What amp do i need?

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coltontrout
coltontrout Posts: 3
edited June 2011 in Car Audio & Electronics
I just replaced by front door speakers with 5X7 DB571 speakers. they have a 160 watt peak and a 60 watt continuous power. I may later replace my rear speakers. I also have a 12 Inch sub with a 500/1 JL audio monoblock subwoofer amp so i need to make my high and mids louder to help even out the bass. i have a kenwood exceleron head unit. this is all in an 2002 mazda protege5 hatchback. so could you please recommend a good amp for my door speakers and the best way to install it. thank you.
Post edited by coltontrout on

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  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited May 2011
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    Exceleron? Interesting.

    Look for something in the 50-75 watt per channel range. Brands like Kicker, NYC, Rockford Fosgate, Alpine and Memphis are the ones you want to look at. They all make very solid stuff.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
  • Vital
    Vital Posts: 747
    edited May 2011
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    Saying "McIntosh is a good brand, check out collections..." is like offering GT-R to someone who went into the dealer to buy Sentra lol.

    And +1 to what MacLeod said.... I'm just not sure about NYC brand, never heard of it.
    2008 Nissan Altima
    Kenwood DNX 5140
    Arc Audio IDX and XEQ
    Polk Audio SR6500 active and SR124-dvc sealed
    Polk Audio PA500.4 and PA1200.1
  • coltontrout
    coltontrout Posts: 3
    edited May 2011
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    Sorry I misspelled the name of my head unit. It's a kenwood excelon. It's their higher end of head units I'm told.
  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited May 2011
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    A watt is a watt. You pay $1700 for a 400 watt amp, youre a moron or simply have way too much money to spend.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
  • arun1963
    arun1963 Posts: 1,797
    edited May 2011
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    The MCC404M is perhaps the ultimate snob value amp. Mind you its a damn good amp.

    I went from my 4x85 watts rms PA 500.4 and 1x200 watts Polk mono block to 4x130 watts rms and 1x400 watts Genesis. Is my sound better? Heck yes, its louder and I have more head room. The two Genesis amps cost me under $ 1,200. Would I pay $ 1,400 for the McIntosh?......ummmmm no.

    Paying more for additional cleaner watts makes sense. Paying astronomical sums for the same 'wattage' doesn't make sense.
  • inspiredsports
    inspiredsports Posts: 5,501
    edited May 2011
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    post #3 by cagenicolus reported as spam for removal
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  • jay27
    jay27 Posts: 105
    edited June 2011
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    arun1963 wrote: »
    The MCC404M is perhaps the ultimate snob value amp. Mind you its a damn good amp.

    I went from my 4x85 watts rms PA 500.4 and 1x200 watts Polk mono block to 4x130 watts rms and 1x400 watts Genesis. Is my sound better? Heck yes, its louder and I have more head room. The two Genesis amps cost me under $ 1,200. Would I pay $ 1,400 for the McIntosh?......ummmmm no.

    Paying more for additional cleaner watts makes sense. Paying astronomical sums for the same 'wattage' doesn't make sense.

    I thought the PA500.4 was 4x125 watts?

    Are you using 400 watts on a SR124 sub? Is it enough power?

    I wanted to get the SR124 but was wondering if the 500 watts I have for it will be enough?

    And regarding the SR6500. If going active, is 4x100 sufficient?
  • jay27
    jay27 Posts: 105
    edited June 2011
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    jay27 wrote: »
    I thought the PA500.4 was 4x125 watts?

    Are you using 400 watts on a SR124 sub? Is it enough power?

    I wanted to get the SR124 but was wondering if the 500 watts I have for it will be enough?

    And regarding the SR6500. If going active, is 4x100 sufficient?

    Upon further review, I see the PA500.4 is 4x125 at 2 ohms...
  • arun1963
    arun1963 Posts: 1,797
    edited June 2011
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    jay27 wrote: »
    Are you using 400 watts on a SR124 sub? Is it enough power?

    I wanted to get the SR124 but was wondering if the 500 watts I have for it will be enough?

    And regarding the SR6500. If going active, is 4x100 sufficient?

    I'm running a 12" Momo not the SR. 400 watts is a big jump for me. I ran the sub off 200 watts for 3 years and never lacked for sub bass presence nor impact. Then again I have my mids and tweets cut across nearly 8 octaves. It's relative how much of the lower end I need to complete the sound. I have to keep everything balanced.

    I think the SR sub would be great off 500 watts. Would 800 watts be better? Depends on how you set it up. You can setup the 800 watts to sound louder than 500 all the time, or you can keep it about the same at normal levels and just have more impact on the low end attacks.

    The Ultra 4 is rated for 4x100 but I'm quite sure that it does more like 4x130. The PA was 4x85. With lower gain setting on the Genesis, I have higher db's and more headroom.

    If you're thinking of going active, make sure you have plenty of dsp to play around with. Xover selections, slopes, time alignment, 10-12 band eq independent control over L/R is better.

    You don't have to have all this, having more tuning toolswill better equip you tackle the effects of a crappy environment.