Should get 2 amps or 1 multichannel to drive SW and Front back speakers

[Branong]

As above. which will be more costly? and also efficiency wise.

what is more recommended? Secondly ar.. was reading some specs

for the amps. Lets say example a 4 channel 1000W amp. Means

how much power would it supply to a channel? Is it 250W?

 

Thanks.

[Hyun]

my advice is to get enough channels to power the number of speakers u want in the manner you want: e.g.

 

fronts passive + sub = 3 channels

fronts active 2-way + sub = 5 channels

fronts active 3-way + sub = 7 channels

 

listen to cars if u donno which u want.

 

there are those who believe having fewer channels per map delivers better sound. then again there are those who dispute it. so since this is 50-50 u might as well get a multi-channel amp to save space and $.

 

make sure power rating RMS matches speaker RMS or is higher.

[Blue2]

if the 4 amp got 4 channel how to use?

[Paikia_rav]

4 channel amp then each channel for each speaker loh...

 

Left front

Right front

Left rear

Right rear

 

Another monoblock or bridged 2 channel for SubW will suffice.

[Hyun]

most people will advise either

a) bridging the 4 into 2 channels to play front passive,

b) separating all 4 to play front active 2-way

 

(both these require another sub amp channel)

 

or c) bridging 2 channels to run sub, the other 2 run front passive.

that's what i'm currently using.

 

if u have a 5-channel amp, u can do all the above, and have a 5th channel for sub.

 

as i mentioned, there are others who believe separate amps running only 1 or 2 channels each give better sound quality. if u follow that belief, having anything more than 2 channels isn't a good idea....

[Kwongwing]

Hi!

If u really have that belief - can only go monoblock all the way

Only one (1) channel per amp

[Hyun]

my belief is that it hardly matters for car audio. but of course i'm not playing that kind of high level stuff so i'm in no position to comment. but i'm just echoing the beliefs of those who play high level.

[Kwongwing]

Hyun,

Everything makes a difference .... even a little things like a connector

It just that the "higher end" systems seem to be able to "exhibit" the difference more that's all

[Hyun]

well ur good ole neighbour Jack didn't believe in dumping much $$ into his speaker cables. so i dunno how much snake oil is swirling in those mono or duo-channel amps ... but then again, jack's using duo-channels i believe. but amongst that group of friends, quite a few are of the idea that there might be a snake oiling some of these amps.

[Kwongwing]

Cables and amps are 2 separate issues

Do note that Jack still swears by the amps he is using - and he is using all the almost top of the line for the brand of amps he is using

 

As for speaker cables or any other cabling, you should not "dump" too much into it - work on percentages - IMO as a guide, cables should constitute about 10 - 20% of your system's cost.

 

So if you have a $10K system - aim to spend at least about 1K on cabling needs

Take me for an example - assuming I use speaker cables costing $5/m. Just to run for my 3-way setup I require 6 x 6 metres = 36 metres x 5 = $180/xx, and that is just cabling for the front spkrs. So everything, must be taken in perspective - working via percentages is a good guide.

 

However, it is a worthwhile invest to buy "reasonably good" cables - as it would most likely be a long-term investment.