Car Audio

[Drunkship]

It appears as though my father is buying me a 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (90,000 miles) for only $1,100. I know I'm spoiled, but my family members are sick and tired of driving me to work everyday.

I have about $400 saved up that I'm going to spend on a sound system for my car. After much reading on Circuit City I've decided I want the following:

Stereo

Sony In-Dash CD Player with MP3 Auxiliary Input


- 52W x 4 peak power
- CD-R/CD-RW compatible
- 30 station presets
- 17W RMS built-in amp
- 3-band equalizer
- Detachable face

Speakers

Sony 6" x 9" Speakers


- 6" x 9" speakers
- 3-way design
- 260 watts peak power
- 30Hz-30kHz

The stereo is $99.99 and the speakers are "Buy two pair of select speakers, get the 2nd at 50% off" so $119.99 for four of them.

This leaves me roughly $180 to spend on an amplifier (I plan on saving up to buy a subwoofer after this of course) and I want to get the best and most suited one for the rest of my would-be system.

My questions are:

1) How many watts should the amplifier be so it can handle everything else in it? It doesn't have to be over the top in watts, just enough so nothing will blow.

2) What is the difference between a 2-Channel amplifier and a 4-Channel amplifier?

3) Which would be best suited for the system in the car a 2-Channel amplifier or a 4-Channel amplifier?

Answers would be most appreciated as I am 17 and know next to nothing about audio systems. I figured the majority of you all here are older and would know a lot more than me.

Also, my friend can easily install all these things which is why I'm ordering them off a website.

[xbiggy]

ok a 2 channel amp will power as it says 2 channels or speakers and a 4 will power 4.some amps can have the channels bridged so if you had a 4 channel amp you could power 2 speakers off 2 channels then bridge the other 2 channels into 1 to say power a sub.in your case you could get a 4 channel amp power 2 speakers and a sub off it then use your head unit to say power the 2 front speakers. as for power i would say that a 4 x 100 watt would be plenty as with your speakers you need to halve the max power to get a true power handling capacity.

hope that helps and happy listening

[Drunkship]

Thanks a lot. I was just browsing Circuit City again and all of their 4-Channel amplifiers are basically just 60 watts x 4. Maybe I'll just buy my friend's old Sony 600 watt amplifier off him for $100. That should be more than enough watts. If I were to guess I'd say it was a 2-Channel amplifier.

[360rulz]

i just wanna know why not save it and put a good sound system in a decent car, cuz that car's almost dead

[1@ngrydude]

dude...word of advice...dont get sony xplodes....they r horrible...stick with audiobahn or pioneer

[1@ngrydude]

also...a 4 cannel amp is mainly for vocals...so that would be good to run four 6x9s, you cant pump to much bass through them...if u do end up getting a subwoofer make note of the RMS wattage...thats constant running wattage..if u run one sub get about a 600 watt amp...thats more than enough power to bump a 800RMSwatt 12"or10" inch subwoofer....if u want deep bass go with a 12 in a ported box...if u want quick hitting bass go with a 10" in a sealed box...use the subs only for bass and the 6x9s only for vocals...u may have to get 2 amps...a 600watt for the subs...and maybe a 160-200watt for the 6x9s
i got 2 pioneer 6x9s (30) a audiobahn 12" sub (80) a sealed box..made it myself..(30) and a 300watt jbl amp..b-day present...

[Scotracer]

So how is your system amped, is the JBL just powering the sub? The wattage coming out of your headunit is sufficient for the 6x9's but if you really want a mid range kick i'd suggest getting another amp. Just like I have suggested for drunkship