4-way amp - Recommendations

[Alex]

Hmmm...been thinking about replacing the amp that was nicked out of my car by the previous owner.

Rockford, Pheonix and Alpine are some of the names I've been thinking about....

ideally I need about 100W per channel for the 4 channels but if its cheaper I could get 2 2-channel amps.....

(Edited by Alex Holdroyd at 10:09 pm on Nov. 24, 2001)

[Ring Master]

Alpine v12 amps = lovely jubbly

[Flipfinger]

I like Rockford Fosgate stuff meself.....but all of those brands mentioned so far will do the job.

You might find 1 amp serving 4 channels 100watts (RMS) a bit of a strain without paying through the nose.  Probably worth buying two 2 channel 100watt amps, that'd give you more flexibility anyway.

[Alex]

How about the stress on the battery? If I have amps that powerful should I have other bits and pieces in place to make sure all systems work well/reliably??

[Ring Master]

1 or 2 amps shouldnt cause a problem,
Powerhouse in the USA sell a monster alternator
for the supra (not cheap) if its really needed.

[Flipfinger]

If you do find it's draining power, you can get a back-up battery mounted in the boot (as there is sooo much space), one of my friends has this crap old van with a huge PA system that he uses when he goes to his outdoor hippy festivals.......that's got dual normal truck batteries and a set of 4 special batteries.

[Alex]

Are there any other bits of equipment I should consider getting when looking for audio clarity...other than gold connection plugs!

I'm only running 4, 6" Infinity speakers (+tweeters) so far.... but I'd like the infrastructure there for better things to come!

[Adam W]

Buy the best amps you can possibly afford if you're looking for high sound quality.  I built a really nice system a coupla years back, but I did it the expensive way, ie starting off buying cheap gear, then replacing it bit by bit, over and over again until I had high end gear all round.  Cost me triple what it would have cost to buy good stuff in the first place because I had wasted my money on buying (in effect) a cheap system, and then a not so cheap system before I got my good one.  I like Rock-Fos gear myself, but I've been well out of the loop for ages so I've no idea what's about these days.

[matt]

I have a V12 4way amp ........ its cool.
Also run another amp for the sub , can't recall the name........ I have no probs with charging .
If ya want clarity stick/spray dynomat everywhere...... its amazing what cutting out road noise can do for the sound
There was another thread about this I think.......

[Matt Harwood]

Other things to consider:

1/ Make sure you have a good battery

2/ Make sure your power cables are up to the job. if you are mounting a 4 channel amp of reasonable power output in the boot you will probably need 4 awg cable

3/ Good quality RCA leads and speaker cable. (It doesn't need to be massivly thick)

4/ Are you considering a sub? - They're not just for boomy bass. if set up correctly they are a huge part of a quality system.

5/ Dynamat is something WELL worth considering. The sheets/rolls are the best ones to go for but not as easy to apply as the spray.

Dynamat is designed to stop panel resonance. This has the effect of giving your speakers something better to.....

Save me typing all the gumph, look at their website.

www.dynamat.com

I would'nt have an audio system in a car without it. I used 8 rolls of Dynamat Xtreme and 2 rolls of Premium on my last car (Mondeo - more doors and more rattles!) It was about £300 worth. Yes this does sound expensive for something that make any noise, but, it cuts down on the noise you don't want to hear. (Reduced a 5 series BMW's noise floor at idle by 9db! (For those that dont understand db, thats a lot!)Thats the equivelent of making your audio system 3 times louder.)

I'm stopping now because I sound like a Dynamat salesman...


Trust me It's good.

ps. Wise words from Adam...