hey guys,

just wanted to run this setup by everyone and get any suggestions. i just installed all my internal speakers, jbl gto series, sounds soo much better than stock, and that's still with crappy stock hu. my new kenwood mp3 deck is coming tomorrow so that'll probably go in this weekend.

so since that stuff is pretty much taken care of, now comes the second part of my setup. this is what im thinking for amp and subs:

subs: alpine type s 12 inch (X 2)
amp: kenwood kac-929

the box the subs are gonna be sitting in is a qlogic sealed box.
is this a good setup, could i do better for the money?

i listened to this setup in circuit city and it sounded really good, but i don't remember if it was powered using the amp i want.


thanks in advance for the input.

 

Ummm - could you do better for the money? Tough to tell unless you let us know HOW MUCH it's all gonna cost!!

I'm not a huge fan of Kenwood amps, but that's just me. I feel they are a bit overpriced, and that they may not be underrated (meaning they put out more power that they advertise they do) which is really what you want in any amp, to guarantee that the power you pay for is going to be undistorted power.

Even though I do not own any, I can't help but recommend the JBL monoblock amps for anyone looking to do subs. They are an absolute solid bargain - you can buy 1350+ watts (advertised at 1200 - remember, underrated) for about $300 - a steal. And they also have 600 and 300 watt versions for even less money.

Give us some more info - and maybe we can help with your decision.

~HH

 

well after doing more and more research i think that im gonna go for better stuff, yea im gonna feel this credit card bill when it comes. i hate myself to liking good things, hehe.

anyway, here is my new proposed setup:

two alpine type r 12 inchers (seems to be around $120 each)

jbl 600.1 amp (everyone seems to have good things to say about jbl, could get this for probably around $190-200)

now here is the tricky part and i hope that i understand this correctly. the subs need 300 watts rms each, and the jbl puts out 600 watts at 2 ohms. so what i have to do is wire the subs down to 2 ohms. so if i get the alpines in DVC 2 ohm configuration, i can wire the voice coils in series, giving me 4 ohm impedance per sub, and then wire the subs themselves in parallel giving me a single 2 ohm load that the amp can feed the 600 watts into, 300 into each. did i do that right?

anyway, i would appreciate any input, hopefully i did the calculations right and it will work out.

 

Those calculations are right on the $$$!

And yeah, the JBL 600.1 is good for the money. But as hihoslva suggested to me, if you have $70+ to spare, you could get the 1200.1 which pumps out twice the power!

 

could the subs handle all that extra power from the 1200.1? also would my alternator be able to handle that much? im also planning on adding a four channel amp later on for the internal speakers.

but i think i like this setup, seems much better than my first one. if anyone has more comments all are welcomed. i guess i'll be putting in an order on this stuff soon.

 

unless you seriously pound your subs for hours on end, more power is not a bad thing. more power is better than not enough power. multiple subs run more efficiently, so the power issue is really not ummm, an issue. (i cannot find my words tonight!)

i like the type r's. they are nice sounding subs. (you can get them for $120???) what kind of system are you leaning towards anyways? before laying down the scrilla for the alpine's, may i suggest some image dynamics subs? retail is a little more than $120 but oooh they sound so nice.

 

You'd need to get the DVC 4 ohm versions (assuming they make those), and wire them like you described before to get a 4 ohm load instead - this will get you 600 watts from the 1200.1.

I only suggest the 1200.1, because it gives you extra flexibilty for the future. If you decide you want to use all 1200+ watts, all you need is higher power handling subs - no need to get another amp also.

~HH

 

i think what im gonna end up doing is getting the 600.1 and get another amp for my internal speakers instead of spending extra on power that i might have use for later. one more question though, say i have the 600.1 going at 2 ohms or the 1200.1 going at 4 ohms, both putting out 600 watts rms. would the 1200.1 be running cooler then the 600.1? would there be any other benefits other than more power if i need it later?

also, for my internal speakers im thinking jbl 80.4, nothing too crazy. good choice? could be had for like $140, anything else good for the money.

thanks again to all that reply.

 

As far as the "amp running cooler" - yes, the 1200 will run cooler @ 4 ohms than the 600 will @ 2 ohms. Another added benefit, I suppose - I didn't even consider that.

If that extra $70 or so for the 1200 would allow you to get some other stuff you want, absolutely go for the 600. I only suggsted it because it is only a small sum for twice the juice.

As far as the combination of the 600.1 and the 80.4 - I'd send member "Grim013" a private message. I chat with him often, and I believe he just installed those exact two amps this past weekend. He could definitely give you some solid reviews. If I chat with him, I'll let him know you might send a PM. In fact, click here to go to his recent thread about his install - he's got some pix up on it, too.

~HH

 

dre--I have the P80.4 and I'm very happy with it indeed. It's easy to find people who say good things about JBL amps so I went with it and now I'm one of them.


I also have JBL GTO series speakers installed. I hadn't really intended to go JBL all around but now I'm glad I did--it all sounds great together.

 

anyone with a jbl p80.4 out there, how do you like the volume with your speakers? so far my kenwood deck distorts at about 27 (out of 35) and i want it much louder and cleaner sounding. im just wondering if 40 watts is going to be enough. my speakers btw are rated for 60rms (fronts) and 100 rms for the backs. thanks.

ps. i think im decided on the 600.1 for my subs though. from what i've read everywhere it seems like a kickass amp for the money.

 

I have the JBL BP600.1 and the JBL P80.4 in my wifes car and we love them!! I have the JBL BP600.1 in my car and an Alpine MRVF307 4 channel (would be a P80.4 if I could have gotten it at the time). I had a JBL BP300.1 in my old Dodge Omni before and absolutely loved it! I cannot say a bad thing about the JBL amps. I am running 3 Infinity 1220w Reference subs on my 600.1 and 2 JBL GT1241 12's in my wifes 240sx. Even when running my 600.1 at 1.3 ohms in the hot summer it never gives me any problems. They are available at awesome prices on the net as well. I work for Circuit City and even though we do not carry the amps any more I can still get them really cheap from JBL and I plan on buying another 80.4 to replace my Alpine 4 channel and a 1200.1 just to hang on to. Of all the JBL amps I have installed when we carried them I never had one come back with any probs or complaints.

 

I can't comment on the JBL 80.4, but I can comment on using kenwood decks with amps.....

I have an MP8017 - only 2v pre-outs. I'm using a Rockford 360.2 (90 watts x2 @ 4 ohms/side) for my front stage, and with the gains set properly (which I think they are - about 3/4), I can crank the deck up to 29 or 30 with no distortion. Those last few clicks make a big difference!

It seems the pre-amp output is "cleaner" on the Kenwoods, because I originally used just deck power for my speakers and I also observed distortion setting in at anything above level 26 or 27. But no more! I've even had the deck maxxed out (35) with the amp, and the distortion is not as bad as it was at 28 using only deck power.

~HH

 

hmm, actually have a question that i didn't seem to come across before. how does the preout voltage affect anything?

i also can't seem to find what the preout voltage is for my unit, the 7019. not even in the manual does it say anything.

 

Higher preout voltages give your signals better noise immunity from other interferences. For example if you have a noise source that adds 0.5 volt spikes to the RCAs. If you have a 2V preout, that's a 25% difference in the original signal! if you have 5V preouts, that's only 10% difference in the original signal.

So higher the better.

And theroetically your amp will get louder with the same gain setting with increasing preout voltages, because the amp amplifies the preout signals. But I think it also gets to the levels of distortion easier, so you might have plenty of gain control left on the gain ****, but that part is "unusable".