Stupid Question No 1 - 2 channels 4 channels Amps? Why?

[shiroitenshi]

Stupid Question No 1 - Going with 2 or 4 channels Amps? Why?

Hi. I'm totally clueless about ICE systems and is thinking putting one in my daily driver. I'm curious about somethings I've seen in mags and websites.

Of course, I could just drive my car down to an audio store and say... "I WANT ICE!" and get thrown with 'air batu kosong' , but unlike the masses, I cannot simply commit such an act without knowing exactly what I want / need, and I know that salespeople wanting to make a sale can tell some pretty stretched half-truths.

The first question is about selecting an amp. As I know, cars usually have 4 speakers (don't know the terms, so don't simply shoot me with 'crossovers', 'components', etc. etc. like those shop people do... make me pening2 only.)

If most cars have 4 speakers, then why are there 2 channel amps?
Why are there four channel amps? (I'm thinking home theater with front and rear inputs, but apparently it isn't so with cars)

Why should we go with 2 channel? Why should we go with 4 channels? Are there any good reason to go one way or another?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[kyheng]

The most important that you must know, how much you willing to waste your money on ICE? An ICE setup can be with most simple HU, amp, 2 or 4 speakers and a sub till complex setup that will consist of eletronic crossover, sound processor. The price can be as cheap as rm1.5-2k can get a simple setup till rm20-100k for a complex setup. Some speakers can cost you for rm200 that can give you good sound and some will cost rm2000. An amp can priced from rm300-rm10000. So is still your wallet do all the talkings, not us.
Start from amp, in market 2ch or 4ch amps will be very common. By the name you can know that 2ch can connect to 2 speakers and 4ch can connect to 4 speakers. Sometimes you can see also 5 ch amp but is abit rare and the price will be higher.
Component sets are consist of 2 speakers, 2 tweeters and 2 passive crossovers. So normally this passive crossovers is built for that set. so when using component sets, a 2ch amp can connect to 1 set and 4 ch amp can connect to 2 sets.

 

[oldskolboyz]

In ICE..

1) What you want to achive
2) How much you are willing to spend
3) How long that car you will keep/use it, coz not worth if you spend some $$ on sound proof/damping.

Hope you can refer/learn from this web.. www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/car

 

[Zenn]

Why should we go with 2 channel? Why should we go with 4 channels? Are there any good reason to go one way or another?

go with a 2ch amp when u get 1 set of front component speakers.
go with a 4ch amp when u get 1 set of front comp speakers and a subwoofer.

most of us dont use the rear speakers at all, or if not we just power them direct from HU, no amp.

 

[shiroitenshi]

Told you guys I know nada about ICE. Those terms really confused me.. Thank god for wikipedia!

Budget concerns aside,

So I assume what you mean is.

Two speakers output = 2 channel amp.

Four speaker output = 4 channel amp.

If so, that would mean that if I want to 'drive' (that is the correct term, right?)
2 rear speakers behind the car, and two more speakers on the front door panels, I would need to go for a 4 channel amp.

Of course, assuming that, if we wire a lower rated speaker in series, we could use a 2 channel amp to drive 4 speakers, right? Or is that totally wrong?

If that is the case, then why go for four channel setup?

 

[oldskolboyz]

Chanel a.k.a Ch mean input or output.. can be translate as RIGHT or LEFT either input or ouput
L=Left, R=Right, Fr=Front & Rr=Rear

2ch Amp mean have 2ch input & output (1L + 1R = 2CH).. let say 50wrms X 2.. out put will be 50wrms per chanel either RIGHT or LEFT speaker output..

4ch Amp mean have 4ch input & output (1FrL + 1FrR, 1RrL + 1RrR = 4ch).. let say 50wrms X 4.. out put will be 50wrms per chanel either front left, front right, rear left & rear right speaker output..

Speaker set = 2 mid (Left & Right) & 2 tweeter (Left & Right)
If you have 2set speaker, 1set for front & 1set for rear.. Min requirement you need either 1pc 4ch Amp or 2 2ch Amp..

Yes, you can connect 4pc speaker to 2ch Amp, 2pc for front & 2pc for rear.. but you will lost either fader or balance.. if U connect all Front (FrL & FrR) or Rear (RrL & RrR) speaker to left or right speaker output (amp), you will change HU Balance function to become Fader function (never heard ppl do this type connection before).. if you connect all left speaker (FrL & RrL) to left speaker output (amp) & all right speaker (FrR & RrR) to right speaker output (amp) u will lost Fader control.. that all

 

[ISWARA GT-R]

Basically it also affects the total impedance of the system (impedance=load) which can change the current drawn from the amp.
Lower impedance will cause the amp to produce more power but at the price it clips (overload in layman term) earlier which can cause excessive heat production which can damage the amp or probarly even the speakers. As higher impedance will cause the amp to produce less power and prolly not sufficient to give the juice needed, but safer for both amp and speakers.

 

[shiroitenshi]

Thank you.. you guys have been very helpful! :regular_smile:

 

[skullbocks]

Guys, Sorry to break-in....i was thinking this cud be the right place to find out.

My current setup:

HU: ALPINE CDA-9847
FR: SPS-171A
RR: ECLIPSE 8994 6X9" (it's a 2way + built in crossovers)

As for now i dun hv any amplifiers. I'm into SQ and not SQL. Now, which wud be a better choice for me....to get a 8" bass tube or a sub? Which is better in terms of SQ? As for the bass tube, i was thinking of the bazooka. And which amplifier shud i buy? Wot to look for when buying one? To make life a bit easier, i dun want to spend to much on the amp. HAving said this, which is the cheapest & yet decent amp tt i can buy?

Thanks guys.

 

[Zenn]

i vote for 4ch amp and 10" sub. 4ch so u can power your front comps as well as the sub. 10" sub in a box will give so much better sq than 8" in a tube. look for an amp that has enough power to feed your sub & amp.