can I run these speakers with this amp?
Discussion
I am putting together a system but my head hurts when it comes to ohms etc .
The head unit is a Pioneer with low level (RCA) outputs which i plan on sending to this amp.
I would like that to run my front speakers which Pioneer TS-1750s coaxial speakers rated as 40watt nominal/ 250watt max and 4ohm.
And then i have picked up these mystery Subwoofers very cheap which I can not quote any figures for, one of which has a missing cone thingy..
First i assume i am going to have to figure out what ohmage they are?
The plan is to use both of them and they will just go on my back seats which are too small for humans to use but just about perfect for this application. I may have to figure out a method of securing them, but i actually think that the front seats will rest against them and hold them in place and the subs will just thump straight into your vertebrae .
Or is that pie in the sky thinking and I should only aim at using one of them and just using a bridged connection for it? I was thinking maybe i could just treat them as a pair of speakers and adjust the setting on the amp to only send bass to them, even if they only got 80watts each it would be something.
These are the settings that are available.
Is this amp up to the job..will i damage anything by hooking it up the way i am suggesting and just seeing what happens?
All advice gratefully received!
ETA: The head unit does have separate Subwoofer and speaker RCA outputs.
The head unit is a Pioneer with low level (RCA) outputs which i plan on sending to this amp.
I would like that to run my front speakers which Pioneer TS-1750s coaxial speakers rated as 40watt nominal/ 250watt max and 4ohm.
And then i have picked up these mystery Subwoofers very cheap which I can not quote any figures for, one of which has a missing cone thingy..
First i assume i am going to have to figure out what ohmage they are?
The plan is to use both of them and they will just go on my back seats which are too small for humans to use but just about perfect for this application. I may have to figure out a method of securing them, but i actually think that the front seats will rest against them and hold them in place and the subs will just thump straight into your vertebrae .
Or is that pie in the sky thinking and I should only aim at using one of them and just using a bridged connection for it? I was thinking maybe i could just treat them as a pair of speakers and adjust the setting on the amp to only send bass to them, even if they only got 80watts each it would be something.
These are the settings that are available.
Is this amp up to the job..will i damage anything by hooking it up the way i am suggesting and just seeing what happens?
All advice gratefully received!
ETA: The head unit does have separate Subwoofer and speaker RCA outputs.
Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Tuesday 10th December 19:25
That'll work fine. You don't need to obsess with matching power ratings of amps with speakers too much. You'll know when to stop turning the volume up as it'll be too loud / or distort. You can also adjust the gains on the amp to limit maximum power output of you like.
There are options depending on what the amp can do.
Option 1
Ch1 & Ch2 feed your front left and rights. You can switch the high pass filter on for these channels, and then adjust the freq dial until you get good volume , some bass, and no distortion (basically you can use the HPF to stop too much bass getting to the fronts, letting them work better on the higher frequencies, and leave the real bass work to the subs. This is all optional but really, really helps getting the most out of your speakers, and amp).
Ch3 & Ch4 feed each sub (don't worry abotu the Ohms, your amp will deal with that). Now set the switch for those channels to LPF and adjust the Freq so that the subs only do bass, and not too much mid bass. Set correctly the fronts will "hand over " the bass the the subs at the point you set the dials. Adjust away until you get a sound you like.
The gain dials can be use to limit how much volume gets sent front and rear. Start with them as the mid position.
Option 2
Ch1 & Ch2 as above
Ch3 and Ch4 bridged mono (if the amp allows - I can see the speaker terminals but I'm assuming you'll have the option of plugging on two wires in bridged mono mode for Ch3 & Ch4, rather than 4 wires in stereo mode). This is the best option as you get a bit more power out of the Ch3&4 amp in mono, and sub bass is fairly pointless in stereo. Try one sub, If you try both you'll reduce the amp load to 2 ohms Mono. Your amp can handle 2 ohm stereo, not sure about 2 ohm mono.
in a small car one of those subs is prob way more than enough.
Edit:
The way you send the audio to the amp from your head unit matters too.
You can either
- send front and rear outputs (RCA) to your amp, and , as above set the HPF and LPF frequencies etc.
Or
- Send front to the amp
- Send Sub to the amp Ch3 OR CH4
If you do the latter, you have to run the sub/s in bridged mono, and then you leave the amp filters to OFF, and then set the crossover frequencies on the head unit. This is often preferable as the head unit is easier to adjust when you are sat in the seat. But it depends on how good your head unit is. Most modern head units have good crossover settings in them as everyman and his dog has a sub these days.
There are options depending on what the amp can do.
Option 1
Ch1 & Ch2 feed your front left and rights. You can switch the high pass filter on for these channels, and then adjust the freq dial until you get good volume , some bass, and no distortion (basically you can use the HPF to stop too much bass getting to the fronts, letting them work better on the higher frequencies, and leave the real bass work to the subs. This is all optional but really, really helps getting the most out of your speakers, and amp).
Ch3 & Ch4 feed each sub (don't worry abotu the Ohms, your amp will deal with that). Now set the switch for those channels to LPF and adjust the Freq so that the subs only do bass, and not too much mid bass. Set correctly the fronts will "hand over " the bass the the subs at the point you set the dials. Adjust away until you get a sound you like.
The gain dials can be use to limit how much volume gets sent front and rear. Start with them as the mid position.
Option 2
Ch1 & Ch2 as above
Ch3 and Ch4 bridged mono (if the amp allows - I can see the speaker terminals but I'm assuming you'll have the option of plugging on two wires in bridged mono mode for Ch3 & Ch4, rather than 4 wires in stereo mode). This is the best option as you get a bit more power out of the Ch3&4 amp in mono, and sub bass is fairly pointless in stereo. Try one sub, If you try both you'll reduce the amp load to 2 ohms Mono. Your amp can handle 2 ohm stereo, not sure about 2 ohm mono.
in a small car one of those subs is prob way more than enough.
Edit:
The way you send the audio to the amp from your head unit matters too.
You can either
- send front and rear outputs (RCA) to your amp, and , as above set the HPF and LPF frequencies etc.
Or
- Send front to the amp
- Send Sub to the amp Ch3 OR CH4
If you do the latter, you have to run the sub/s in bridged mono, and then you leave the amp filters to OFF, and then set the crossover frequencies on the head unit. This is often preferable as the head unit is easier to adjust when you are sat in the seat. But it depends on how good your head unit is. Most modern head units have good crossover settings in them as everyman and his dog has a sub these days.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 11th December 11:48
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 11th December 11:52
Thats fantastic!
So i can basically just hook it all up and then adjust settings and try different methods without worrying about damaging anything (so long as i dont turn it up so loud it is obviously not enjoying itself!
And yes, i totally agree that one sub would be enough (or more than enough) But I have two of them and one each side of the car will be better for weight distribution
Honestly I am just messing about and know that this is overkill, but it will amuse me and those rear seats are just made for this
If the sound level would be the same from using two as using one, i would just use two anyway so the passenger got to 'feel the bass' too
Test fitting: they were made for this!
And in anti theft guise:
So i can basically just hook it all up and then adjust settings and try different methods without worrying about damaging anything (so long as i dont turn it up so loud it is obviously not enjoying itself!
And yes, i totally agree that one sub would be enough (or more than enough) But I have two of them and one each side of the car will be better for weight distribution
Honestly I am just messing about and know that this is overkill, but it will amuse me and those rear seats are just made for this
If the sound level would be the same from using two as using one, i would just use two anyway so the passenger got to 'feel the bass' too
Test fitting: they were made for this!
And in anti theft guise:
Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Wednesday 11th December 14:02
Yep - you can experiment quite happily. Amps and speakers don't HAVE to be power matched, and, rarely are.
Often you buy amps with significantly more power than the speakers can handle because more power means the amp can pull the speaker cone backwards and forwards with more "authority" and you get a tighter sound, and cleaner, as the amp is not being strained / pushed to it's limit.
In fact having underpowered amps does more harm as when driven too hard they "clip", which not only damages the speakers, but the amp too.
Try two subs in stereo by all means - I can see why you might want to. The numbers on yoru amp suggets only a power gain of around 40w RMS going mono, but then you are using one less speaker, so it's probably swings and roundabouts.
p.s. you are both going to, 100%, "feel" the bass with them setup like in the pic above. :-)
Often you buy amps with significantly more power than the speakers can handle because more power means the amp can pull the speaker cone backwards and forwards with more "authority" and you get a tighter sound, and cleaner, as the amp is not being strained / pushed to it's limit.
In fact having underpowered amps does more harm as when driven too hard they "clip", which not only damages the speakers, but the amp too.
Try two subs in stereo by all means - I can see why you might want to. The numbers on yoru amp suggets only a power gain of around 40w RMS going mono, but then you are using one less speaker, so it's probably swings and roundabouts.
p.s. you are both going to, 100%, "feel" the bass with them setup like in the pic above. :-)
RogerDodger said:
lots of good stuff
Actually i am still a little confused..So i have these RCA connections on the amp:
Which say inputs/output? I assumed that all four of these were inputs from the head unit but the labelling suggests otherwise.
I have the option of sending the front speakers and rear speakers/subwoofer signal from my Head unit separately via two sets of RCA cables.
I thought i was going to plug the front speakers (out from the head unit) into channels 1 and 2 and the rears (or in this case subs) into channels 3 and 4, but the labelling suggests that channels 1 and 2 (RCA connectors) are outputs, or is that just very misleading labelling?
The Manual is not very clear either as it seems to cover different models of amp and assumes the installer is not a moron (big mistake).
Cheers,
I had a mess about with it all today and initially i got no sound out of the subs but flicked a switch and all of a sudden they burst into life so i could then start to make adjustments. It turns out one of them in buggered anyway so I guess I am going to have to make do with just the one ..
Atleast it gives me a starting point, I can now fiddle and see what, if anything i need to add or change.
Thanks for your help.
I had a mess about with it all today and initially i got no sound out of the subs but flicked a switch and all of a sudden they burst into life so i could then start to make adjustments. It turns out one of them in buggered anyway so I guess I am going to have to make do with just the one ..
Atleast it gives me a starting point, I can now fiddle and see what, if anything i need to add or change.
Thanks for your help.
Gassing Station | In-Car Electronics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff