Ok all I'm trying to figure this all out, and my head's gonna explode soon, any help is greatly appreciated.

The problem:

I installed door and dash speakers, sound great! Picked out a head unit and have a sub...now the issue, trying to find the right amp (4 channel preferably for space) and am getting more and more confused with everything I read.

the specs:
Door speakers, Pioneer TS-G1641R 30W nominal pwr/160W max @4 ohm
dash: Pioneer G1041R 20W nominal pwr/110W max @4ohm
sub: MTX Blue Thunder 10" 250/500W @ 4ohm
head unit: Panasonic CQ-C5303U

The amp I'm looking at is a Kenwood KAC-8402 55W continuous at 4ohm/110W max, 110W continuous bridged/ 200W max

Will this work well? is this too much amp, too little? I really don't have a ton of cash, have the sub from another car, and can get the HU for about $150, and the amp for about the same. Is this a good way to spend $300, or a waste of $$

I listen to all types of music, acoustic, piano, hard rock, rap, you name it (ok no country). Thanks in advance for any and all help.

So you want to run 4 speakers and a sub off a 4- channel amp and you have 300 dollars to spend right. Okay dont run all this stuff with this amp, if you want to run all this with an amp you should get a 5 channel amp. There are quite a few choices to go with, i went with a kicker 5 channel (Kx 700.5) and love it but check around and see what others have to say . I found my amp online for $315 on pricegrabber.com. Are you gonna have rears? Do you understand nominal and max (sorry trying to find out what you know). Nominal is the minimal power a speaker wants to see at all times, also known as RMS power. Max power is the most power a speaker wants see at one time, Also known as peak power. You want to find an amp that has the same rms or more than the speakers RMS, peak dose not have to always match, but i like to try and match it all the best i can. Always better to over power a speaker then under power it, seen more than my share of blown speakers that were under powered. Good luck.

first, thanks for the reply, second, I was under the impression that the front door and dash dpeakers were wired together, thus using 2 channels for the fronts and 2 channels bridged for the sub, not planning on running rears at all. I wired the new speakers using the stock wiring and was going to keep it that way, even with the new HU, or am I better off running dash as fronts, with high pass, doors as mids with low pass and sub seperate.....see what I mean about confusion?

You sir are correct!
I am going to be doing the same thing, I am looking into either a kicker zx550.3 or kx550.3. Basicly the same amp only the zx is smaller and newer. It is 70@4 and 85@2 for the front 2 channels and 210@4 and 420@2 for the 3rd channel. Sounds like it will be perfect for your setup

Also, I am going to put a box in the passenger side read compartment and the sub under the passenger seat (tight fit but should work) Hope this helps

first, thanks for the reply, second, I was under the impression that the front door and dash dpeakers were wired together, thus using 2 channels for the fronts and 2 channels bridged for the sub, not planning on running rears at all. I wired the new speakers using the stock wiring and was going to keep it that way, even with the new HU, or am I better off running dash as fronts, with high pass, doors as mids with low pass and sub seperate.....see what I mean about confusion?

ok, since you're not running rear speakers, you need a 4 channel amp. as you said, 2 channels for the fronts and 2 channels bridged to the sub.... ideally, you should get a 4 channel amp that if ran in 2 channel mode @ 4ohm, will put out 200x2 or 250x2... that's what you have to look at for the sub to get its needed power.... the other 2 channels (for the fronts) need to be able to put out 50w per channel at 2 or 8 ohms... this way you can wire the door and dash in parallel to have a 2ohm load or in series to have an 8ohm load on the front 2 channels of the amp....

Don't do anything you're not sure of... if you need help, there's always someone around here to answer some questions for you...

Wow TC-GUY I didn't even thing of wheather the fronts were series or parallell and what that would do to the load. So...using factory wiring, are they originally series or parallell? I really don't see a rating on this amp for 8 ohm load, would I be better off rewiring it entirely?

I don't know how they're hooked together... generally If I'm going to amp the fronts, I rewire it all... less headache in the end... I'd probably still look around for a bit better amp as that one isn't going to push your sub very well

According to the OEM 2004 Electrical Wiring Dagrams, the Tweeter and Door speaker are run in parallel. It does not state "ohms" of these speakers.

i wouldn't amp those pioneers unless you like blown speakers. They are very basic, entry level speakers.

Could you amp them? Yes. Is it worth it? Not really.

amp now for upgrades in the future..... but that's just me... some people will buy one entry level system and never upgrade it.... I always have something to upgrade.....more fun for me that way

Okay, I think I may end up sounding like a broken record here but here's a great amp for the whole shooting match and it's cheap too. http://www.ikesound.com/product-product_id/2667 It has 75 watts for each of four Class AB channels for your fronts and rears and it has up to 600 watts in a single Class D (more efficient) channel for your subwoofer or subwoofers. Mark

i wouldn't amp those pioneers unless you like blown speakers. They are very basic, entry level speakers.

Could you amp them? Yes. Is it worth it? Not really.As long as they are properly high-passed with a crossover I wouldn't worry about it. Sure they sound like crap but you won't blow them. Mark

Okay, I think I may end up sounding like a broken record here but here's a great amp for the whole shooting match and it's cheap too. http://www.ikesound.com/product-product_id/2667 It has 75 watts for each of four Class AB channels for your fronts and rears and it has up to 600 watts in a single Class D (more efficient) channel for your subwoofer or subwoofers. Mark


I was looking for that link earlier today.... was going to suggest that amp - would be perfect... (as long as you control the gains)...

Okay, I think I may end up sounding like a broken record here but here's a great amp for the whole shooting match and it's cheap too. http://www.ikesound.com/product-product_id/2667 It has 75 watts for each of four Class AB channels for your fronts and rears and it has up to 600 watts in a single Class D (more efficient) channel for your subwoofer or subwoofers. Mark


I was looking for that link earlier today.... was going to suggest that amp - would be perfect... (as long as you control the gains)...When I get mine hooked up I'll post a subjective review here, but yeah it's a screaming deal. MSRP was like $800 new I believe. Mark

Ok, so it sounds like amping these speakers is a bad idea? Would I be better off getting a mono amp just for the sub, and having the fronts just powered by the HU? Or would that just drown everything out with bass?

Ok, so it sounds like amping these speakers is a bad idea? Would I be better off getting a mono amp just for the sub, and having the fronts just powered by the HU? Or would that just drown everything out with bass?
Quite the contrary. When you hook up an amplifier your speakers don't automatically receive the amp's full power. It's only during dynamic peaks (think drums, cymbals, gutiar solos, etc.) at high volumes that your speakers get anywhere near full power from the amp. Most of the time they are receiving less than five watts of power. Adding an amplifier will add headroom to your system and that's a very good thing. Amplifying the speakers will be a good thing as long as the crossover is set properly. If you filter out the bass from the smaller speakers and add a subwoofer you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results. Mark

ok, I already have a 200 hz cap on the 4 inchers, would that be enough? By the way, these sound sooooo sweet right now, I can't imagine them amped with a sub and new HU too !!

ok, I already have a 200 hz cap on the 4 inchers, would that be enough? By the way, these sound sooooo sweet right now, I can't imagine them amped with a sub and new HU too !!I'd just leave them on there. That will help the 4 inch speakers but trying to run full range with the doors and rear drivers is just a waste of time. If you added a high-pass at 80Hz or so you will reduce the likelihood of blowing them and allow the speakers to operate in the range which they were designed for. Mark