Is 70W Rms 4ohms per channel from my sony 4 channel too much for alpine door speakers that are rated at 45W Rms max?

 

nope. High pass them at 80-100hz and set the gain properly and you should be golden.

 

right on. thanks, any suggestions on what to set all the sound gauges on the amp to (gain, hp, lp etc) if i'm also hooking up rear alpine 6x9's to the same amp??

 

Fronts and rears are usually HP'd from 80-100hz depending on the speakers.

If you are not using a sub run them full range for now and be careful with the volume.....the speaker ratings are based on full range sound and you will be exceeding that with the amp.

If you have a sub, here is the process I use for tuning a vehicle:

This process is a lot easier to do with 2 people....you will also need a source for the cleanest music you know well....ie. original CD....anything ripped and saved as MP3 or WMA may suffer some loss of quality during the conversion process.

In as few words as possible.....

1. Check deck and amps, ensure all boost, EQ and gains are set to minimum.

2. Plug in RCA for front R speaker only. For 5.25" HP starts at 120hz, either in deck(preferable) or on amp. Using music you know well, raise volume on deck until it starts to clip, back it off till distortion is gone. Raise gain on amp very slowly until distortion is heard again, back it off. Lower volume on deck, lower HP setting 1 step (or approx. 100hz if variable). Repeat this process until you find the setting that gets you the most volume without distortion.

3. Repeat process for front L.....if you are using rear speakers I usually leave them out of the process until later.

At this point you have as much sound from the front end as the equipment can handle.

4. Plug in sub RCAs.....set Xover at approx. same value as HP minus 20 hz. Unplug front RCAs, raise volume at deck until distortion is heard, back it off until distortion stops. Try raising gain to see if there is any headroom left in amp, after fiddling, sub should be getting as much clean power as possible.

5. Hook fronts back up, listen to system at moderate volume....listen for even volume across all freq. If you have a test disc it will help with this part. Try adjusting sub gain and Xover to help the mix if possible, having set the fronts to their maximum output it is generally better to try and match the sub output to that level rather than the other way around.

6. Once you have found the best sounding (to your ears) settings, then hook up your rears. If you have a 4 channel running the mids and highs, unplug the fronts and the subs and repeat the setting process you did for the fronts.

7 Plug them all back in.....at this point you should only have to adjust the fader or the gain for the rears to get them to blend with the other speakers until you are happy with the sound.....

Setting the subsonic ( or infrasonic if ya wanna pic nits..... ) just below Fb is a good way to keep the woofer(s) happy.....it's all about getting the most you can out of what you have.....

HTH

 

wow thanks, i really appreciate it, i was reading the manual for my amp and it suggested for a four speaker hook-up, the hp,lp switch should be set to off :s am i better off going with your suggestions?

 

Covered that one already.....no sub = fullrange to the 4 speakers you have.

The tuning process I posted is for a system with a sub.

 

oh oh oh i see, the first reply i got suggested high pass so i was a tad confused, i'm all set now, thanks again for the tips!

 

What car do you have, or what size are all your speakers? If you have 6x9's in the back then run them full range. I would still run HP for the fronts - the freq depends on if the speakers are stock or not and what size they are.

 

doors are alpine type s 4x6's and the rears are alpine type s 6x9's, all 4 are going to the amp.

 

My bad, forgot to ask what size.....thx Paul.....

OP, start the fronts at 120hz......if they can handle a lower number without distorting all the better.....be careful with the volume while you're testing....