Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio amp speakers?

I have a pioneer gm-x722 and an american legacy amplifier lying around the house and i was wondering if it'd be worth amplifying the door speakers with either of these. I've read reviews on both of these and it seems the pioneer is a much better amplifier, but it's only 2 channel. Also, where would you recommend mounting it? i've thought about under the passenger seat or against the back of the seat in the trunk. Thanks ahead of time for anybody's input.

Maybe my question was too complicated. Which amp should i use, how should i do it, i.e. if i were to use the two channel amplifier, are they bridgeable, or should i just amp 2 speakers? and where should i mount the amp? thanks.

Need more info...

Specs on them?

And are you going to power factory speakers (NO!), or aftermarket?

I would mount it under the seat if you can... that way it's only a short distance to where all the speaker wires are at (HU). You're gonna be running 16 wires (or 8 doubles), so yeah... that's a lot of wire to hide!

Pioneer GM X722 Specs...

Key Features

Amplifier Type Dual Channel
Bridgable Yes
RMS Power at 4 Ohms 80 W x 2
RMS Power at 2 Ohms 120 W x 2

Performance

Frequency Response 10 Hz - 50000 Hz
Signal to Noise Ratio 102 dB
THD at Rated RMS Power 0.04 %

Crossover / Equalizer

Bass Boost With Bass Boost
Bass Boost Frequency 60 Hz

Other Features

MOSFET Circuitry Yes
3 Way Ready Yes

Dimensions

Width 10.38 in.
Depth 10 in.
Height 2.38 in.

Miscellaneous

Product ID 20742671

American Legacy Product Details:

4 Channel Amplification
4 x 100 Watts Output
400 Watts Total Output
2 Ohm Minimum Impedance
Polished Chrome Finish
Variable Gain Control
Remote Turn On/Off
Hi/Lo Level Inputs
Power On Indicator
LED Protection Indicator
S/N Ratio: >80dB
THD: <0.4%
Frequency Response: 25Hz-20k Hz
Thermal & Short Circuit Protection
Dimensions: 2"H x 11"W x 9.2"L

Factory amplifer is bypassed, Head unit is Alpine CDA-9811, and speakers are eclipse.

I wasn't sure if i could mount it under the seat. Will the passenger still be able to safely move themselves back and forth? Will all the wires fit? Do i have to remove the seat to install...etc..? Thanks for your help

I've never put one under the seat of a Contour, but I'm just assuming it would be the best location for wires and stuff... There is a heater duct under there, so that might get in the way. Probly would have to take the seat out to do a good job and hide the wires properly.

You could always mount it under the rear deck and run all the speaker wires under the back seat/carpet/console to get to the HU.

With the Pioneer, it will be in 2ohm mode with 2 4ohm speakers on each channel. So you'll be putting 60W RMS or so to 2 speakers. I dunno if that's work too well.

Even if you used the Pioneer on only 2 speakers (4ohm), it would only be putting 40W RMS to each speaker.

That American Legacy will put about 50W RMS to each speaker.

...but then again, I dunno if you can trust the American Legacy's output power and durability. A friend had a 4 channel from them and the circuitry caught on fire while powering his 5.25" Xplod (crap) door speakers. The plexiglass window let you watch it burn!

okay, i promise this is the last question. I wasn't really asking what i wanted to know very well. I have listed above what i have in the car right now, but i'll say it again.

Alpine cda-9811 head unit
4 eclipse se8572 5X7 40w rms door speakers
factory amplifier bypassed
2 extra amplifiers as listed above

Basically, I want to be able to listen to music at a good volume without having to turn the bass way down. (I want to hear the bass too) Hopefully, somebody can lead me in the right direction and give me my options? Thanks!

Josh

yes, thank you, i do realize a subwoofer is an option, but i'm looking for other possible options.

Oh, I messed up...

You could use the Pioneer amp just on the front speakers... It should power them pretty good.

I was thinking the specs were MAX ratings

So if you did hook the Pioneer up to all 4 speakers (2 on 1 channel), it would be in 2ohm mode pushing 120W to them... I'll assume that'll split up and you'll have 60W RMS to each speaker... but you will lose the fader function of the head unit.

-OR-

You could risk it and hook the American Legacy up to all 4 door speakers pushing 50W RMS to each one (but that could be overrated), and hook the Pioneer up to a sub.

There's a lot of subs that still sound good with low power. My old-ass RF 15 is one IMO... it's an 8ohm SVC sub, so it halves the power of my MTX amp to about 150W RMS. The sub's RMS is 150W also, so probly why it sounds good.

In bridged mode, the Pioneer is rated at 240W RMSx1 at 4ohms (2ohm not listed, so probly not stable).
So you can do the following:

Get 1 4ohm sub with an RMS rating of ~250W+

Get 1 8ohm sub with an RMS rating of ~125W+

Get 2 4ohm subs (~125W+ RMS each) and hook in parallel [to get 4ohms across both]

Get 2 2ohm subs (~250W+ RMS each) and hook in series [to get 4ohms across both]

I kinda confuzed myself on the 2 last setups, let me know if I'm wrong!

Anyway, you can do stuff like that with the Pioneer.

But remember my friend's American Legacy amp (looked just like that one, with the 2 windows) caught on fire... not good if that happend under your seat!

thank you! that's just the information i was looking for.