amp info

[inspire]

i need an amp....something cheap but still decent...

i have an alpine deck, it is the 7894 i believe, and i have jl audio xr series 6.5 inch speakers, what kind of an amp do i need?? i dont wanna spend very much as i am VERY LOW on cash right now...
i might add rear speakers later on too, and i dont have a sub

how many watts of continuous power do i need?? a guy at future shop told me i need at least 90W...
how much power do i need for my amp?? 800W?

[D'z Nutz]

If the guy at future shop told you you needed 90 watts, why would you want 800???

My suggestion would not to get an amp unless you actually know what you're trying to acheive, especially since decent amps don't come cheap. You don't want to get stuck with a crappy amp, otherwise your sound quality will suffer.

Figure exactly what you want your finished set up to be, before getting anything. Here's some ideas:

1) If you don't plan on getting back speakers in the future, then just spring for maybe a decent 200 watt 2 channel amp (100 watts per channel for each speaker).

2) However, if you know you're going to get back speakers later on and want to run them off an amp, you might want to go for a 4 channel 400 watt amp.

3) Or even just stick with the 2 channel amp, run your fronts off that, and your backs off your deck.

Note that most people don't even bother with the back speakers, since it can make the imaging sound a little off at times. If you think about it, how often do you sit in the back seat while you're driving? That's why you're going to want to focus all the sound towards the front seats, especially the driver's seat. I guess the only reason why you'd want back speakers is if you drive people around lots and they sit in the back...

4) If you want to get a small sub later on, you might want to get the 4 channel amp at about 400-500 watts. Run the front speakers off the 2 channels, and bridge the other two (for a combined 200-250 watts) for a smalll sub.

5) If you want to get a decent sub, the best solution would be to get the 200 watt amp for your fronts, and a separate, more powerful amp to power your subs, depending on the required power.

As you can see, there are many ways of doing this, but unless you know what you want, you can end up spending a lot of uncessessary money and wasting a lot of time. Figure out what you want, and save a bit of money, otherwise you might be disappointed with your outcome if you rush into it without good planning.

Just a few ideas to think about

[D'z Nutz]

Holy shit, I rambled on that one, didn't I? Hahaha!!

[inspire]

thanks for ur help!! that was really helpful

[D'z Nutz]

Not a problem! I noticed in your thread in Marketplace the-240sx-guy has a Pheonix Gold 2 channel amp for $150. If you're strapped for cash and decide that you only want your front speakers to run off an amp, you might want to look into that. Pheonix Gold amps are very, very decent quality, most of which are extremely underrated.

I installed my cousins system and he powered his 2 subs with a 150 watt pheonix gold amp and it POUNDED. We actually had to re-tune everything a few weeks after the install because it was waaay too loud. His sub volume was at it's very lowest and you still couldn't hear any vocals. I believe it's actually still too loud. Just an idea of what Pheonix Gold amps are capable of

[inspire]

alright, i am looking into that...