A little guidance needed in matching up system

damarble · 07-19-2006, 01:40 AM

So far I've read until my head is about to explode and I haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to car audio. I hesitate to ask advice from a audio shop because I can tell they either don't know what they're talking about, and/or want to sell me the most exspensive stuff. I'm not trying to build a show winning system just something that sounds nice and clean.

My car uses 6.5" speakers in the front and 6x9" in the rear. So far I have a pair of Infinity Kappa 60.7cs components for the front that are rated at 2ohm, 90w RMS. I also have a older RF Punch 400a4 amp, rated at 4x50w at 4ohm or 4x100w at 2ohm. The rest of the system in still in the air at this point. I'm unsure if I should just use the comps up front and not use rears, just go for a sub(s) (with 2nd amp of course). I'm getting conflicting info on whether that is a good solution or not. It would work out perfect for me mounting the subs, as I could put two 10's under the rear dash where the stock 6x9's were, there is plenty of room, and that would save me a ton of trunk space too.

So any suggestions? I have zero experiance with car audio, just what I've read. I like many people here am a computer geek first, audio afictionado second.

Shadow · 07-19-2006, 06:43 AM

I'd ditch the 6x9s, but I wouldn't mount the subs under the rear deck. You'd need freeair subs and they're not that great performance wise. Also, by bolting a sub to the rear deck you're looking at a great way to find rattles that you'd probably never run into otherwise.

scott_fx · 07-19-2006, 12:56 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by damarble

I'm unsure if I should just use the comps up front and not use rears, just go for a sub(s) (with 2nd amp of course). .

thats what i'd suggest. that's what i did and it sound pretty great imho. save the money on the rear speakers get a better set of comps for the front (4 ohm version) and a nice sub or two in the rear. Image dynamics and elemental designs make some great inexpensive subs that play well with relatively little power.

RedGTiVR6 · 07-19-2006, 04:03 PM

ditto what scott has said.

whatever product you go with, I recomend staying with well known name brands. None of this Rage, boss, jensen, etc stuff you find at wal-mart or the flea market. ID makes great subs that work well on little power and in little air space.

I have no first hand experience with eD but people seem to love em.

damarble · 07-19-2006, 08:25 PM

Thanks for the input!

Quote: Originally Posted by scott_fx

get a better set of comps for the front (4 ohm version) and a nice sub or two in the rear.

Dammit I should have asked before I bought these comps. (Just 3 days ago

) Why should I be looking for the 4ohm versions? And I really don't want to spend more than I did anyway. I was originally going to go with the Infinity Reference series instead as I thought they sounded damn good for the price, much better than my stockers, but the Kappa's weren't that much more.

scott_fx · 07-19-2006, 08:43 PM

easy answer....you'll get better sound from an amp pushing 4 ohms rather then 2. about half the power from your amp though..but you'll notice an improvement in sq.

Curry · 07-19-2006, 08:48 PM

::kicks jensen head unit under bed::

RedGTiVR6 · 07-19-2006, 09:59 PM

that's a damn fine place for that jensen...possibly even in the trash compacter

Curry · 07-19-2006, 10:19 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Red GTi VR6

that's a damn fine place for that jensen...possibly even in the trash compacter

I guess I better throw the jensen 6 x 9's with it as well.

damarble · 07-20-2006, 02:41 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by scott_fx

easy answer....you'll get better sound from an amp pushing 4 ohms rather then 2. about half the power from your amp though..but you'll notice an improvement in sq.

How much of an improvement? Obviously not "double", but if you could put it into numbers or percentage (I know, hard to do) how much better?

So what's the point of making a 2ohm speaker? Just a cheap way to raise the wattage rating?

RedGTiVR6 · 07-20-2006, 02:43 PM

I'm not sure how much of a difference you would notice.

scott_fx · 07-20-2006, 04:16 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Red GTi VR6

I'm not sure how much of a difference you would notice.

red knows more about this then me, but I think that you wouldn't notice much of a sq hit in the sub frequencies and that's running subs at or below 2 ohms is common place. Rather at or around 1k; where our hearing is most sensitive, is where you'd hear the most degredation in sq.

Red...do any competitors run 2 ohms on anthing but subs?

RedGTiVR6 · 07-20-2006, 04:22 PM

being that he's talking about infinity coax speakers and an old school punch, I don't think he'd notice that much of a difference in SQ.

As for compeditors, I'm not aware of any, but then again, I'm not all up in other peoples vehicles either...lol

I'd say that it wouldn't be audible to 95% of the people out there.

There is a jump in the distortion levels when dropping to two ohms, but again, I really don't think there's that much of a difference, especially in this guys instance.

now scott, if it were our cars, i'd agree