You ask a couple of questions, and I'll try to cover all the bases:
In searching for an amp, don't worry about the peak power of either your
speakers or the amp. What's important is the RMS, or continuous power.
It sounds like you would probably want a 50x4 amp for your 35 and 40 watt
max RMS speakers. The gain level on each channel can be set so that the
volume to each pair of speakers is equal when the fader is centered.
The important thing to remember is that it's always better to get MORE
power than your speakers can handle than less (at a given distortion
figure, hopefully less than .5% THD--the best are below .1%), because
while you CAN blow a speaker by overpowering it, it's very difficult.
It's quite easy, however, to destroy a speaker by having too much
distortion, which is what an underpowered amp will do (the gain control
shouldn't have to be set above 3/4 to get the max. volume you can stand).
As for the input issue, you will need a Y-cable to split the output
(renders the fader useless), or get speaker-level to RCA converters. If
you use two sets of these (I think they're around $15/set), your fader
will continue to operate. You could also consider getting just a two
channel amp and running the other set of speakers off your head unit, but
it sounds like you want more (clean) volume than that.
I have a Sony 4-channel (mine has been replaced by the 504x, if you care),
and in my '99 CC, it will fit under the passenger seat if I remove a very
small amount (about 1/2 square inch) of the plastic cover for the seat
mount.
My apologies for the length of this post
David Gloff
Loaded Intense Blue '99 Dakota Sport 318 5-speed 3.92SG 4x2
On Sun, 10 Jan 1999 HKUSP40578@aol.com wrote:
> I want to start looking for/pricing amps for my 93 Dakota 4x4 V6. I do all
> the work on my Dakota(that I can), but I am not too knowledgable when it
> comes to amplifying my system.
> I currently have a Pioneer DEH45DH CD deck(35x4)with one set of preamp
> outputs. In the doors, I have Pioneer 6.5" 2way speakers, that have a
> recommended power range of 2-35 watts, with a peak handling power of 120
> watts. In the rear, I have Pioneer 5x7 3way speakers, that have a
> recommended power range of 2-40 watts, with a peak handling power of 150
> watts. I did put all this in myself.
> I need to know, what is best best power of an amp to get, so I WILL NOT
> blow my speakers. I would like a 4 channel amp, so that I can power all 4
> speakers with one amp. Will my 1 set of preamp outputs determine if I can
> only use one amp? Would getting 2-2 channel amps be better? Also,
> do amps just increase the power going to the speakers or do they also
> increase the sound quality coming out of the speakers?
> Thanks alot to those who can help me understand stereo amps.
> Kyle
> 93 Dakota 4x4 V6
>
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