AMP's for the sound system ?

[Mitcon]

Hi all,

well am thinking about putting in better speakers since I've put in a new/better head unit/DVD player. Question is the sound is only just loud enough at full blast and I want it a little louder/cleaner which means adding an amp. Would be nice to get the radio loud enough to cover the road noise (Drone of wife & kids, not tyres lol) but can't seem to think of a good spot to hide an amp.

So I'm looking for ideas and asking if any of you put in a amp and where did you hide/put yours ?

[6G74]

I dont think youll fit any 4 channels under the seats, but you could go 2 channels, one under each seat perhaps? Or even just one channel? Failing that, a rear drawer system or soemthign perhaps

[The Last Streetfighter]

Is it really that quiet at full blast? :O Did you do something weird like run the amp preout straight to the speakers?

[Mitcon]

Hmmm, under seats is a hard one as I don't want to damage/remove the vents to the rear seats. Also draws or fake rear floor is out as I use the two rear seats. I'm wondering if there is any room in the panels behind the trims anywhere or something like that.

The head unit is installed correctly lol, I paid to have it installed as I felt lazy at the time and my hands were hurting after putting in my UFH and Spotties. But I have since checked the install and it's fine. It's not that quiet, it's just not quiet loud enough. I want to put better speakers in also but am afraid they will sound even poorer as they will be under driven.

I still have the factory speakers in her atm but the fronts are real tinny and the back sound horrid, together sound real basic but ok. I just find it a tad low in volume and really wanted it to sound better as much as I want it to sound a fraction louder.

[MITSIR]

What about bolting them onto the 2 rear Seats.

I have a SWB and thats were I have Bolted both my Amps onto. Can the AMps be seen if placed on the 2 rear seats?

Putting in Better Speaker than the Factory will improve the sound, As for loud and Clarity, thats were the Amp comes in play, But if you want better sound than your factory Speakers, then your Head unit will cope with the power output for good set speakers. Don't forget that you have about 50watts Plus per speaker, thats not bad now a days for Head units.

I Suggest you install good speakers in your paj first. Then see how you go with that sound.

[Mitcon]

No idea what the new head unit puts out in power but I'm certain it's less than 50W rms per channel. It's not a super powerful unit, I wouldn't want to add speakers first as then it will limit my choices in amps. I want to drive the speakers fully or over drive them if I have to as thats better than under-driving.

Can't do anything with the rear seats as I said they get used but they also get folded almost daily. Haven't got the money right now but I'm just trying to plan ahead as I want to do this in a couple of months.

All good thoughts though folks, keep em coming and many thanks.

[KAPhotography]

No head unit puts out 50 watts a channel. About 15 continuous is what top head unit put out. Quoting peak figure though makes everyone think the deck is better than it is.

If a deck really did put out 50 watts a channel then why would there be so many 4x50 watt amps

What deck do you have?

One other thing to think about when buying speakers is the sensitivity of the speaker. A speaker with more sensitivity is going to be louder then one with less. It's measured by sound level at 1 meter if the speaker was fed 1 watt of power. Also you need twice the power output to have 3db more noise level or a speaker with w 87db sensitivity would need 2 watts of power to have the same noise output as a speaker of 90db sensitivity. Sensitivity plays a big part in setting up a good audio system. The more sensitive the speakers the less power you need to drive them.

How much do you also want to spend? Good gear doesn't cost much more than run of the mill if you shop wisely

[Mitcon]

Thanks for the help KAPhotography (I'm into photography myself .

I know the units don't put out that much but it's what most people think and are led to believe, so I just thought for comparisons sake it'd be easier.

The Head unit is a Viscom DVD VS9950

As to how much I want to spend, lol the less the better. I'm not really after a super system and I have extremely limited funds. I just thought the OEM speakers sounded poorly and wanted just the smallest bit more volume. But I can't seem to be able to think of somewhere I can put a amp, so I may just shop around for a lower power rated speaker with a higher sesitivity. I don't know what brands are the best but I have a friend who just bought a set of crappy, really cheap 6x9's for $40 that didn't sound that bad really and I would have certainly been satisfied.

I certainly don't want or need competition or audiofile quality sound, cheap is fine.

[Yonnee]

My stacker is mounted to the passengers seat and the amp for my subwoofer is mounted to the drivers seat. Each of their cabling comes out between the seat and the runner and disappears under and along the centre console with enough slack to allow the seat to slide back & forth its full movement. Best of all... out of sight, out of mind from those thievin' bastards that like your stuff more than you do.

I had a big 5 channel amp from my last car, but it wouldn't even fit under the seat, or anywhere else for that matter. I was only a cheapie and I swapped it for a 'name brand' 2 channel with a built-in cooling fan. You would get most smaller 4 channel amps to fit under the seat. I've got a piece of MDF screwed to the seat frame and the amp's mounted to this.

[Mitcon]

Now thats a good idea I hadn't thought of, I didn't want under the seat mounted to the floor because of the rear ducts but your way solves this problem and sounds pretty dang easy as well.