im about to buy a pair of rainbow components for my car and im looking around for a 2 channel amp to power them i need some suggestions. I need around 100 watts at 4ohms and my budget is about $200 any suggestions or help would be great thanks
Look into 4 channel amps. Typically 2ch amps will make their max power at 2ohms, which is great except your speakers are 4 ohms.
If you go with a 4channel, it will make its max power when running bridged at 4 ohms. Perfecto.
Almost all $200 4channel amps will make that kind of power, it's pretty standard.
The JL XD400/4 can probably be had for that price. And they're nice and small.
http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_amps.php?amp_id=576
I'm sure if you wait 10-15 minutes you'll also get a rainbow recommendation.
the alpine says 150 wattsx2 at 4 ohms thats not a bad amp im just wondering if its ok to send 150 watts to the speakers
While it has the potential to put out 150, that doesn't mean it will all the time. The gain adjustment on the amp will determine how much power goes to the speakers for a given volume level on the amp.
So you could set that amp up to send 10 watts to the speakers, or you could set it up to send 300(picking a random number) watts to the speakers. But anything over 100 will cause the speakers to distort, and anything over 150 will introduce distortion from the amp itself.
If you have it set up by someone who knows what they're doing, they'll take care of that. If you're doing it yourself, either read the sticky at the top of this subforum, or ask us when it comes time to install and we'll help you out.
i just dont want to overpower them and end up blowing my $300 components lol that wouldent be good. i do like to listen to my music loud soo the speakers will probley take a beating thats why i want to make sure im not overpowering them that much lol sorry if that dosent make sense
That's fine. But keep in mind that even a very small amp, if set wrong, will blow your speakers.
Another thing to drive my point further. Even a 1000 watt amp could be set up to play on 50w speakers without blowing them. It's all about the adjustments.
well as far as the tuning goes and everything i was gonna have a local shop do that because i know tuning is a huge deal and to be honest i have no idea how to tune a system properly
I'd say that's a good idea. Did you buy the speakers from them as well? If they set it up, then ask them to give you an idea of how low you can safely play it. Not a volume number, but an actual volume, because different tracks play at different loudnesses even if you're on the same volume setting.
no nobody around me sells rainbow stuff thats the only thing im worried about because last time i got my system "tuned" all they did was max eveything out
Sometimes settings get maxed out and that's fine
but not usually.
If they're a legit shop, they should stand behind their work which
includes their settings. Just don't touch the settings yourself or any sort of warranty goes in the garbage.
Like I said. Get them to explicitly SHOW you how loud you can play it. Then just do your best to stay below that volume. It's actually pretty hard to blow speakers unless they are being abused, in which case you can usually hear distortion and know to back off with the volume.
well i know if i hear distorition to turn it down idk just $300 is a lot to spend just on speakers for me and i dont wanna mess them up because of some stupid mistake i did or somthing lol what sould i exactley ask for when i go there to have them tune it for me?
Do you have subs?
If so, then tell them what volume you like to play the sub at and ask them to level match it.
You shouldn't have to hold their hand. If they are a legit shop like I said before, they should know what they're doing.
I should mention, more often than not at my shop I set speakers amps up to be "idiot proof". By that I mean that I set the high pass filter quite high (80-100Hz) and don't turn the gain up as high as it potentially could. Shop's save a lot of money when they don't have customers coming back with blown equipment, so they'll often tune on the safe side.
yea i have a 12inch type r thanks for the info man it helped a lot ill make sure to do all this when im gettin it tuned
Brad youre wrong for once! ha ha im not going to recomend a rainow amp. Although I am selling him a set of rainbow components, after he and I talked a bit, their amps are out of his price range
Btw, typing on my girlfriends touch screen phone is a bitch!
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
"You really need to staple your face shut"-THE Joey Baggs.
JLAudioCavalier wrote:Brad youre wrong for once! ha ha im not going to recomend a rainow amp. Although I am selling him a set of rainbow components, after he and I talked a bit, their amps are out of his price range
Btw, typing on my girlfriends touch screen phone is a bitch!
your girlfriend doenst have any problem texting me 100x a day.
ha
OP id rather have a bit to much power then not enough. simple adjustment of the stereo will yield pleasent results and if the shop that is tunig it is halfway knowledgeable you will be fine. most high quality speakers can usually handle allot more power then they claim anyway.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography
Btw, I wasn't competely accurate: while I won't recommend the rainbow 2.400 because of his budget, I do believe the zapco studio4 fits the bill perfectly. So I guess I CAN offer to sell him something
. So to the OP: keep that in mind, if you were looking into a "higher end" brand name to power those awesome new components, zapco's new StudioX line is very affordable.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
"You really need to staple your face shut"-THE Joey Baggs.
My Rainbows eat power like a fat chick at Golden Corral. Dont be worried about overpowering them. Be worried about sending them a distorted signal.
Thats all I have to say.
