Audio question. im lost!

[summitlt]

I have a aftermarket stero in my rig. A JVC head unit pumping out a whopping 40 watts. Going to two 120 watt JBL 6X9s and two Pioneer 5"(?) 100W (50 nominal)

Bass is lacking and if I crank it up it distorts bad (like driving with the windows open, loud enough to hear it well)

I got a set of Cuspid 400W 6" that I could replace the pioneers with but not sure if its worth it. Which should I use?

Also, what can I do to get rid of the distortion? And amp? If so how big. I dont want to spend a lot of money, or do I need anything fancy. I just want to get rid of the distortion and make everything sound a bit better.

 

[RTicUL8]

I like oreos. :chef:

 

[Roxtar]

Start with the amp.
Look at it this way. In an audio system it's actually the speakers pulling power from the amp, not the amp pushing the speakers.
If you have low efficiency speakers (better quality speakers tend to be less efficient meaning they take more power to get the same volume level. A quality vs quantity of sound tradeoff) they will try to pull more power than the amp has to offer putting the amp into what's called clipping, where the audio sine wave gets sharp edges instead of the nice curves. This is what usually causes distortion at high volume. Clipping is also very hard on the speakers.
Thats why it's really impossible to overpower speakers. Speakers blow at high volume because the amp runs out of juice and goes into clipping, which blows the speaker.
In this case, going to the Cuspids could very well make things worse because they most likely will be demanding more power from an amp that's already at it's limits.
Go with a more powerful amp and all should be good in the world.

Oreos ARE good.

 

[summitlt]

K. So whats the difference between a 1,2 and 4 channel amp?

 

[ECU88XJ]

K. So whats the difference between a 1,2 and 4 channel amp?

rule of thumb with speakers is that you use 1 channel per speaker.

a 1 channel is for a subwoofer which is another level you'll get to later.

a 2 channel amp will power a pair of speakers (front or rear) the amp has 2 channels, a right and a left.

a 4 channel will power front and rear speakers; 4 channels (front right, front left, rear right, rear left) You'll want to closely match the amp output to the speaker specs.

RMS(nominal power output) is the important number to look at in an amp.

If your speakers are spec'd for 60 watts rms you would ideally run an amp with around 60 watts RMS per channel, a 50 watt per channel amp would do fine.

the amp takes 3 power wires; a constant positive(heavy guage), and negative groung( heavy guage) and a turn on lead,which is a light guage wire switched power source ( either the accessory or on position in the ignition) that tells the amp when to turn on.

Then you have RCA patch cables which are similar to home component rca wires that carry the sound signal fron the RCA outputs on the reciever to the amp. The amp takes the signal from the RCAs as an input and then outputs the signal into speaker wires running to your speakers.

theres your basics.
you can learn more at www.sounddomain.com

www.crutchfield.com is an excellentsource as well. they are audio retailer and has lots of good basic stereo setup information. their customer service is excellent so call them up if you have questions etc.

 

[corbinafly]

Start with the amp.
Look at it this way. In an audio system it's actually the speakers pulling power from the amp, not the amp pushing the speakers.
If you have low efficiency speakers (better quality speakers tend to be less efficient meaning they take more power to get the same volume level. A quality vs quantity of sound tradeoff) they will try to pull more power than the amp has to offer putting the amp into what's called clipping, where the audio sine wave gets sharp edges instead of the nice curves. This is what usually causes distortion at high volume. Clipping is also very hard on the speakers.
Thats why it's really impossible to overpower speakers. Speakers blow at high volume because the amp runs out of juice and goes into clipping, which blows the speaker.
In this case, going to the Cuspids could very well make things worse because they most likely will be demanding more power from an amp that's already at it's limits.
Go with a more powerful amp and all should be good in the world.

Oreos ARE good.

x2