ok, i know sh!it all about the whole in car sound setup thing, few questions
1- wat does a amp do excatly?
2- why have one?
3- how powerful do i need my amp to be
4- how much power do i need in the car.ie extra battries?
5- wat amps so wif wat speakers and subs?
6- i've heard that havin your speakers and subs runnin off the same amp isnt gud, true?

cant think of much more, but i jus wanna know wat i'm lookin at folkin out for a decent sound system

-sean

Sup

An Amplifier is what its name suggests, it takes in a sound signal (from the headunit) and amplifies the signal, using an outside power source (car battery) so that the sound coming out of the speakers is louder.
For example, most headunits give out around 45w rms, when you turn the volume up without an amp, once you reach a certain level, the speakers will start to distort because the headunit is struggling to produce a strong enough sound.
With an amp, the sound is amplified to maybe 100w and the sound can get alot louder without distorting.

If your using a sub, youll need an amp. The power from just the head unit is not enough to pump a sub.

Having a sub and speakers off the same amp is Ok, but if the gain on the sub settings is too high, when the sub pumps, it will drain power from the amp and the speakers might distort.
It all depends on the power of the amp.

The kind of amp youll need depends on what kind of setup you plan on having. If its just speakers, all you need is a 2 chanell 200w rms amp.
If you plan on getting a basic sub, look into a 4ch 400w one.


hope i make sense here..

For example, most headunits give out around 45w rms,


Most head units run 45w max pwr or bout 17-19wrms not 45wrms.


when you turn the volume up without an amp, once you reach a certain level, the speakers will start to distort because the headunit is struggling to produce a strong enough sound.


Its called clipping, the Internal amp in the head unit cant produce a clear enough signal to fully reproduce the sound, therefore the sound becomes distorted. The speaker itself isnt distorting its just reproducing the sound sent to it by the internal amp.

Pretty sure this is more accurate.......FHRX/s_tim_ulate?

Luke

Most head units run 45w max pwr or bout 17-19wrms not 45wrms.


My bad :redface: its really late lol


Its called clipping, the Internal amp in the head unit cant produce a clear enough signal to fully reproduce the sound, therefore the sound becomes distorted. The speaker itself isnt distorting its just reproducing the sound sent to it by the internal amp.

Thats what i was saying! just without the big words.. :doubt:

Yeah but its the head unit that distorts not the spkr, thats all.

Yeah but its the head unit that distorts not the spkr, thats all.

yea i know, but why confuse the poor guy with facts he dont need lol

ok, i know sh!it all about the whole in car sound setup thing, few questions
1- wat does a amp do excatly?
2- why have one?
3- how powerful do i need my amp to be
4- how much power do i need in the car.ie extra battries?
5- wat amps so wif wat speakers and subs?
6- i've heard that havin your speakers and subs runnin off the same amp isnt gud, true?

cant think of much more, but i jus wanna know wat i'm lookin at folkin out for a decent sound system

-sean


TiiiIIiIIIm, write out an amazingly long reply please...i cbf'ed, lol its 8am and i've only had 6hrs sleep and :cry:

An 'amp' is an amplifier, it grabs your headunit's music signals and beefs them up basically. You would need one because your headunit does around 19wrms, and thats no where as loud as you want it to be. Lets say an amp puts out 50wrms. You wouldn't need to drive the amp so hard to push out the same amount of power, so the amp is happily putting out this power. If you were to try and push out the same power as an amp through your headunit, it will distort and clip the hell out of your speakers.

You've seen a sine wave before haven't you? basic smooth, up and down curve. A clipped signal is where they top and the bottom get ***t up, because u're pushing the amp beyond its limits. This usually sounds like poopoo

There's no saying how powerful you want an amp to be. Its up to how much mony u wanna spend, space u wanna lose, tastes in music, your speakers etc etc...

We have 110A alternators in our magnas...so most of the time our cars can handle most street car audio setups. You can change the battery, ground cables, check the alternator n stuff if you really wanted to, but nahhh

Amps...speakers...subss? Its best if u went to a store to audition speakers. thats the best way to pick 'em. Don't go by what ppl telll u and never listen to the speaker/sub. How much do u wanna spend? DIY?(assuming not, thats why this thread is here) space, storage, tatstes....Yeah, talk to mr. fhrx about stuff, he sells a crapload of exciting stuff ;) Some people try and match their speakers to slightly higher amp outputs. But really, it doesn't matter what amp is runnning what sub as long as its properly tuned.

I think what u mean is a pair of speakers and a sub running off a 4channel amp? As in front two channels are powered off the front two channels, and rear two a are bridged to power a sub. The main 'problem' with this is that all of them are sharing the same power supply, and sometimes it can't cope. Try not to 'bridge' channels all the time. There are a few very very nice 3 channel amps out there for this very setup. Audison off the top of my head have a good one.

Oh yeah...please, take the advice of us (some of us) and do a lot of research before you rush out and get conned by the dodgey dude at strathfield :P Also, don't go and buy cheap crap. If you can't afford it, save up, or build your system in steps (plan them though lol) Car audio ain't cheap son.

thanks heaps guyz at least im armed wif a bit of info and basic knowledge wen i go down to the car audio places.....



Oh yeah...please, take the advice of us (some of us) and do a lot of research before you rush out and get conned by the dodgey dude at strathfield :P
lol thats excatly wat i dun wanna happen and is why i turned to yall

ok so basically if i get a sub i need a amp, how do i know wat speakers/subs go wif wat amp?

-sean

thanks heaps guyz at least im armed wif a bit of info and basic knowledge wen i go down to the car audio places.....


lol thats excatly wat i dun wanna happen and is why i turned to yall

ok so basically if i get a sub i need a amp, how do i know wat speakers/subs go wif wat amp?

-sean

budget? go with some of the more reputable brands. The best way is to go to a proper store and listen to as many as you can... where r u located?

Car audio is pretty straight forward- u get what u pay for.

budget?
where r u located?

budget is round 500ish atm, but can built on it over time.....
im over near campbelltown, sydney

-sean

Im sorry , I've been neglecting the forums. Busy with applications and played Ultimate all day today.

Anyway, the size of the amp you want will depend on the sub/speakers u are driving and how much you want to get out of them.

For some, 100w rms is heaps for a sub, to provide that extra low extension. But it can go into thousands of watts. I got almost 900 w rms available power for subs and the same for front speakers. But in reality if I put that much through my front speakers they would fry.

This is called headroom. An amp will perform best when it has lots of headroom. So instead of working at 90% of capacity if it is only working at 50% of its capacity, distortion will lower and ur speakers will receive a cleaner signal.

Ur best bet is hearing a mates car or a demo board, just to see how loud 50/100/1000 watts is.

Be wary as many cheaper brands, eg Boss etc... Will overstate their specs. Generally stating maximum output. Which could be 1000w. Although RMS output is 200 w.

Look for RMS ratings only, this is how much sustained power the amp can put out. And is a better reflection of it's power.

some reputable brands imho... Alpine, Audison, Soundstream, diamond etc
Good value brands = Jaycar, Hertz
Crap - Boss, Rockwood etc etc.

You do get what you pay for, but your best bet is seeing just how loud you want to go and working from there.

peace

Tim

Did anyone mention that you'll ideally need a headdeck with RCA Pre outs? The standard mitsubishi deck does not have them.

Your in the Cambeltown area, Pop into No limits car audio located near Sizzlers, behind Clarke Rubber... I found them to be most helpful when I was looking for Eclipse , Boston and Soundstream gear..

Your in the Cambeltown area, Pop into No limits car audio located near Sizzlers, behind Clarke Rubber... I found them to be most helpful when I was looking for Eclipse , Boston and Soundstream gear..

shall do....im most likely gettin the same head unit as Magnat (the JVC KD- G615) so i'll take it and ask them what amp and speakers i should hook up to it....

-sean

The JVC KD-g615 I can highly recommend for a Head unit under $500..
It is a Great deck to start to make a great sound system. With Front, rear and Sub RCA out puts you have all the control and sound you can possibly need...

i was thinking of decking out my car with JVC equipment, but as my bro is leaving me a good H/U in the old beast i shall keep it that brand...

however i am looking for some decent priced amps and a 10" sub, im probly able to get a 10" boss sub from my mate, any1 got any opinions on the boss sound systems? btw, this sub was purchased at stratfield car radios...

Forget Boss

Stick with Better Quality such as JVC, Pioneer and even SONY..
While JVC make Great Head units and Amps, there Speakers are not exactly Ideal...

Don't stick with the one brand in Car Audio unless you like their gear..

Just a quick note for beginners; you might want to have a little read through the FAQ's on my website (http://www.fastfoursforumscarclub.com/temp/fhrxstudios/faq.asp).

Unlike many audio sites, they we're deliberately written for people without science degrees so they can be understood. :D

Forget Boss

Stick with Better Quality such as JVC, Pioneer and even SONY..
While JVC make Great Head units and Amps, there Speakers are not exactly Ideal...

Don't stick with the one brand in Car Audio unless you like their gear..

lol i do like the gear, alpine- old head unit but still goes hard :badgrin: