amp wiring question

marty04 · 04-11-2007, 05:26 PM

Hi all, I am new to this site and would appreciate some advice. I have recently bought a kenwood kac 6203 2 channel amp and have a kenwood kfc w3011 sub. could i wire up the sub together with my pair of front and rear speakers to the amp or does the h.u run the 4 speakers and the amp the sub..
any advice on how to get the best sound for my vette will be appreciated

WarX · 04-11-2007, 08:27 PM

bridge the amplifier and run it to the sub, the radio you have runs your interior speakers. Best sound for your vette, buy a set of 3way active components, run a CarPC to the active crossover, get a 6ch amplifier, or a 4ch + 2ch amplifier for your speakers and get another mono block for your subwoofer....

Again, that's to achieve the BEST sound, and that is a VERY VERY expensive route.... but take it one step at a time, upgrade your front speakers to components and run an amplifier to them. Add a CarPC and have fun with your iCE Multimedia system

marty04 · 04-12-2007, 01:10 AM

thanks for the advice. the amp arrives today. i'm lookin at a kicker kx3 crossover, i thought of running the two rear speakers and the sub through the crossover. i am new to all this so i hope this make sense as i would like to keep costs down initially

ironfinger · 04-12-2007, 05:52 AM

You do know that you can't use that crossover the way you want with just one 2ch amp, right?

marty04 · 04-12-2007, 08:13 AM

i didnt know that. this is what i have
receiver- kenwood,kdc w4031,50wx4,30wrms,1xpre out(2V)
front- 2x kenwood kfc 1059s, 2 way, 4ohms, 100w max, 50wrms
rear-2x kenwood kfc1789ie, 3 way passive,4ohm, 220w,
sub- 1 x 12" kfc w3011, 4ohm, peak 1200w, 25-800Hz
amp- kenwood kac 6203(2 channel), 600w (4ohm bridged)
What would you suggest for the best sound, not neccassarily the loudest. Do I just connect the stereo speakers to the receiver and the amp to the sub or is it possible to run the two rear speakers and the sub from the amp??
Replies welcome and appreciated

WarX · 04-12-2007, 01:18 PM

he'll still be able to. the KX3 has an option for full range fronts i believe and sublevel. As long as he sets the crossover at a good range for the highs on Channel 1 and for lows on Channel 3 he'll be straight. Oh, and don't do the x10 setting on channel 1.

*edit*
yea, i checked the specs again, the KX3 is a good crossover. A few of my friends who still work at CC use it.

ironfinger · 04-12-2007, 02:24 PM

correct me if I'm wriong, but the only way he can get the sub and rears to work off a 2 ch amp is to run the rears parallel on one channel and the sub on another. This will give the sub only 100 watts, and the rear channels will need to be summed.. he'll lose stereo ability.

Best bet is:

1. get a mono sub amp.. connect the rears off the deck.. run fronts off 2ch amp.

or.

2. Run Sub off 2channle amp bridged.. buy a 4ch amp to run fronts and rears.

or

3. Do as said earlier and run front and rears off deck, and power sub using the 2 channel amp.

J187 · 04-12-2007, 04:43 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ironfinger

correct me if I'm wriong, but the only way he can get the sub and rears to work off a 2 ch amp is to run the rears parallel on one channel and the sub on another. This will give the sub only 100 watts, and the rear channels will need to be summed.. he'll lose stereo ability.

Best bet is:

1. get a mono sub amp.. connect the rears off the deck.. run fronts off 2ch amp.

or.

2. Run Sub off 2channle amp bridged.. buy a 4ch amp to run fronts and rears.

or

3. Do as said earlier and run front and rears off deck, and power sub using the 2 channel amp.

Can't correct you bro, you're right on. And for what its worth, option 1 is your best bet for the money IMO. Head units usually supply a nice signal for rear fill when a 2 channel is running the main stage. It keeps the rear nicely underpowered - in relation to the fronts.

marty04 · 04-12-2007, 04:52 PM

well i have just finished connecting everything. i took your "sound" advice and ran the front and rears of the deck. i bridged the sub through the amp(sub- to channel 2 - and sub + to channel 1+) i think??? anyway the sound is awsome!!! for the wee system ive got, i couldn't be happier. the space is very confined in a corvette and the bass is powerfull. it seems the louder i play it the better it gets..
Thanks very much 4 all your help guys, much appreciated!!!

J187 · 04-12-2007, 04:55 PM

Nice. And if you ever decide to add an amp to the interiors, dont' buy the KX3 to try and run everything off the 2 channel - for the money you'd spend on the kx3 just buy a decent 2 channel and run the fronts off that. But you sound happy the way it is so just enjoy the hell out of it. You added the main component that most factory systems lack anyway - BASS.

WarX · 04-12-2007, 09:26 PM

whoa, i was assuming he had a 2ch for the audio level and had a mono for the sublevel ;x my bad guys.

misunderstanding on my behalf

AudioXtreme · 04-14-2007, 05:03 AM

I say sell the crossover and use the money to buy another amp. The Kenwood amp you have already has a built in 80 hz crossover. You can also get a passive crossover and use that to run your front speakers and your subwoofer from the same amp. Use the head unit to run your rear speakers for fill. 300 watts should be enough power to give you some decent results. If you want better sound, more power is always helpful. At least with more power you can lower the signal to noise ratio of your system. But as it was suggested, you can always build up from where your at now.