Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio Which amp should i get ?

well i never expected this type of reaction, I might have been a little sarcastic when first stating that 35 watts was not enough, because it is enough. I tried to stress my point that u can never have enough, it best to get something with more power, that way you can adjust the settings. ive had many friends get amps and other equipment and tell me there to weak or the amp doesnt have enough power etc..(also depends on the brand) Too many examples to mention. The amp the original person was talking about the pheonix gold is a better amp(I personally think that peonix gold is not the company it used to be as far as quality and performance)but it is still in the upper tear of amps.im sure the guy will be happy with it, but ill warn him if hes not happy with the output dont blame me for not warning him.

Biggs, you really need to learn about car audio!! I have a 6 x 35watt amp, that I gaurentee by me only using 2 channels will have more clarity and sound 5 times as loud as your 90 watts per channel amp.

what you just told me was nothing. you say you have a amp thats 6 x35, ok. your telling me i no nothig, ur the one claiming u have a 6 channel amp. it might sound better than mine, sure if its a GOOD amp, and you have some good interiors. but u realize amps run best at how many channels there designed for. im not arguing the fact that 35 watts wont sound fine, i saying that I like more power and it WILL SOUND BETTER RUNNING MORE. if you think im wrong them go back to circuits class.

BIGS,

I think the argument boils down to one thing that we are essentially agreeing on. Wattage doesn't necessarily mean anything without knowing the whole story. If we don't know effeciencies, enclosures, installation methods, speakers used, etc etc etc, we can't assume that it won't be enough of if more would be better. If I have a speaker with a 50w RMS rating, I wouldn't necessarily want to run 90w to it. In some cases it will be dangerous, in other cases it wouldn't be.

Let's just leave it at that and move on before any more flame wars commence.

BIGS,
Your arguing with Dave. Dave has been here a long time and has more posts than anyone. No has ever comes back and said Dave gave them bad advice. You know why that is?? He is right 6300 out 6301 times. He knows what he is talking about! Your not gonna get anywhere by trying to make him look bad. You only hurt yourself.

-Andy

More power sounds better, wow, you really don't know car audio. Put your amp to the test, see how many watts RMS it is really putting out, then find out the distortion. My amp has been put to the test many many times. At the current ohm load, I am putting out 97 watts per channel, with a distortion level that cannot be identified. As for speakers hooked up to it, well there is 2 8" infinity 80f's, 2 jl xr400's and 2 JL xr570csi's. I bet your amp probably only puts out about half of what you think it does, with distortion levels that can be noticed by human ears.

Edit - forgot to mention that my systems also pulls a 160.1 in a db drag line.

i think you finally do understand.I have been explaing this for 2 days now, if you dont the GOOD speakers, amp,the wattage is irrelevant. HOW COME IT TOOK YOU PEOPLE 2 DAYS to realize this. WHY!!! your have 50 watts RMS speakers right, to me thats low end to average quality if that. i have 150 RMS speakers thats wht i run 90 or so WATTS, and thats what ive been saying all along, read all my posts , tell me thats not true.and as far as questioning this dave guy i dont care who he is or how many posts hes put up, if your wrong you are wrong, not to say he is but dont tell me im wrong, unless you have a masters in electronics!

This is the point that Bigs says and yet Dave has not mentioned (I don't think). This is certainly not true. How many watts an amp produces a has absolutely nothing to do with how it sounds. It has everything and only to do with houd loud it goes. Bigs' 90w amp when used under normal average volume levels might use 5 watts or less and it would sound the same as if the same brand and line of amps had a 10w amp. My point is that you have mentioned repeatedly that more power = better sound. If you'd like, I can search through this mess and quote.

Andy, I agree with Bigs that how many posts one person has does not necessarily mean a person knows his stuff.

Bigs, I don't care if you have a PHD in EE and Dave is a high school football jock. What matters under any given situation is experience with the subject at hand. That, is what you have proven to many of us that you do not have. I know Dave has a lot of it, but is alway yearning to learn more. All you need to do to 'justify yourself' to us is give facts or experiences. No one can take those away, but don't equate your experiences as generalized facts.

Bigs, there you go again. "2 Days" It has only been 25 hours since your first post in this thread.

dont you think this is getting a little ridiculus. i have plenty experience in car audio, maybe you have more i dont know. i was wrong in saying that more power is equal to better sound, and is does just mean it will sound louder, ill give you that. but i get the feeling that you people think its a sin or bad for some reason to put out the power to a speaker when it can handle it. like i said before i like louder music with nice highs and lows, maybe too much, but why are you argueing with me when i say get a amp with more power to go with the speakers, is it money? are you scared,or is it jus the fact that you dont want it? what is it. ive heard my system with about 30-40 watts and it does sound fine, but my speakers are designed for much more and put more.

Yes.



Not at all. It is just that 35-40w rms from a high quality amp is probably good enough for most people. Plus this particular amp puts out more like 150wx2 into 4-ohm stereo. Certianly plenty, agree?




You answered your own quesions. You like it loud and want some more power than most people. Certianly nothing wrong with that. In fact, enjoy it because I don't have what you do.

But it does come down to money almost always and on similar quality amps, twice as much power costs 50-75% more money. When talking about $250 vs. $400, most people that don't need that extra headroom would rather take their home and either upgrade something else or buy a lot of things at the dollar store.