve the same output level as with the Infinity speakers.

Your speakers would produce the following output with your H/U (assuming 20 watts RMS; each 3db is a doubling of output, i.e., 2X the sound volume):

1W=92db
2W=95db
4W=98db
8W=101db
16W=104db

and on and on and on, LOL. A 4X35 Watt RMS amp on up would be good, and keep an eye on the distortion level the RMS is quoted at; .8% is 10X (or is it 100X?) "noisier" than .08% distortion. Also watch what voltage the "RMS" is quoted at. The KAC-748 Kenwood that I have states 35W@14.4 volts and 25W@12V (engine off). You just want to be comparing "apples to apples". This was something that confused me for a while on the Soundstreams that I bought, because they rated conservatively (12V), while others that I compared them to used 14.4V. I think MTX and Alpine quote outputs for both voltages.

No offense to Sony lovers, they used to be great for car audio 20 years ago and very reliable, but now I would go with others. Don't forget to listen to the amps with Infinity speakers in the demo room, because the bottom line is how you like the sound.

5 years ago I put the guys at Circuit City through Hell, changed amp 3X before buying an "open box" Alpine V12 for aout $400 (?). As they installed it (they were in the "cabin" messing with the head unit), an installer from another store screamed "STOP", but they didn't hear him and fried the sub channel; I wound up with a brand new amp at open box price, LOL. Still have it, never a problem and sounds great. Good luck.

 

us amps, zapco, hifonics, rockford.
us amps are the top of the heap imo..

 

yo what happened to my posts? who deleted them?

 

sorry bro ure not as wanted as me here..im a true balla

2 da max u gota learN SON

 

I have to agree, memphis can be hard to find at times. Last I knew, they didn't deal with any nation wide stores. You can try going to their website. www.memphiscaraudio.com and finding a dealer close to you. But don't just give up on one zip code. I have a dealer near me, but it only shows up on their list when I use the 57702 zip code, and I live in 57706. And that's no more than 20 miles difference. So try all the zip codes around you. You just might find a dealer.

Btw, for interior, Jensen used to make some nice setups. I had a 300 watt jensen 4 channel and loved it. But that amp was also 3 yrs old. I don't know about their new stuff.

 

Jenson was innovative back in "the old days", LOL, had some great cylinder shaped speakers w/a 4" sidefiring woofer for those that didn't want to cut their rear decks. Also had some good amps, but I loved Concord, very innovative but no longer around. Alphasonic also used to be good (I think they are somehow connected to US Amps).

Jensen today is low end, I believe.

 

what? shut the hell up .. nevermind your banned.

newyas i was telling you about the kicker amps, but they got deleted

 

yea, these are the infinity speakers i have. also, is there are any sound difference between a 2 and 4 channel amp?

 

Shouldn't be if you are comparing same quality amp. You need a 4 channel (or a 5 chan if adding a subwoofer). I just got Crutchfield sale circular, they have a 4 chan Alpine, 4 X 40 Watts RMS (into 4 OHMs @14.4 V) for $199. That would play cleanly, but remember, you will not get great bass without a subwoofer, so maybe wait and save up some more, figure $500 total for a basic 5 channel setup.

You would notice an improvement over the H/U's amp by going to a 4 chan external amp but the biggest difference I noticed was going to 5 chan with subwoofer.

By the way, how many pairs of preamp outputs does your Pioneer have?

 

external amps beat hu amps handsdown

 

memphis is garbage dont get suckered into buying that crap. Get a alpine amp for your 4 speakers. I got the ALpine MRV-f340 amp (4x60rms) @ 4ohms at www.ikesound.com for 218$ shipped but i think the price went up now its a great ****ing amp. I have Alpine Type R's in the back and JL Xr650 CSI in the front ITS AMAZING!

 

I'm sorry, but the only thing Alpine has going for it's self anymore is the name. The only great product they put out is head units, and even those are starting to become questionable.

And memphis isn't "crap" as you like to put it. Sounds to me like someone lost out to someone running a memphis setup. And as far as garbage, they sure have been showing up and winning competitions. Any one who is hard core into stereo systems knows this.

"You have to open minded about any products till you have tried them yourself."

And just because you had one bad experience, isn't the basis for all of a companies products.

 

I can't speak for 2004 Alpine products, but my 1999 V12 5 chan is the best sounding for my Max of the 5 amps that I tried (MTX 5 chan, Soundstream 5 Chan, Kenwood, forgot the other one). The MTX was great in my ZX2 (now myson's car, he is going back to the MTX 405 after trying several others and 2 10" MTX Blue Thunder subs again after trying others). Best bet is to listen to several amps before having it installed and buying from a place that will let you try it in your car with a liberal exchange period.

 

amps are like women everyone goin to have different opinions on this issue
in the end it all come down to personal perferance.
one person can say alpine are great amps and then another may say alpine are overrated amps.

 

I just put in a JL4300 4 channel running JL XR650-CSI's in the front and a pair boston acoustics i had hanging around in the back and it sounds phenomenal


p.s. Dont buy any equipment at Tweeter. They wanted 399 for the amp, which i found new online for 230 shipped and 399 for the pair of JL's that i found for 249 new. *******s.