Hello everyone!

So I bought the JDM Double din kit, and an AVH-X3800BHS. Total with the accessories I'm already up and over $600.00.

I've been told that I should get another amp, even if I'm not getting new speakers because of how bad the Bose amp is.. so my question to you is:

1) Does it need to be a 4 or 5 channel amp?
2) What's a big time, low budget amp that would be sufficient?

I'm not trying to cheap out but in the end, I got the AVH because I liked it, and my Bose cd players was broken. I can't justify after an install spending $1,200.00 when all I really wanted was a new CD player that works and I'm not getting new speakers + sub. I picked one that was $234.00 because I figured I should get what I liked but I didn't think it would turn into spending this much, even after dumping $335.00 on the jdm double din kit.

Recommendations?! Tia guys.

 

Yer gonna want a 4-channel amp. The Alpine KTP-445U 4 channel will be more than sufficient. I have this and it's SUPER compact and surprisingly powerful. To give you an example, my stereo (appradio 3) before this amp had to be at around 36 (on a volume scale that goes to 40!!) To hear it properly. After the amp, 13 is almost unlistenably loud.

New they go for about ~$150, but I've seen them used on eBay for as low as $50.

 

You're awesome! I was hoping to hear something like this.

So do our cars not come with a stock sub? I have an 06 coupe. And if they do, do I not need a 5 channel amp for the 4 speakers + sub?

Sorry I'm an audio noob.

 

Coupes do not come stock with a sub.

 

Bose-equipped coupes come with a pair of 6x9 speakers on the back dash. Non-bose coupes are just the front door and rear side speakers.

Regardless, best budget option is to just get a 4-channel amp in the 300-400 watt range, power the front doors and rear 6x9's if it's a bose system (no power to rear sides) or do the front doors and rear sides if it's a non-bose coupe.

 

Anyone have any input on the Alpine KTP 445U mentioned vs the Rockford Fosgate Prime R300X4

 

Thanks Wrath!

 

If you have the stock bose HU then the output for the speakers is only line level output, and not powered. That output goes back to the stock amplifier, which amplifies the signal and sends it out to the speakers. If you were planning on using the aftermarket head unit with the stock bose amp you would need either a line output converter or rca conversion connectors in the dash. while an aftermarket amp would be the best solution, if all you're wanting is a new cd player and not to beef up the system, you could just bypass the amp altogether. ie run speaker wires from the head unit speaker outputs (the purple, green, gray, and brown wire sets) and connect them to either the speakers themselves or the speaker output wires the come out of the bose amp. Just make sure you disconnect the plug from the stock amp. I realize your an audio noob, but this solution would be no more complicated than installing an aftermarket amp.

 

This solution is great for something like a single cab truck, but I find for the space of a 2+2 or sedan it's extremely lacking. I've tried it and the acoustics just don't work. Of course, I like to scream at the top of my lungs to Brittany Spears songs, so it may be different for everyone.

 

Not quite correct - yes it's "line level" coming out of the bose HU, but it's also a differential-balanced signal, which most aftermarket amps can't accept, and no (to my knowledge) aftermarket headunits output. That's why you need the ROEM-NIS2 signal converter instead of a simple line output converter.

But yeah, since the bose amp is so weak, you'll probably get the same volume output running from an aftermarket headunit's internal amp as you do from the bose amp.