5 replies to this topic

[Mini_Spanx]

depends on the recomended watts/rms rating of the speakers, a too powerful amp would make them distort twice as much and prone to blowing them up. also quality of wire doesnt really have much to do with it but then again if you have good quality wire and connections etc it gave give you better quality sound. JVC head units are very good IMO but the last two i saw both had problems with the cd spin motor. :caa:

[shiny_car]

an outboard amp will go a long way towards improving the performance of your speakers. the inbuilt amps in HUs are pretty piss poor. power may be around 20WRMS; but worse still, it's not gutsy power, and a HU will struggle to provide much bass without distorting.

the crackling you're hearing is probably the inbuilt amps clipping (being pushed beyond clean power limits into distortion). it may also be cos you're feeding too much bass to the speakers, causing them to overexcurt and distort that way.

an outboard amp will provide more clean power, with much more headroom for solid midbass/bass. you should use the inbuilt highpass xovers in the amp to filter out the really deep subbass; by removing it, you'll improve the speakers' power handling further and they'll louder with the frequencies that they better cope with (ie: above 100Hz).

$400 will buy a very good amp. you could look at the coustic range of 2-channel amps. top value for money and will match nicely with those MBQs. a better amp is the alpine V12 series; the MRV-T320 has RRP$499 (so streetprice may be not much more than $400) and offer more than enough power and have a high quality xover.

[Mickee]

Do you have a sub in mind?

Maybe look at a Cadence Q4000 (4 channel amp, 4x60wrms)
or a Coustic (I think it is a 460QE??) very similar specs... They are both around that price range.

[shiny_car]

yeah, look too at that 4-channel coustic mentioned (and i think it's a 480QE).

alternatively, look at entry level amps from alpine (MRP-F240 RRP$299), phoenix gold (octane R series), etc. their limitation though, may be the HP filter, using a fixed-frequency rather than allowing you to vary it to a setting you most want (however, the fixed-freq is usually suitable for most 6" speaker setups).

i personally avoid the likes of the jaycar/response amps. they are good value, but lack finesse and have big footprints (the AA-0435 4x100 does, anyway).

good luck