Hi all,
I dont know much about the RMS and Peak Amps. I have some (waiting to get installed) and was looking into buying some for the rear. I already have a 1000w amp for a 12in sub installed.

My question is should I amp the new speakers? I want to but im not sure which amp to go with. I was thinking something like this Power Acoustik GT4-400 the RMS rating is the same as the 629i speakers so that should be fine right?

Is it ok to go over the RMS rating? or should I try to match them as much as possible?

thanks.

 

Peak watts = what ignorant teenagers measure in a parking lot, and consequently, what amps marketed to them typically advertise.

RMS watts = what an amp can actually produce.

Going over with RMS watts is good, it means the amp has headroom, so it's able to work cooler and with better sound quality. The only danger is the operator cranking the gains up to high and causing damage. Basically if it doesn't sound distorted, you're not damaging the speaker. Once there's distortion, bad things happen.

Matching is a good way to avoid having too much power to the speaker, but that gives no headroom. I've got 150w going to 125w speakers and 500w going to a 300w subwoofer. I just make sure not to push into the distortion territory.

 

When looking at amps, make sure that your 1000w amp doesn't only have a 20a fuse in it with 10ga inputs. simple formula to see what fuses should be in an amp and in your inline fuse on the power wire. power rating(watts) / car's battery voltage(typically rated at 13.6-14.4 volts by electronics manufacturers) = fuse rating.

stay away from off brand amps, most of the time you'll probably be wasting your money. Kicker,JL,Alpine, Infinity, etc.. good amps

Like Wrathernaut said, keep your RMS output on the amp close/over the speakers RMS rating and you'll be good. Keep in mind your gain on the amp is not a volume control, it controls the amp's output to the speakers and too much output will create smoke and that costs a lot to re-install into the amp!

 

^ This.

And yeah, any amp over 300w that doesn't accept 4 gauge wire isn't really putting out that much power, or is creating a fire hazard.

 

NEVER go by the peak rating. Another big factor is the THD. The lower, the better. That means the power is cleaner and you can safely run more power to the speakers. I'd try to stay at 1% or under. Imo, JL makes the best products for the money. Alpine makes good amps as well. Rule of thumb with car audio, you get what you pay for... stay away from audiobahn, way over rated power ratings and they sound quality is crap. That's why they are so cheap

 

I would disagree with this to an extent. Most 500w amps will have 8ga inputs and that's acceptable in most vehicles with a 17ft run which is what most wiring kits come with. But definitely anything over 500w should have 4ga inputs.

 

It's not so much that 8 gauge is too thin to be safe (8 gauge can definitely support 300w for anything shorter than a limousine), but just as an indicator, just like seeing those 5w fuses on "1000w" amps.

 

thanks for input guys. i ordered a Infinity Reference 475a Amp for the interior speakers and a 4 guage 4 channel wire kit. I already have a 1000w sony xploit amp in the car (with and 8 gauge power and ground...bad, i know). can i splice the 4gauge power usingthis Tshape DB into 2 4guage to hook up to the 2 amps?

I have this sub and was planning to bridge the amp for these for max power. Amp says 400 RMS and sub says 500 RMS so I should be fine doing that (I think).

what do you think?

 

The type R is a dual 4ohm which means it will run at 2ohms. That Sony amp won't run mono at 2ohms. Or the sub can be wired to run at 8ohms which will only get 200watts, that's not safe. Increasing volume with being that underpowered will be more dangerous the louder you go

 

1400w is far too much for the 8 gauge you've currently got running, but you are fine to replace the 8 gauge with 4 gauge from the battery and ground and split it just fine for the two amps.

 

Thanks. So that what I'm going to do. Run the 4 gauge and split it to two 4 gauges to the amps using that t splitter.

 

just read your post. are you saying that I shouldnt run this amp and sub together? Or I just need to wire it properly(not bridge it so I can stay at 2ohms)? I didnt buy this, my brother just had it laying around since he took it out of his car when he sold it.

 

Don't run them together. Find a single channel amp that runs near 500watts at 2ohms

 

Ok thanks for that info. I'm going to upgrade that amp down the line when I get some more $$. For now I'm gonna leave it and put a 4g power wire and ground along with everything else I said I was doing.

It's been working fine the way it is (not bridged), in my car and my brothers.