Help me with my car system

[V. Barbarino]

I swapped out my Alpine head unit, it just wouldn't play cdrs anymore



So now I have a sony (got it for free) it's an xplod and its ok, and has the roatary dial, which i require

I don't know the output of the head unit, but it's not bad, but not good.

I have 4 Alpine Speakers (i'm a huge alpine fan, but their shit is getting too pricey)

And a 8 inch bass tube. I'm a fan of tubes, one tube in my opinion will crush a big bulky box.. It's a Pile tube. Shit bangs..

So for the last 3 years, I had a 15 year old, yes a 15 year old sony amp. 30x2 however it can't be bridged, since half of it didn't work. So i was running 15w x 1 to my tube. The amp didn't power the 4 alpines..

So now, I tossed out the amp, she was a great amp, and lastest 15 years is amazing.

So now i'm shopping for a new amp..

I do all the install myself, i'm pretty good with it, but the ohm thing has me confused, and i finally found a way to doulbe check the polarity real easy. All you need is a AA battery.

It seems all the xplods are 23 watts RMS x 4

So if i'm running

23 watts per channel to the 4 aplines

then I need to power up the tube.

Now lots of morons go out and buy huge amps, but all you need is 30 watts or so. So i'm thinking of a

400W peak, 200W RMS (continuous) x 1 @ 4 ohm, bridged
100W RMS (continuous) x 2 @ 2 ohms
80W RMS (continuous) x 2 @ 4 ohms
Stereo or bridged-mono output; tri-way capable
MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) power supply and output devices for clean, steady power
Variable 50-300Hz low-pass filter for use in subwoofer applications
Selectable 10dB bass boost
Preamp and speaker-level inputs


200 watt rmx if i bridge it is wayyyyyyyy more than i need....

however

1. should i got to a 5 channel amp which will cost bucks
2. go to a mono amp, but costs a whole lot more, which i can't figure out why

[guyman1966]

I've never met a Guido who can't install an audio system. Maybe you should go to Best Buy and pay them to do it.

[saintjohn]

if you're satisfied with the sound you're getting from the four main speakers now, there's no reason to buy a 5-channel amplifier (unless you just want to spend the money - lots of car audio fanatics are like that).

as for the subwoofer amp, you're right, you definitely need more than 15 watts. price is often a function of power and features. the specs you've listed include a built-in low-pass filter and both speaker- and line-level inputs. if your new head unit has a dedicated sub out line, then you probably don't need those two particular options (although they're becoming almost standard now). in other words, don't pay for power or features that you don't need.

depending on the size of your car, your listening habits, the placement of your sub tube, and where you set the sub crossover point, you'd probably be happy with a smaller amp. if you can get a good deal on the one you listed, though, i'm sure it would work very well indeed. as a bonus, bigger amps that don't have to run at full power all the time tend to stay cooler, sound better, and last longer.

[LeVeL]

Good Advice Mr. Saint John that is exactly my point the cooler the amp the better it will work and the longer it will last....A Men to that.