Wattage help?

[Clyde Frog]

I have a 10 inch sub connected to a 600watt Kenwood amp that I'm going to put into my KJ when I get a new head unit.

In the mean time, I'm looking for new speakers. I know I need 6.5 inch speakers for the doors, but what wattage on the speakers should I be looking to get for use with that 600 watt amp?

Also, should I be looking for 2-way, 3-way, or 4-way speakers? I'm going to be replacing all 4 doors.

 

[ptsb5a]

It all depends. Is the amp going to drive all of the components? How many channels can the amp support? Is the wattage (power) output of the amp measured in peak, peak to peak, or RMS (root mean squared)? If it isn't a five channel amp you may have to bridge 2 channels to drive the sub and that only leaves you two channels for the fronts and rears, no fade option then, just balance. And if you do elect to use only two channels to drive the four doors, do you run the speakers in parallel or series? In series the impedence of the speakers is cumulative, in parallel impedence is measured like so....

1/Rtotal= 1/R1 x 1/R2 R being the resistance of the speakers (2-4 or 8 ohms)

I've always been a fan of component speakers. There isn't enough room on the 6.5" speaker footprint to put more than an effective 2 way. In my personal opinion, I'd use a two way in the rear doors and a compnent speaker for the front doors with the tweet stuck in the dash.

Got any more questions???

 

[Clyde Frog]

It all depends. Is the amp going to drive all of the components? How many channels can the amp support? Is the wattage (power) output of the amp measured in peak, peak to peak, or RMS (root mean squared)? If it isn't a five channel amp you may have to bridge 2 channels to drive the sub and that only leaves you two channels for the fronts and rears, no fade option then, just balance. And if you do elect to use only two channels to drive the four doors, do you run the speakers in parallel or series? In series the impedence of the speakers is cumulative, in parallel impedence is measured like so....

1/Rtotal= 1/R1 x 1/R2 R being the resistance of the speakers (2-4 or 8 ohms)

I've always been a fan of component speakers. There isn't enough room on the 6.5" speaker footprint to put more than an effective 2 way. In my personal opinion, I'd use a two way in the rear doors and a compnent speaker for the front doors with the tweet stuck in the dash.

Got any more questions???

Ahhh! WAY over my head. I'll look at the amp and post whatever specs I can find on it tomorrow (I'll have a pic to accompany). I'm just looking to buy all of the separate pieces and bring it to a family friend and say "hook it up!" so I'm just looking to get the best speakers for optimal sound with the amp/sub combo I already have.

 

[Clyde Frog]

I lied. I'm having trouble sleeping so I went and checked it out. It's a Kenwood KAC-7285 (also seen some people list it at KAC-728S) 600 watt amp attached to a 10" Q Logic sub.

According to the internet that means:
- bridgeable 2 channel amplifier
-150 watts x 2 @ 4 oms
-300 watts x 2 @ 2 ohms
-600 watts bridge @ 4 ohms
-Amplifier Type Dual Channel
-Input Voltage 11 volt
-RMS Power at 2 Ohms 150 W x 2
-RMS Power at 4 Ohms 100 W x 2
-Frequency Response 5 Hz - 50 Hz
-Signal to Noise Ratio 100 dB
-THD at Rated RMS Power 0.08 %

Here are some pics of what the unit actually looks like:
http://www.propertyroom.com/itemdetails.aspx?l=6676163#

Just as background info, this came out of my 1989 Plymouth Acclaim. I'm pretty positive the speakers in that car were aftermarket because I don't think the stocks would have sounded that good. It also had a middle of the road head unit in it.

Hopefully that's enough info to answer your questions!

EDIT: I talked to a rep at a local car audio place today and he says I should have the amp power JUST the sub and then have my speakers be powered by my head unit is what I'm assuming. I think I'm going to get my head unit replaced until I get the extra funds to replace all 4 speakers and have them run the wires and all of that crap to the sub.

 

[kj924]

I would get yourself a good 4 channel amp for the door speakers and leave the 600WKenwood do the sub.

I run a 2 channel 200w Kenwood amp to my front door Alpine component speakers, my HU runs my rear door speakers and a Kenwood 300w to my 12" MTX subby. Sounds ok for now.