Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio Amp intall question

I just finished intalling a new head unit. It says it puts out 45w X 4. A friend had an old amp layin around and gave it to me. The amp is also 45w.

Is it worth installing? How does the wattage stuff work? will it now be 90w per channel or will that amp do absolutely nothing because they are both 45w.

Any insight would be much appreciated.

Well it all depends on how you set it up....

Are you using the RCA jacks from the back of the HU to the amp, or are you using the speaker leads...

Either way you are only goin to get 45W peak out of them either way you set it up, just whether or not how many speakers you can use is up to the setup....

if you use speaker leads then you can only use two or four speakers depending on if it is a 45x4 or a 45x2 amp...

If you use the RCA jacks then you can get an extra 2-4 speakers out of it depending on if its a 2x or 4x amp again...

Even the most powerful aftermarket HU will only produce about 15-20w per channel of continuous/RMS power. That measure of 45x4 is max/peak power, which is useless marketing crap.

BTW, did you remember to bypass the POS factory amp?

On the other hand, I'm assuming that the external amp is 45x4 RMS. Even a modest external amp (like this one) would be an improvement over the HU.

You could also use that amp to power a subwoofer or two.