Car Audio Amp Choice
#1
11-11-2015, 01:48 PM
Car Audio Amp Choice
So I am in the process of upgrading the audio system in my Montero and am now stuck at a crossroads on which amp if any I should upgrade to or keep the stock Infiniti amp.
Current Setup:
Headunit: Kenwood Excelon KDC-X798
Front & Rear Speakers: 6.5" Kicker 40CS654
Tweeters: Kicker 3/4" 31CST204
I just ordered an 8" Polk db840 sub to replace the stock sub which leaves me with the amp left.
Now my question to the community is, which amp would you recommend for this setup? I have been told go with a 5 channel AMP and these are the ones that I have come up with within my budget:
1. Kenwood Excelon X700-5
2. JVC KS-AX3205D
3. Retain the stock Infiniti Amp
Any and all input would be greatly appreciated. While I am not looking to play my music very loud, I want to appreciate all the high's, mid's and lows. Currently I have the high's and mid's covered and now just need the lows provided by the sub.
Thanks again!
Current Setup:
Headunit: Kenwood Excelon KDC-X798
Front & Rear Speakers: 6.5" Kicker 40CS654
Tweeters: Kicker 3/4" 31CST204
I just ordered an 8" Polk db840 sub to replace the stock sub which leaves me with the amp left.
Now my question to the community is, which amp would you recommend for this setup? I have been told go with a 5 channel AMP and these are the ones that I have come up with within my budget:
1. Kenwood Excelon X700-5
2. JVC KS-AX3205D
3. Retain the stock Infiniti Amp
Any and all input would be greatly appreciated. While I am not looking to play my music very loud, I want to appreciate all the high's, mid's and lows. Currently I have the high's and mid's covered and now just need the lows provided by the sub.
Thanks again!
#2
11-12-2015, 04:02 PM
first of all, throw out the idea of using the stock amp.
your new equipment and speakers will have an RMS rating to show the optimal to really shine. the stock amp even though its still questionable how much it puts out, is not enough. esp for your new sub. also the stock amp is already set and tuned for the specs of the stock speakers. the xovers and the range fed into the speakers are prob not optimal to your new stuff.
its too bad your sub is only single voice coil 4ohm, so you have to pay close attention to RMS watts @ 4ohms. dont be fooled or think you will be getting close to what those advertised amps will give. you can't wire that sub at 2ohms to take advantage of the 500watts the X700-5 will provide on the sub channel
it will give you TRUE 300 watts to your little 8" 4ohm sub. trust me for most people 300 RMS watts is enough. more than enough. the x700-5 will give you only 40watt RMS to each speaker compared to the JVC which gives 50watt, but the JVC only gives 200 RMS to the sub, compared to 300RMS on the Kenwood. in comparison to how much the your deck puts out, it advertises 50watt per speaker MAX, the rms rating is usually a little less than half that, so prob 22-23watts rms from the deck. so these amps will be giving you double if not more than double per speaker and will really sound nice.
with your sub your getting, its optimal requested power rating is 180 watts. with max of 360watt. so the JVC amp that puts out 200RMS will be perfect for that sub and give more power to the rest of your speakers compared to the kenwood amp. the kenwood amp with its more power to the sub wouldnt hurt and prob give you more thump and allow for future upgrades to a bigger sub, but if you dont plan on doing that, and the jvc is cheaper, go for the jvc. once you amp those speakers you have now, and still have the tweeters, it might hurt your ears with too much highs and no separation of the mids. thats a 2 way speaker and already has a high range/tweeter built into the speaker. just a suggestion.
if you read my reply to you on the other thread, are these speakers currently installed including the tweeters? are they both working right now? whats powering the speakers now? again see my reply to you in the other thread. if you get this amp, there might be a chance your tweeters wont work. with a true amp setup like this, you might want to consider looking for a COMPONENT SPEAKER setup in the front which comes with tweeters and cross overs and the door speaker will just be a midbass speaker, so its a perfect combo.
your new equipment and speakers will have an RMS rating to show the optimal to really shine. the stock amp even though its still questionable how much it puts out, is not enough. esp for your new sub. also the stock amp is already set and tuned for the specs of the stock speakers. the xovers and the range fed into the speakers are prob not optimal to your new stuff.
its too bad your sub is only single voice coil 4ohm, so you have to pay close attention to RMS watts @ 4ohms. dont be fooled or think you will be getting close to what those advertised amps will give. you can't wire that sub at 2ohms to take advantage of the 500watts the X700-5 will provide on the sub channel
it will give you TRUE 300 watts to your little 8" 4ohm sub. trust me for most people 300 RMS watts is enough. more than enough. the x700-5 will give you only 40watt RMS to each speaker compared to the JVC which gives 50watt, but the JVC only gives 200 RMS to the sub, compared to 300RMS on the Kenwood. in comparison to how much the your deck puts out, it advertises 50watt per speaker MAX, the rms rating is usually a little less than half that, so prob 22-23watts rms from the deck. so these amps will be giving you double if not more than double per speaker and will really sound nice.
with your sub your getting, its optimal requested power rating is 180 watts. with max of 360watt. so the JVC amp that puts out 200RMS will be perfect for that sub and give more power to the rest of your speakers compared to the kenwood amp. the kenwood amp with its more power to the sub wouldnt hurt and prob give you more thump and allow for future upgrades to a bigger sub, but if you dont plan on doing that, and the jvc is cheaper, go for the jvc. once you amp those speakers you have now, and still have the tweeters, it might hurt your ears with too much highs and no separation of the mids. thats a 2 way speaker and already has a high range/tweeter built into the speaker. just a suggestion.
if you read my reply to you on the other thread, are these speakers currently installed including the tweeters? are they both working right now? whats powering the speakers now? again see my reply to you in the other thread. if you get this amp, there might be a chance your tweeters wont work. with a true amp setup like this, you might want to consider looking for a COMPONENT SPEAKER setup in the front which comes with tweeters and cross overs and the door speaker will just be a midbass speaker, so its a perfect combo.
#3
11-12-2015, 06:12 PM
first of all, throw out the idea of using the stock amp.
your new equipment and speakers will have an RMS rating to show the optimal to really shine. the stock amp even though its still questionable how much it puts out, is not enough. esp for your new sub. also the stock amp is already set and tuned for the specs of the stock speakers. the xovers and the range fed into the speakers are prob not optimal to your new stuff.
its too bad your sub is only single voice coil 4ohm, so you have to pay close attention to RMS watts @ 4ohms. dont be fooled or think you will be getting close to what those advertised amps will give. you can't wire that sub at 2ohms to take advantage of the 500watts the X700-5 will provide on the sub channel
it will give you TRUE 300 watts to your little 8" 4ohm sub. trust me for most people 300 RMS watts is enough. more than enough. the x700-5 will give you only 40watt RMS to each speaker compared to the JVC which gives 50watt, but the JVC only gives 200 RMS to the sub, compared to 300RMS on the Kenwood. in comparison to how much the your deck puts out, it advertises 50watt per speaker MAX, the rms rating is usually a little less than half that, so prob 22-23watts rms from the deck. so these amps will be giving you double if not more than double per speaker and will really sound nice.
with your sub your getting, its optimal requested power rating is 180 watts. with max of 360watt. so the JVC amp that puts out 200RMS will be perfect for that sub and give more power to the rest of your speakers compared to the kenwood amp. the kenwood amp with its more power to the sub wouldnt hurt and prob give you more thump and allow for future upgrades to a bigger sub, but if you dont plan on doing that, and the jvc is cheaper, go for the jvc. once you amp those speakers you have now, and still have the tweeters, it might hurt your ears with too much highs and no separation of the mids. thats a 2 way speaker and already has a high range/tweeter built into the speaker. just a suggestion.
if you read my reply to you on the other thread, are these speakers currently installed including the tweeters? are they both working right now? whats powering the speakers now? again see my reply to you in the other thread. if you get this amp, there might be a chance your tweeters wont work. with a true amp setup like this, you might want to consider looking for a COMPONENT SPEAKER setup in the front which comes with tweeters and cross overs and the door speaker will just be a midbass speaker, so its a perfect combo.
your new equipment and speakers will have an RMS rating to show the optimal to really shine. the stock amp even though its still questionable how much it puts out, is not enough. esp for your new sub. also the stock amp is already set and tuned for the specs of the stock speakers. the xovers and the range fed into the speakers are prob not optimal to your new stuff.
its too bad your sub is only single voice coil 4ohm, so you have to pay close attention to RMS watts @ 4ohms. dont be fooled or think you will be getting close to what those advertised amps will give. you can't wire that sub at 2ohms to take advantage of the 500watts the X700-5 will provide on the sub channel
it will give you TRUE 300 watts to your little 8" 4ohm sub. trust me for most people 300 RMS watts is enough. more than enough. the x700-5 will give you only 40watt RMS to each speaker compared to the JVC which gives 50watt, but the JVC only gives 200 RMS to the sub, compared to 300RMS on the Kenwood. in comparison to how much the your deck puts out, it advertises 50watt per speaker MAX, the rms rating is usually a little less than half that, so prob 22-23watts rms from the deck. so these amps will be giving you double if not more than double per speaker and will really sound nice.
with your sub your getting, its optimal requested power rating is 180 watts. with max of 360watt. so the JVC amp that puts out 200RMS will be perfect for that sub and give more power to the rest of your speakers compared to the kenwood amp. the kenwood amp with its more power to the sub wouldnt hurt and prob give you more thump and allow for future upgrades to a bigger sub, but if you dont plan on doing that, and the jvc is cheaper, go for the jvc. once you amp those speakers you have now, and still have the tweeters, it might hurt your ears with too much highs and no separation of the mids. thats a 2 way speaker and already has a high range/tweeter built into the speaker. just a suggestion.
if you read my reply to you on the other thread, are these speakers currently installed including the tweeters? are they both working right now? whats powering the speakers now? again see my reply to you in the other thread. if you get this amp, there might be a chance your tweeters wont work. with a true amp setup like this, you might want to consider looking for a COMPONENT SPEAKER setup in the front which comes with tweeters and cross overs and the door speaker will just be a midbass speaker, so its a perfect combo.
#4
11-12-2015, 06:17 PM
And with regards to my setup, I am using the Metra 70-7003 wiring harness that allows for direct connect and use of the Infiniti Amp from my head unit. The speakers were installed after the head unit was and I assume they were just dropped in and used the existing wiring.
After I had the speakers installed, it now makes sense why the installer mentioned to me that the mid's and high's would be really noticeable since the door speakers are 2-way. Since I am already up this creek without the paddle, can I add a crossover or do you have an amp you recommend that has a built in crossover to differentiate between the tweeters, door speakers and sub?
I would rather not but if I have to I can buy a component setup for the front and hopefully Crutchfield will take back the speakers that I had already installed since this was done in the past month.
Thanks again for all your help!
After I had the speakers installed, it now makes sense why the installer mentioned to me that the mid's and high's would be really noticeable since the door speakers are 2-way. Since I am already up this creek without the paddle, can I add a crossover or do you have an amp you recommend that has a built in crossover to differentiate between the tweeters, door speakers and sub?
I would rather not but if I have to I can buy a component setup for the front and hopefully Crutchfield will take back the speakers that I had already installed since this was done in the past month.
Thanks again for all your help!
#5
11-25-2015, 10:37 AM
Just an update for those that are curious and or looking to do the same to their rides, I went ahead and purchased the JVC KS-AX3205D 1000 watt amp, returned the Polk db840 in favor of the Kicker CompR 8" DVC 40CWR84 that can take better advantage of the Amp at 2-ohm.
Also, I got lucky in the installer at Best Buy I have used had a couple of passive crossovers laying around the shop and sold them to me cheap. These worked perfectly with my setup without having to replace everything.
I will probably install the Amp and Sub after Thanksgiving and then report back on how everything went overall.
Also, I got lucky in the installer at Best Buy I have used had a couple of passive crossovers laying around the shop and sold them to me cheap. These worked perfectly with my setup without having to replace everything.
I will probably install the Amp and Sub after Thanksgiving and then report back on how everything went overall.
#7
12-03-2015, 02:06 PM
I'm sorry i didn't keep up with the thread.
just for educational purposes:
Metra 70-7003 that can be considered similar if not same as the MITAH adapter for mitsubishi systems audio
I hope you also read my reply to you here:
https://mitsubishiforum.com/forum/mi...e2/#post312756
now if you look at the metra/mitah adapter pic above, you will see that it has less wires than most wiring harness adapters to instal a stereo, this is because it is meant to use the stock amp still. so if you use this adapter as i have mentioned, your new stereo deck is not using its power to power your speakers, you are allowing the stock amp to do so still. as metnioned this is questionable because some argue any new aftermarket deck/stereo provides cleaner signal/power than the deck, and you paid for that power so you basically letting it go to waste. of course it can be argued that you are using the preouts cleaner signal from the deck so its not a total loss, but its meant to be fed to an actual aftermarket amp not to a bottlenecking stock inferior amp.
nevertheless, it serves for a very easy install and allows your dash speakers to work because as mentioned the stock amp is where the xover is built in to send the signal to the tweeters/dash speakers
there are no aftermarket amps at least ive seen, that have the xover built into it, like how the stock amp operates. thats why people buy "component speakers" that ome with the mid bass speakers, new tweeters and xovers included. technically you can still use your 2 way speakers you have and if you got new twetters wire the parallel with a bassblocker or something. but you will have wayyyyy too much highs it might hurt your ears.
you are all set if you got that 5 channel amp. good thing you got a sub that can be wired to 2ohm so you can get the most from that amp's sub channel
so i take it you had to rewire everything because you have an amp to power all the new speakers. im curious where you mounted it and ran the wires?
there is a central location where all the wire leads for allllll the speakers can be found. its there by the stock amp of course lol. cause remember the stock amp powers all the speakers so all the wiring leads are there on the harness. you an hack it up or tap into it after the harness is unplugged to wire to your new amp. the thing i did notice, there is a difference from the 2001-2002 montero to the 2003-2005. unfortunately its been so long since i did my full audio in my 2002 i forgot what it was. all i can remember is it has something to do with the leads to the tweeters. in one instance, the amp harness had leads directly to the tweeters, but in actuality they were not. i forgot which year was the change. it was a small hiccup in m install. but no biggie. all the door speakers were at that point. so you dont have to run new wires to them. just extend or tap from this point in the harness.
just for educational purposes:
Metra 70-7003 that can be considered similar if not same as the MITAH adapter for mitsubishi systems audio
I hope you also read my reply to you here:
https://mitsubishiforum.com/forum/mi...e2/#post312756
now if you look at the metra/mitah adapter pic above, you will see that it has less wires than most wiring harness adapters to instal a stereo, this is because it is meant to use the stock amp still. so if you use this adapter as i have mentioned, your new stereo deck is not using its power to power your speakers, you are allowing the stock amp to do so still. as metnioned this is questionable because some argue any new aftermarket deck/stereo provides cleaner signal/power than the deck, and you paid for that power so you basically letting it go to waste. of course it can be argued that you are using the preouts cleaner signal from the deck so its not a total loss, but its meant to be fed to an actual aftermarket amp not to a bottlenecking stock inferior amp.
nevertheless, it serves for a very easy install and allows your dash speakers to work because as mentioned the stock amp is where the xover is built in to send the signal to the tweeters/dash speakers
there are no aftermarket amps at least ive seen, that have the xover built into it, like how the stock amp operates. thats why people buy "component speakers" that ome with the mid bass speakers, new tweeters and xovers included. technically you can still use your 2 way speakers you have and if you got new twetters wire the parallel with a bassblocker or something. but you will have wayyyyy too much highs it might hurt your ears.
you are all set if you got that 5 channel amp. good thing you got a sub that can be wired to 2ohm so you can get the most from that amp's sub channel
so i take it you had to rewire everything because you have an amp to power all the new speakers. im curious where you mounted it and ran the wires?
there is a central location where all the wire leads for allllll the speakers can be found. its there by the stock amp of course lol. cause remember the stock amp powers all the speakers so all the wiring leads are there on the harness. you an hack it up or tap into it after the harness is unplugged to wire to your new amp. the thing i did notice, there is a difference from the 2001-2002 montero to the 2003-2005. unfortunately its been so long since i did my full audio in my 2002 i forgot what it was. all i can remember is it has something to do with the leads to the tweeters. in one instance, the amp harness had leads directly to the tweeters, but in actuality they were not. i forgot which year was the change. it was a small hiccup in m install. but no biggie. all the door speakers were at that point. so you dont have to run new wires to them. just extend or tap from this point in the harness.
#8
12-03-2015, 02:08 PM
what people dont know is with that metra adapter/mitah adapter.. at least with the mitsubishi eclipse.. should be for all mitsus who use it. you can REVERSE the adapter. so you can keep your stock deck, but use an aftermarket amp lol. but thats such a waste. why spend money and time on a nice amp but keep a stock deck. lol. i guess for those who want to keep it stock looking from theives
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