First of all, I'm new to this board and also a proud new owner of a 20GB Rio MK2a. I've been watching the board since I ordered my Rio on xmas last year. I'm happy to see the camaraderie on this board. It's refreshing compared to the mindless slander on most other bulletin boards.

Anyway, my question is about amps. I know nothing about them and only purchased one because the Rio requires it. I'm looking into a Jensen amp since they're cheap and I've heard good things. I still have to decide whether I want a 400 or 600 watt, but I've heard that more powerful amps would damage my factory speakers ('98 Honda Civic). Is this true? I would have thought that some process would regulate the power output so that the speakers wouldn't have any unneccesary strain on them, but I might be wrong. If this is true I'll just go with the lower powered 400 watt amp.

Any suggestions?

Hi and welcome!

I am in the same situation as you. I'm no audiophile or car stereo expert. I also would never turn the volume up to window-popping levels, so I didn't worry about the speakers. But I am an electronics engineer, which helps to figure things out.

For the semi-deaf (like myself) the quality differences between amps are not noticable (or at least only barely). Besides, in a car you find so many other things deteriorating the sound quality, that the amplifiers are imperfections get lost in the (road...) noise. The cheap amps mostly rely on integrated drivers that are pretty much defining the quality, not the amp design. So I went by one simple criteria: CHEAP! I paid $60 for a 4-chanel amp. It says 80W per channel, but that's marketing hype. Besides I won't turn it up (see above).

I'm not quite done installing it in my Honda Insight, but I'll keep you posted...

Oh, I may end up replacing the factory speakers, just because they are sooooo baaaaad that even I can notice!

Armin

i am sure everyone has different opinions here..but you asked, so here's mine: Save your money and stay away from Jensen's. A cheap amp (no matter the wattage) will blow speakers before a good clean amp everyday. Its like buying a sports car, but putting cheap tires on it.

oh, and welcome to the empeg club!

I have to agree here.. try and go for QUALITY over QUANTITY. Just because it has a lot of watts does not mean it will sound good. Stick with a name brand if you can, in the long run it may be worth it to spend a few extra bucks to get a name brand instead of a no name.

I use a Clarion 300 watt amp for mine, complete with the stock speakers in my car and I am satisfied. Of course, replacing the speakers with some that are rated to handle whatever watt amp you use would be a good thing, you dont really have to worry about blowing the speakers then. Not to mention that a good set of speakers will probably sound better than whatever cones the manufacturer put in your vehicle originally.

My advice - for what its worth ....

The real benefit to sound quality will be delivered by installing a sub woofer or bass tube.

For the least cost option, I would pick up a named brand amp to power your factory speakers, with an extra channel to power a tube or sub. Bass tubes arent that expensive and will add more value in terms of sound quality than upgrading the factory speakers.

Anyone agree / disagree ?

If budgets persist

welcome, welcome.

i would have to agree, quality over quantity. especially with amps, even if you are trying to go for a big sound that is very loud, a much lower rated (wattage), high quality amp will sound better and louder (and cleaner) than some total cheap p.o.s. Of course nothing will sound all that great until you put some decent speakers in place of the factory ones. I don't care what anyone says about amps or head units or any other part of any kind of stereo, the speakers are the most important part for sound quality.

jmho.

//matt

try here it's an ok (not the best) site for beginners.

I agree with adding a subwoofer. Then you can cut the low freq. from the stock speakers. Two benefits from this include clearer sounding speakers and less probability of blowing them.

Save your money and stay away from Jensen's.

Do you have any specific reasons for this? I've been happy with my Jensen amps.

I've heard that more powerful amps would damage my factory speakers ('98 Honda Civic). Is this true?

Any amplifier can blow any speaker if you don't set it up and use it correctly.

The truth is that a more powerful amplifier gives more clean headroom than a less powerful one. You just adjust its gains down properly so that it does not overpower the speakers. A more powerful amp, when properly adjusted, is less likely to blow speakers than a less powerful one.

The adjustment, of course, is critical. Details are here. Scan the page for the words "Properly adjust the input gain level on the amplifier(s)".

Any opinions on Alpine amps? I don't know the model off the top of my head, but I have a 3-ish year old Alpine laying around that is (if memory serves) a 4x25 + 80 watt sub output. I've got a regular cab Dodge Ram and I'm just looking for the empeg to sound nice for now and maybe hook up a sub down the road. Not looking to win any sound competitions or set off car alarms (I've already proven that my Cummins can set alarms off anyway ). Thanks..

Tony,

What model jensen amp do you have?

I really wasn't looking to spend a large amount of money (to get most name brand 4-channel amps you need to spend over 200, plus the cost of install, wiring, etc.) I'm only looking to get equal or better quality than my current stereo. It's a pioneer deh-1000 with a built in 4x45 amp. You would think that even a cheap jensen amp would work better than this.

I run two amps, I don't know the model numbers exactly, but I think it's a Jensen 4100 or perhaps a 4150 (don't remember which) driving my main speakers, and I think a 2150 driving my sub in bridged mono. I've had no complaints yet.

More opinions: 1) Any brand amp will do. Alpine is "better" than Jensen, but most "non-audiophiles" could not tell the difference in a blind comparison of sound quality.

2) Both too much power and too much distorted signal will blow a speaker. With your factory speakers, you will hear funny sounding noises coming from the speakers only after you turn them up to a high volume. This is the limitations of the speakers, not the amp. It would be you ignoring the odd noises coming from the speakers that might blow them, not the amp itself. Only when you were pushing the limits of the amp would the quality of the amp come into play, and it sounds like you won't get any amp to that level.

3) Features for you may be more important than anything else. You will need to decide how many speakers you wish to run, if you want a sub someday, etc. This will tell you how much power you want, how many channels you want, if you want a crossover or throughput built in, etc. I'd talk to a stereo shop you trust to see what options you think you want. Crutchfield catalogs also do a good job explaining some of these terms.

4) New speakers are usually the biggest improvement you can make, but in your case with only using the Empeg, you need an amp too. I guess you knew that though. Almost any outboard amp is better than what’s in a head unit, true.

5) I don’t have much recommendations here, if $200 is a lot to you for stereo equipment. I guess I spent 10 times that already and I’m not done yet, so any other opinions I have are going to be heavily biased. But I’d say get a great amp, do it once, and own it for a very long time.

(warning huge picture sizes) http://www.sallee.org/greg/Eclipse/Eclipse.htm

I have an Alpine V12 and no regrets.

Calvin

I was looking at a V12 myself, though that's the high end model.. They have the same thing in lower power/features called the VPower series. Comes in 2,4, and 5 channel models.. I think the 4 channel VPower is only about $200 USD..

I used to run a V12. Alpine is a solid all around amp and should work great. Make sure the you adjust the levels down at first though...

Go with lower wattage and better name. Jensen is not high quality and you'd do much better with Alpine, MTX, Kenwood, or clarion (All easy to find at local retailers)

How many speakers do you want to power ?

- 4 Factory ?
- 2 Factory ?
- 4 Factory + Sub ?
- 2 Factory + Sub ?

If you are opting for a Sub, be sure to get an amp with crossover facilities so that you can High Pass the Factory speakers to protect them from Low Bass. Additionally make sure there is a Low Pass Facility for the Sub.

I'm just looking to power my 4 factory speakers. I don't believe I'll ever buy a subwoofer, the bass in my current stereo alone is plenty for me (unless of course some day I come across a large amount of currency and could buy several subwoofers just to look cool).

Anyone know if the Vpower series of alpine amps are any good? I could get a MRP-F200 for about $150. Not a lot of power, but I guess I don't need too much.

I think most people here would seriously recommend you buy a subwoofer. They can be had for as little as £120 ready boxed.

Opinions anyone ..

The first time I connected a sub and cut the low freqs. to the factory speakers I couldn't believe the difference..............my last word on the subject

See ....

Get a 5 channel Alpine would be my recommendation.

I think this would be a great amp for you (the MRP-F200): 1) It has four channels, for the four speakers that you currently want to power. 2) It is 75W x 4channels, and in the real world this is a lot more power than your Pioneer deck put out. 3) It has a pre-amp output on it, so it would be very simple down the road to daisy chain it to another amp if you purchase a sub. 4) If you can get it for $150, you're getting a great deal on it 5) Alpine counts as one of the quality manufacturers we recommended.

Again - from what I can gather, this is a perfect amp for you. I'd say thumbs-up.

I guess now would be a good time to buy the amp. Since my current stereo got stolen out of my car today in broad daylight, I'll need to get my rio in there as soon as possible (well as soon as I get the broken panel repaired). :-P

Wow, sorry to hear that. I've been through two stereo thefts, they suck completely, I know how you feel.

Well, as long as you take your Rio out of the car and bring it with you, that won't happen again. So you bought the right stereo.

Something else that can help prevent theft is something like this (3 pictures).

I've often thought of going to a scrapyard to find an old (analogue controls) tape player whose front I could steal for a decoy faceplate. Not very important in my Peugeot, though, as it has a fold-down cover that hides the slot, anyway.

Good point, Jensen has been around a very long time I have never owned one myself however, must be something to them.