What to look for in an Amp?

[93rev2sev]

what 200 watt 4 channel amp are you talking about??? rev2sev? As you correctly stated rms watts are "true" watts because they are what is 99.5% of the time what is available. Your head unit while stating 50x4(mine is also an alpine) is really only between 13-22 rms. even the very high end radio's are not made to run any "real" speakers. Intimidatr has the right set-up idea for what you are looking for I believe. 1 dedicator amp for your mids and high's either 4 channel or six channel and one mono amp for your subs.

My friend set up all my stuff and you can still get as clean and crisp a sound with half the stuff that i have. FWIW ALPINE has no peers when you factor price,quality,and reliability.

as far as suggestions I have three alpine mono m series amps and they r cheap and they pound. 2 m500's and a m1000. as far as subs dual voice coils and overly pricey subs are a waste of money. get a middle of the road model. alpines type s or r and buy the warranty.

my two cents

Your two cents will cost the original poster a lot of time and money. As stated, he wants decent quality, not ear splitting/nose-itching power and hes got one 12" sub.

Given those variables, and the fact that he's here...asking questions about how to accomplish decent sound quality...leads me to beleive that he's not going to wire 6 channels worth of high end amplifier, a crossover network, component separates, etc.

Add that to the fact this is going into a 20 year old car...

The "right answer" to all audio questions could, theoretically, be the same - Build a system with no compormises. There are a ton of build lists out there that attempt to accomplish that.
Instead, I tried to take the owners stated needs into account before answering.

I assumed a decent Alpine HU would be able to drive mids on some small speakers...since my Kenwood does so well...is the Alpine brand really that overrated?

As long as you use that 22RMS in the head unit to drive a reasonably low amount of bass, it will be plenty of power to match one 12" sub with the gain set at a reasonable level.

 

[93rev2sev]

Tim,

Take $300 to build a system from the ground up using only BRAND NEW retail products. I'll use another $300 to build a system from the ground up and we can have people judge them

Consider it the LeMons of car audio.

I would never challenge you on building the ultimate system because building the ultimate system, while it may be fun, is like using a Veyron as your daily driver.

 

[hawkeye18]

So basically this thread is turning into a SONIC DICKFEST

 

[dohcsable]

if money isn't an object, I'd stick with something 5 channel JBL (crown model)

Otherwise, I used to be a cadence addict, but I gave up loud and half my hearing years ago

 

[SuperHO]

Tim,

Take $300 to build a system from the ground up using only BRAND NEW retail products. I'll use another $300 to build a system from the ground up and we can have people judge them

Consider it the LeMons of car audio.

I would never challenge you on building the ultimate system because building the ultimate system, while it may be fun, is like using a Veyron as your daily driver.

What're the stakes?

All joking aside, I've got a grand total of +/- $250 invested in my setup with the only things being bought used were the amps. It's by no means the end-all be-all of car audio systems, but in my ever so humble opinion, It's the best sounding system I've ever personally built.

 

[dohcsable]

My vote is for a JBL gto series 5 channel, it will power your sub, and your highs......and sound good for around $300ish. there are a pair of nasty crown built jbl amps on fleabay currently though....4 channel and mono