2 Bad Amps = 1 Good One?

[B_to_C]

Obviously not.... But this is what I have to work with...

And I want them to drive these...

Is this possible? I was thinking one amp per sub. I would mount the amps behind my side panels then have some speaker wire terminals mounted on the panel, so I would just connect the speaker wire to the back of the box. That way I could take the box out easier....and people wouldn't be AS tempted to walk off with it.

Ok, I know it's a crappy setup, but I bought the box and a (now dead) 300 watt jenson amp out of this guys trunk for $100 3 years ago. It worked fine for 2 years, then the amp died. the Pyramid amp was a freebie and I picked up the MTX amp up off of a friend. I tried running both woofers with the pyramid and that straight up sucked, that's why I got the MTX. But looking at it, it's only rated at 280 watts....that's why I was thinking one amp per woofer.

So is this do-able? I KNOW you guys are going to suggest buying a nice expensive amp, probably new 10"s, maybe a new box. And that's all fine, if you want to suggest new components that's all well and good, I will ook into those and see if I can afford any of it. Also please say if you had to choose, would you upgrade the amp or the woofers first.

And if I run the two amps, do I run two seperate power wires or do i just split one right before the amps?

Thanks

 

[Z3PR]

Obviously not.... But this is what I have to work with...

And I want them to drive these...

Is this possible? I was thinking one amp per sub. I would mount the amps behind my side panels then have some speaker wire terminals mounted on the panel, so I would just connect the speaker wire to the back of the box. That way I could take the box out easier....and people wouldn't be AS tempted to walk off with it.

Ok, I know it's a crappy setup, but I bought the box and a (now dead) 300 watt jenson amp out of this guys trunk for $100 3 years ago. It worked fine for 2 years, then the amp died. the Pyramid amp was a freebie and I picked up the MTX amp up off of a friend. I tried running both woofers with the pyramid and that straight up sucked, that's why I got the MTX. But looking at it, it's only rated at 280 watts....that's why I was thinking one amp per woofer.

So is this do-able? I KNOW you guys are going to suggest buying a nice expensive amp, probably new 10"s, maybe a new box. And that's all fine, if you want to suggest new components that's all well and good, I will ook into those and see if I can afford any of it. Also please say if you had to choose, would you upgrade the amp or the woofers first.

And if I run the two amps, do I run two seperate power wires or do i just split one right before the amps?

Thanks

Depending on how it's wired, you can drop the ohms down and get more power out of that MTX amp. Are your subs SVC or DVC ?? Of the amps you have, I'd go with the MTX.

 

[B_to_C]

Depending on how it's wired, you can drop the ohms down and get more power out of that MTX amp. Are your subs SVC or DVC ?? Of the amps you have, I'd go with the MTX

How would I wire it to get more power out of it? And I don't know if these subs are SVC or DVC. I even had to think about what that meant for a minute, I came up with Single and Dual Voice Coil (if memory serves), but regardless... I don't know

 

[Z3PR]

Easiest way is too bridge your amp. Both positive to left positive and both negitives to right negitive. I'll assume your subs are SVC.

 

[Greg72]

Well I'll give you credit.....at least you know what you've got, and understand that there will be limitations with the current equipment. But like you said most of the stuff was "F-R-E-E-B-I-E" or close to it, so who cares???

The Pyramid amp is probably the crappiest item there, so I'd do whatever it takes to NOT use it. Sell it to someone that drives an import for $20 It doesn't sound like you've tried the MTX amp with that box yet....so that should be your next project.

Unlike Z3PR, I don't get excited about playing "the ohm game"... there is no such thing as "Free Power" in an amplifier. When you start running super low ohm loads, you are getting a "bigger number" in terms of watts, but the overall sound is not guaranteed to be any better, and you run the risk of overheating the amp and burning it up. Speakers are a dynamic load, and the impedence of a speaker varies with the frequency it's playing. A speaker rated at 4 ohms may in fact only show the amp 1.5 ohms at certain frequencies.....which is why it's dangerous to play the ohm game unless you know quite a bit of detail about the components.

In any case, I'd say wire up the MTX at a conventional ohm load (to both speakers) and let your ears be the judge. If that still sounds like crap, I'd suggest a better amp first and then better subs second. Ultimately, you'll need to swap out BOTH to get the true benefit from the money you'll spend on either one.

 

[B_to_C]

Thanks guys,

I decided to purchase this amp. It seems like it will be a step up...

I like the fact that it has a cooling fan, as it will be mounted between the side panel and the bedside. The MTX doesn't have a fan, so I thought it might overheat.

 

[mrk5]

You know we could cut slots where the amp is mounted to help it cool.

 

[B_to_C]

You know we could cut slots where the amp is mounted to help it cool.

And we will...... And did you catch in my original post where i said

There will be speaker wire terminals mounted on the panel

These panels are going to be TRICK

 

[Jonny-K5]

that kenwood amp will do a fine job,but i would have guessed that the MTX amp would have worked good too. those legacy subs dont need a bunch of power to sound good. but im sure that kenwood will have a cleaner signal so it'll sound that much better. good luck w/ the install. sounds like it'll be pretty trick.

 

[B_to_C]

Ultimate question post...

So do you guys think I should replace the speaker wires from the head unit to the speakers while I'm at it? I will have everything ripped out anyways, is it worth upgrading? The stock wiring isn't copper....does it make that much of a difference?

And I saw in that other post that the worst thing you can do to your speakers is underdrive them. Should I use the MTX amp to drive my rear speakers? Or all four speakers? -But then I wouldn't have f/r control right?

Any suggestions for rear speakers? (to be mounted behind side panel)

 

[Greg72]

Well if you use the MTX amp, for the seperates you will want to use a decent quality speaker wire all around...

If you wire up a 2-channel amp to drive 4 speakers (which it sounds like) the trick you can use to "quasi-fade" the rears is to buy some BIG wattage resistors and run them in-line with the rear speakers. This will have the effect of making them slightly quieter than the fronts (depends on the resistance you choose) and it might take a couple of tries to get the balance the way you like it.... Mainly, you want to make sure that the resistors you buy are large enough to handle the power rating of the amp....they WILL get warm, but if you buy ones that are too small....they will get HOT!...

Just for reference on the physical size I'm talking about, the ones I used were sort of rectangular shaped and were roughly 1/2" x 1/2" x 3" long. YMMV


.

 

[B_to_C]

Thanks Greg you're really helping me out.

-I'm surprised no one has suggested some rear speakers yet

And one more question: Can I mount the bandpass box with the ports pointing down at the floor. I know the point of the ports is to let air pressure out, so would doing this sound bad or damage anything?

 

[Greg72]

As long as the ports can get air without restriction, it won't matter which way the port actually faces.

You may (or may not) like the sound you get by firing the subs into the floor...it will help to "couple" the bass into the vehicle so the effect should be MORE bass. This is a trick that some shops use when installing into convertibles, since SO much of the bass is lost into open air.

Like most things "audio".....let your ears be the final judge. It won't take long to play around with a few mounting positions and decide what sounds best to you.

.

 

[B_to_C]

Well since no one suggested some speakers...I just went out and bought some today. They are Pioneer 6x8" 4 way...

And I have decided I am going to use the MTX amp to drive the above speakers (rear) and just let my head unit drive the front dash speakers. I will now be using TWO amps, so I picked up a power ditrubution block today as well.