Jazz

i have 4 speakers up front, 2 dash + 2 Door. I bought a 4 channel amp for this.
i was planning to buy a seperate 2 channel amp for my 2 in the rear.

a friend of mine suggested that i use the 4 channel to power all 6 speakers.

the two front channels for the 4 front speakers and the two rear channels for the 2 speakers in the rear.

the 4 channel amp is an Alpine V-Power 4 x 40W RMS @ 4 ohm.
all 6 speakers are small, 3.5"/5.25"/4x6 all of which are rated between 30W-35W RMS.

Do you think it will be "ok" to hook four speakers to the two front channels?

thanks
J

Killer_klown187

iTrader: (20)

Are the front sets components(tweeter and mid woofer)?

Jazz

nope, all four speakers up front are simple 2way coax.

Killer_klown187

iTrader: (20)

Its still doable, The component set would have made it easier on the amp(most components present a 4ohm final load)
Just the fronts will be getting a 2 ohm load stereo. Amp should be able to do it without much problem.

Denonite

iTrader: (1)

sure you can do it. 2 sets of front speakers run paralllel on the 2 front channels with a 2 ohm final load, and the 2 rear speaks on the rear channels as usual. Some may suggest you forget the rear and just run the fronts...i like rear sound...so I won't suggest that. Other option may be to use the head unit to power the rears, and dedicate the amp to the fronts. Personally, I like the 6ch amped approach as you can still balance and fade as usual, and still be able to adjust intensity to avoid too much sound from the rear. The 2ohm/4ohm will be inaudible to all but the most golden of ear.

Jazz

thanks for the help. i will test it out first and see how it goes.

does this mean that each speaker will be getting 20W instead of 40W?...i have a feeling that its a little more complicated than that, right?

Jazz

it seems to me that doing this is like taking a short cut of sorts...the advantages are simple, convenience and saves me buying a new amp. what are the disadvantages to this set up?

rabbit_ears

the main disadvantage is you somewhat lose the ability to fade though i imagine the fronts were probably always tied together in the OEM set-up anyways. This shouldn't be a big deal because you can still fade front to rear (assuming your head unit has more than one set of pre-outs); if not you can fade with gain controls.
As for the fronts having 20W instead of 40W; its actually opposite. they'll get closer to 80W because running in parallel will result in a 2ohm load for the front channel. you could run in series to get an 8ohm load and then you'd have 20W to the fronts.

Denonite

iTrader: (1)

Given your set up... Not really any. Most amps are designed to function properly at 2ohms in stereo. Some claim to hear a difference in sq between 2 and 4 ohms...i can't...but maybe they can. If you're looking for very high end sq, then it's not the way to go, but then you'd have to redesign you system and get component speakers etc...i get the idea you're just looking for a good overall system to listen to, that set up will provide that. Car audio, like many other hobbies or interests, can go from mild to ridiculous. Even my previous systems, well over 6k in equipment, still pales in comparison to many others in terms of equipment, install, and sq.

Jazz

I have already run all of the wiring throughout the car. So the only way i can wire in parallel is to basically take the the positive wire attatched to the drivers dash speaker and the positive wire attatched to the drivers door speaker, twist the ends together and screw it to the positive post on the amp, then do the same for the negative wire. Then do the same for the passenger side. Is this OK?

I have read that there is a better way to wire in parallel by running a wire from amp post to speaker 1 and then another wire from speaker 1 to speaker 2. I would have to rip everything apart again to do it this way.

J