Pioneer amps good?

[Kol12]

Looking at this in particular http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=976039969

to power some quality components. Would anything else really be any better?

It would provide heaps of headroom for 70W rms 2 ohm components being 190 watts RMS x 2 at 2 ohms.

Wouldn't be too much headroom would it?

Edited November 8, 2015 by Kol12

[Scoobydoo]

Yeah that would be fine. 125W RMS is more than enough for most component speakers, and you probably would only need 1/2 gain from the amp anyway, depending on what volume you get from your headunit.

[KingCole]

I ran a Rockford fosgate amp 100 RMS x 2 (bridged) at 4 ohms for Polk Audio DB6501 components rated at 100rms each. It was way too much power for those speakers (even though they are rated at 100rms each) and I had to recone them last year. Running them at 50RMS at the moment and it's more than enough.

[Kol12]

Well I'm thinking probably these jbl components http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=974808270

Would the amp I mentioned be suitable/unsuitable for those?

[Kol12]

Does anyone know what size speakers fit in a 1999 legacy b4? 6.5'' seems pretty standard so I imagine those but what about depth measurements?

[KingCole]

 Kol12 said:

Well I'm thinking probably these jbl components http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=974808270

Would the amp I mentioned be suitable/unsuitable for those?

The amp is bit more powerful than the speakers are rated to run on. From my personal experience, I wouldn't run an amp that is rated higher RMS than the speaker can handle especially if you listen to music at high volumes. I am sure many people do the opposite and have no issues as it all depends on the quality of the speakers and amp.

Many amps claim to make a specific power but don't actually make the quoted power. With my Rockford amp, I got a cert from factory that had measured the exact power output and it was underrated.

[Andy_Mac]

Yea my Rockford one was a fair bit over too, guess the advertised value is a theoretical one, or maybe just an average from a test group.

In my old one i had these components in the front:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Dp5avogYP0J/p_108R6500CX/Infinity-Reference-X-REF-6500cx.html

And these coaxials in the back:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/Speakers/D-Series/TS-D1602R

Edited November 8, 2015 by Andy_Mac

[lachlan]

What would u consider above average speakers out of the current crop . Have alpine cda887 head unit

[Kol12]

I'm probably going to go for this clarion amp http://www.wavetech.co.nz/Clarion-XR2220.html paired with the jbl's I mentioned. There's some talk of clarion amps being overlooked as pretty good amps and I just stumbled across this. Do quality components amped really blow away factory sound setups? I find at highway speed/traveling my sound turns to ****

This amp has one 30amp fuse, most wiring kits have 60amp fuses in the power lead. Is that ok?

Are any of the wiring kits on trademe any good? Looking for 100% oxygen free.

Does anyone know what size speakers fit in a 1999 legacy b4 depth etc?

Edited November 9, 2015 by Kol12

[Jono24]

When i put 6.5" speakers in my last B4 i had to make my own speakers mounts out of MDF, pretty sure stock ones are 5.25".

[KingCole]

 Kol12 said:

I'm probably going to go for this clarion amp http://www.wavetech.co.nz/Clarion-XR2220.html paired with the jbl's I mentioned. There's some talk of clarion amps being overlooked as pretty good amps and I just stumbled across this. Do quality components amped really blow away factory sound setups? I find at highway speed/traveling my sound turns to ****

This amp has one 30amp fuse, most wiring kits have 60amp fuses in the power lead. Is that ok?

Are any of the wiring kits on trademe any good? Looking for 100% oxygen free.

Does anyone know what size speakers fit in a 1999 legacy b4 depth etc?

I have had no issues with the quality of sound of my component speakers etc at high speed even with the loud exhaust. I have run some Soundstream components rated at 100RMS+ without an amp and even they did not have any sound quality issues at high speeds.

[Kol12]

What size fuse do I need in my wiring kit if my amp has a 30amp? Does it need to be equal or can it be higher?

Is anyone more certain on the speaker size for a 1999 B4?

[Kol12]

If the front speakers are 6.5" will I most likely need speaker spacers? http://www.hyperdrive.co.nz/product/speaker-spacers/706/no902-universal-spacer-6-5/151232/detail

Will I need new/longer screws for the spacers?

[Andy_Mac]

The ones I used worked with what i'm assuming was the stock speaker brackets/mounts, since both my subaru's have had the same ones, and the fitting brackets that came with the speakers so no additional spacers needed. The front Infinity ones were fairly large speakers too if I remember correctly.

If you haven't already, rip off one of the door cards and see what speaker mounts are there currently. Should be ones with a weather/water shield facing into the door centre. If so you're highly likely to get by without spacers.

Not sure if the 3rd gens used bigger speakers for the mcintosh stereo over the standard one so maybe the standard setup had smaller rears.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Andy_Mac

[GorGasmSpecB]

Best bet is to make up some spacers out of MDF.

I have focal 6.5" in my front doors and they would not fit in the factory spacer mount due to the speaker bucket being too wide.

Some 6.5"s may fit in the factory spacer if you chop out the back of them.

[Kol12]

What about the wiring kit, does it matter what size fuse is in the power wire? Amp I'm looking at as one 30 amp fuse.

[Andy_Mac]

Focal ones definately are alot bigger than most others out there though. Still reckon you'll get by without needing them for most ones out there. May just need to give the weather shield a bit of a trim.

If you don't intend on having a sub then just go for the smallest amp kit, then use the fuse/fuse holder it comes with. Still cheaper than buying everything individually.

[AdamOst]

 KingCole said:

The amp is bit more powerful than the speakers are rated to run on. From my personal experience, I wouldn't run an amp that is rated higher RMS than the speaker can handle especially if you listen to music at high volumes. I am sure many people do the opposite and have no issues as it all depends on the quality of the speakers and amp.

Many amps claim to make a specific power but don't actually make the quoted power. With my Rockford amp, I got a cert from factory that had measured the exact power output and it was underrated.

Uhm, more power/headroom is better than not enough power... If you set your gains correctly having excess power will never be an issue.

[seith_31]

 Andy_Mac said:

Focal ones definately are alot bigger than most others out there though. Still reckon you'll get by without needing them for most ones out there. May just need to give the weather shield a bit of a trim.

If you don't intend on having a sub then just go for the smallest amp kit, then use the fuse/fuse holder it comes with. Still cheaper than buying everything individually.

What focal are you running? And where did you get them? Thinking twice of getting focals off trademe. Might be fakes.

[Kol12]

So the wiring kit fuse doesn't have to match the amp fuse rating?

Is 95W a reasonable amount of headroom for 70W components?

[Andy_Mac]

Na didn't get them. Went polk audio MM series instead, they're an awesome set of speakers. Worth considering if money isn't really an option. The one step down series is supposed to be rather good too though. Wanted something that would fit using the stock adaptors/mounts. The measurements i'd done didn't look positive for getting them to fit nicely. Confirmed by gorgasmspecb.

Yea trademe is pretty suspicious sometimes. Would only ever get stuff like this from them if it was just a quick flick off by a known audio company.

No. The purpose of inline fuses is to protect the wiring from drawing too much current and overheating. Its a common misconception that the fuses are there to save components from damage. Same way circuit breakers in your house are there to protect the houses wiring, NOT the components attached.

The amp fuse is there to protect the amp from drawing excessive current in the instance of a fault.

The difference in wattage rating has zero impact unless you are really cranking it. In which case the amp will be feeding the speakers more power than they want which has potential to overheat them.

[Kol12]

Would anyone know if these JBL's are actual/true 2ohm speakers that can be connected at 2ohm on the amp? http://www.soundtech.co.nz/jbl-gto-608c-component-speaker.html

[Andy_Mac]

If you run new, thicker wiring then yes it'll be a true 2 ohm. JBL/Infinity do some wierd stuff with their speakers. Alot of them are designed as 3 ohm which then due to the thin factory wiring is essentially seen as 4 ohm at the amp. Thats their theory atleast, there's no way thats the case for every car.

As long as your amp is rated for 2-4 ohm as most are you won't have any problems being in between 2 and 4

[GorGasmSpecB]

These are the focals I got, for reference:

http://www.jonvy.co.nz/index.php?route=product/product&path=58_277&product_id=3934

Great sound for the price.

[boon]

 Andy_Mac said:

The amp fuse is there to protect the amp from drawing excessive current in the instance of a fault.

I've repaired so many amps that were completely blown and the amp fuses still looked like new. I think they're only there so the amp doesn't catch fire if it blows really badly.