Topic: Replace amp in Kappa

[lil goat]

First off why don't we have a car stereo section, or did I just not find it?

I know some people have installed aftermarket amps in the Solstice. I have narrowed it down to 2 amps, the size is the deciding factor. The one I want is the Hifonics TXI6408 will it fit behind the drivers seat if I remove the factory amp and cut the panel.
Size 13.78" x 9.07" 2.36 TXI6408
- 85-W RMS x 4-ch @ 4Ω
- 170-W RMS x 4-ch @ 2Ω
- 340-W RMS x 2-ch @ 4Ω
- 4 x 85 W @ 4Ω
- 4 x 170 W @ 2Ω
- 2 x 340 W @ 4Ω
If not that one then two Hifonics TXI4008's they are much smaller but I would have to place 2 instead of 1
Size 7.1" x 9.07" x 2.36"
- 2 x 100 W @ 4Ω
- 2 x 200 W @ 2Ω
- 1 x 400 W @ 4Ω
I want to run the sub (dual voice coil 2 ohm) of the amp and the door speakers off the amp. The replacement headunit will drive the tweeters and the rear speakers

[Critterman]

which one is purty?  get that one

[lil goat]

They are both purdy, the logo light up blue

[Critterman]

Don't they have one that lights up in yellow?   I know what all the numbers mean, but don't understand them.

[lil goat]

Story of my life all that really matters is size and will it fit.

[Go-N Def]

First off why don't we have a car stereo section, or did I just not find it?

I know some people have installed aftermarket amps in the Solstice. I have narrowed it down to 2 amps, the size is the deciding factor. The one I want is the Hifonics TXI6408 will it fit behind the drivers seat if I remove the factory amp and cut the panel.
Size 13.78" x 9.07" 2.36 TXI6408
- 85-W RMS x 4-ch @ 4Ω
- 170-W RMS x 4-ch @ 2Ω
- 340-W RMS x 2-ch @ 4Ω
- 4 x 85 W @ 4Ω
- 4 x 170 W @ 2Ω
- 2 x 340 W @ 4Ω
If not that one then two Hifonics TXI4008's they are much smaller but I would have to place 2 instead of 1
Size 7.1" x 9.07" x 2.36"
- 2 x 100 W @ 4Ω
- 2 x 200 W @ 2Ω
- 1 x 400 W @ 4Ω
I want to run the sub (dual voice coil 2 ohm) of the amp and the door speakers off the amp. The replacement headunit will drive the tweeters and the rear speakers

We do have a car stereo section.  It's my PM box.  LOL!!!

What are the specs on the speakers and sub that you're running?

You'd probably be better off running seperate amps, one for the mids and highs, and one for the sub.

[lil goat]

I agree with you my oh so Def friend but space is the key here, as in we don't have any. The sub will be a dual voice coil MB Quart 10"  with the magnet on the front so it will be shallow enough. The rear speakers are Kicker 3.5's and the front are JBL GTO separates for now, they will eventually be MB Quart bi wire components. I will have a JVC GPS touchscreen headunit eventually. The plan for now is the tweeters and the rears off the headunit and the sub and doors off the amp (s) the subs are at a 2 ohm load so will get more from the amp than the doors at 4 ohms. I am now looking at a ZED 6 channel amp recommended by Don from sounddeadener. I actually know what I want to do. I need info on what physical size amp will fit.

[DeepBlueGXP]

First off why don't we have a car stereo section, or did I just not find it?

Fixed, we have one now.  

[Go-N Def]

This looks promising, I hope that have some compact but powerful amps and subs coming our way:

http://powersports.jlaudio.com/

But, in the mean time, check this out.  I'm probably gonna go with it for my set up:

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/jlaudio_pages.php?page_id=273

[lil goat]

Fixed, we have one now. 

 Thanks Joe you Da man!

I like the JL audio stuff but I went with a dual voice coil sub at 2 ohms, need a 2, 4, 6 or 8 channel amp as the sub needs 2 inputs.
Here is the sub. It's a 10" but I hope to use the stock enclosure. It is very shallow 3 5/8" we have about 4 1/2" to work with. Memphis has a very shallow sub too, but has gotten poor reviews. Several people have replaced the Memphis with this one.

# Subwoofer made of glass-fibre reinforced injection molded plastic with extreme shallow mounting feature for optimized installation
# Multi-Neodymium stacking dual center plate motor reversed on top of the cone
# Dual 2 Ohm 2.5" (64 mm) voice coil on glass fiber former with aluminum reinforcement on neck
# Injection polypropylene fill thick body form for maximum damping and structural rigidity
# 3/4" (20 mm) tall NBR rubber surround for more cone area and excursion of +/- 3/4" (20mm)
# Single flat poly-cotton spider with woven tinsel lead wire
# Custom dual nickel plated push type terminal.

I know Morfious replaced his amp and did a nice clean install but he has evaporated. Jason where the hell are you? Report to the the audio forum STAT!

This is most likely the amp I will go with.
http://www.zedaudiocorp.com/Products/LEVIATHAN.htm
 ZED makes amps for some of the biggest names out there, this is there direct line, thanks to Don (Rudeboy) for the info.
This will truly be a multi tasker as the options available will be really versatile. Full range, High Pass, Low Pass, Band Pass and sub modes are offered with the ability to have all channels as sub, 4 channels or just two.

So the amplifier will do 150w x 2 flat, high pass or low pass (mono or stereo) on channels 1+2.

Channels 3 +4 will do the same with the addition of the Band Pass function.

Channels 5+6 will do full range or Low Pass (mono or stereo) with a variable subsonic crossover.

You are able to:

* Run all channels in flat mode

* Run Ch's 1+2 High Pass or Flat and 3+4+5+6 in Low Pass

* Run Chs 1+2 High Pass or Flat, Chs 3+4 High Pass, Band Pass or Flat and Chs 5+6 Low Pass

* Run all channels Low Pass

* Channels 5+6 can have 2 or 4 RCA inputs

* Channels 5+6 can have their Low pass crossover deleted when used with head units having built low pass crossovers.

* Run all channels flat

* Run all channels low pass

* Pairs of channels are bridgeable for 600w 4 ohm operation for a total of 1,800w - many guys prefer to run their woofers from separate channels as it makes impedance mixing/matching easier.

Example you have THREE 4 ohm woofers. What do you do? Run them in parallel at 1.3 ohm = tough load for most amplifiers (Ever compared the sound of a nominal 1 ohm sub to that of a 4 or even 8 ohm sub - the 1 ohm sounds really bad!

Solution with this or the two channel amplifier. Run two woofers in parallel on one channel and the third on the second channel when using the 250w/ch amplifier OR simply do the same with the 6 channel amplifier with a bunch of channels to spare OR run each woofer on a pair of bridged channels with 600w to each woofer.

Need I say more the permutations are huge and with a little imagination one can accommodate almost every requirement with the 6 channel amplifier.

Due to the changing economic climate we at Zed have had a serious re-think about mobile amplification. This new philosophy shall be evident in our new products. They of course shall be continued to be made in the USA and shall offer unrivaled value for money and uncompromising performance. We are almost complete with the new designs and we welcome suggestions for any new products which our customers and future customers may wish to have us manufacture. Simply put, if we receive many requests for 3 thousand watt amplifiers, then we would seriously consider building them.

[Go-N Def]

You can run Dual Voice Coil (DVC) subs from a single channel amp.  It's all in the wiring.

Before you say it, I know what the guy says in the info you posted. It's a whole lot easier and safer to tune a DVC sub thats wired to act as a Single Voice Coil (SVC) than it is to have different channels running each coil of a DVC. 

Trust me when I say its a PAIN and you'll never get it 100% perfect.  I had my JL Audio 13W7 set up on different channels and lived in fear of blowing it.  The trick is to get both channels to output the same voltage.  I could never get it closer than 0.1v.  If you wire both coils together in either series or parallel you can make it act like a SVC. 

when it comes to the difference in wiring series or parallel, I can't remember which will do which without looking at a wiring diagram.  One way will make your 2 ohms into 1 ohm and the other will make it into 4 ohms.  You want the 4 ohm.

But alas, you are lil goat and you will do what you have already made you're mind up about!

[TomatoSoup]

when it comes to the difference in wiring series or parallel, I can't remember which will do which without looking at a wiring diagram.  One way will make your 2 ohms into 1 ohm and the other will make it into 4 ohms.  You want the 4 ohm.

Series => 2 + 2 = 4 ohm.  Parallel => 2/2 = 1 ohm (actually 2*2/2+2, but who's counting)

[Go-N Def]

Series => 2 + 2 = 4 ohm.  Parallel => 2/2 = 1 ohm (actually 2*2/2+2, but who's counting)

Thanks, I can never remember which is which.  I'm getting old.  I can't even imagine how lil goat feels!  LOL!!!

[lil goat]

If I had wanted a single voice coil at 4 ohms I would have bought one. The factory system is a dual 2 ohm and for now, unless something changes money wise the factory head unit will be powering the sub. I will never go 1 ohm, no matter what anyone says. In our cars even 2 ohm may present some heat issue's, 1 ohm would be worse. The system for our cars has a lot of limitations if you want to maintain small and clean. I am very restricted by size of all components. I am not going to debate theory, with anyone complete waste of time. I am talking about a specific application. I will clear it up for you. HOW BIG AN AMP WILL EASILY FIT IN OUR CARS? I don't need advice on what components to choose until I now my size limitations, I need to know how much room I have to work with. That is the biggest consideration. I am not building the biggest and baddest system. I want a nice compact system that fits easily and does not over heat.

I will not buy any component because of the brand it is, I will buy what serves my needs and fits. I like JL stuff, would be a fool not to, but does it do what I want and will it fit and then the biggie can I afford it. I have used MB Quart stuff a lot in the past, I did a lot of research on shallow subs, it had the best reviews. The Kenwood and the Pioneer got trashed, the Memphis was better but not good. The MB Quart got good reviews for a shallow sub. No shallow sub will ever sound as good as a deep one that's a given. I paid $100 for the Quart, if it doesn't work well or I want something different I can live with that and will replace it. This is absolutely a system on a tight budget for now, I have less than $250 tied up in the entire system speaker replacement so far.

I used to think dynamat worked, I sure changed my mind about that. I now listen to someone who has forgotten more about car stereo than most of us know.

[GXPinKC]

Hey goat   , got your attention!  How much would you charge me to do mine, same as yours?  I am into great sound.  Off topic but who cares, if you ever come to our house and you have a standing invitation to do so, I will take you to a K.U. basketball game at Allen Field House, Chiefs game at Arrowhead if in season, and as part of the deal you will be able to hear my Cerwin Vega RE 38's in the Great Room.  I am terrible at do it yourself stuff.

Ron

[lil goat]

I am still a novice at taking these cars apart, DBG would be the man there, way back in the stone age I used to be a car stereo installer but EVERYTHING except the laws of physics has changed since then. I am trying to do this cheap and still be effective. The sounddeadening is absolutely step one, beyond that I am listening to people like Def and Rudeboy and doing a lot of reading on some other forums specific to car stereo. I have no idea if this experiment will work, but the mod meet is not to far away.

[Go-N Def]

Don't listen to me, I learned everything I know from skimming through "Car Stereo Installation for Dummy's"

[Ben L]

There's a stereo in these things?

[Go-N Def]

In what things?

[lil goat]

Yes there is a stereo it is that annoying noise you hear when trying to listen to the exhaust.

[Go-N Def]

[lil goat]

Well as no one seems to know what will fit, I decided to get a small 2 channel amp for now, it is only 7"X9" just for the sub and will accept the high level inputs from the factory amp, it is a temporary inexpensive solution until I get the new head unit with the pre outs. After I do the damping install I will a have better idea of what will fit for phase 2.

[Morfious]

Hey Goat I'm coming to this party late in the game, but take a look at the Alpine PDX series of amps.  They come in a small package and pack a good punch.  That is what I decided to go with for my setup.  I chose the 4 channel x 150 (PDX 4.150)  This amp fit fine behind the seats with minimal cutting of the shroud needed.  If it was mounted in my car better you may not even need to cut the shroud. (Stereo shop that I paid to do the "custom" install did a total hack job.  Anyway, Here are the specs:

RMS Power (at 14.4V THD+N,20Hz-20kHz)

    * • Per channel into 2 ohms : 150W x 4 (<=1%THD+N)
    * • Per channel into 4 ohms : 150W x 4 (<=1%THD+N)
    * • Bridged 4 ohms: 300W x 2 (<=1% THD+N)

Dimensions

    * • Heat Sink (WxHxD) in: 10-1/8" x 7-9/16" x 2-7/16"

Bass Engine® Sound Tuning

    * • Crossover Frequency : 1/2Ch + 3/4Ch, 30Hz-400Hz HP/LP/Off (-12dB/oct)

[lil goat]

Thanks Morf, that looks like a sweet amp, that is about the smallest one I have seen with that much power. It is out of my budget right now, this is some very valuable info for anyone doing an upgrade with a bigger budget. I am stuck with a small one because JPM has taken all me money! I can do the stereo later I can't do what Joe does.

[Morfious]

In a dream world we can pool our budgets and get this bad boy.  300 watts per channel.  Not sure if it would fit behind the seat though.  $2500