Hi, I'm a newbie and I'm sure not on the level of many of the folks here regarding car stereos but thought I'd seek some basic advice. I'm on a tight budget so I made do with an Alpine CDE 102 head unit (18 watts) Infinity Reference 6022si 6-1/2" speakers in the door (50 watts) Infinity Kappa 692.9i 6x9 speakers in back (110 watts) Both pairs of Infinities are essentially 2 ohm but with the speaker wire function as 4 ohm speakers. I knew I'd eventually want to upgrade to an external amp and originally thought of the Alpine KTP 445 (45 watts). As mentoned, I'm a newbie and not looking to spend a lot of money. In order to save some cash I installed the head unit and speakers. This was my first attempt and, while certainly not hard, I don't have a lot of experience to say the least. Now I'm looking at a Rockford Fosgate P400-4 (50 watts but often rated higher) and the task of running wires thru the firewall, hooking up fuses, considering a capacitor, etc. I know I won't ever get an audiophile set up in my '98 Civic and given my hearing loss from playing in rock bands over the years such a system would probably be pearls before swine but I have a couple of questions. 1) If the RF 400-4 actually rates at 75 watts (or more?), will this harm the 50 watt Infinities over time? I don't play my music TOO loudly (but do once in a while) and only for around 1 hour at a time on commutes. The 6022si's were the cheapest 6.5" speakers I could afford that would handle 50 watts. I wanted something that could handle 100 watts like the back speakers so I could get a 100 watt amp one day but could not afford this at the time. Should I replace the 6.5"s one day with 100 watt speakers? Will the RF P400-4 make good use of the 110 watt 6x9's (and 100 watt 6.5"s if I go that route)? 2) I'm sure even with the amp upgrade the Infinities won't deliver a lot of bass. What is the best way to add a subwoofer setup later on? The RF P400-4 can run in 2 or 4 channels. The Alpine only has 2 sets of preamp outputs in back. Should I keep all 4 speakers and use the P400-4 to power them, then rig another amp for a sub or go a different route? Again, please consider my level of inexperience and my desire to keep things fairly simple (and cheap). Thanks for any advice!
As far as being concerned about damaging your Infinity 6.5's i wouldn't worry about that. They should be fine. If there's going to be any problem id guess it would be a little distortion at really high volumes if there not in a decent enclosure in the doors.
Thanks for the feedback, Fbmowner. I had read in one owners review of the RF 400-4 that the certificate rated the amp at 97 watts and this had me a bit worried. Very curious to see what this one rates out at if I pull the trigger. Not at all happy with the fit of the 6.5"s in the door, tho. The adapters that came with them don't seem to fit so I just wedged them in the enclousre in the door panel and tried my best to tighten them down with two screws that barely seat in the plastic. In the meantime, I'm doing my due diligence on what it takes to install an amp for the first time. Looks like a fun project and I'm learning a lot so far. Hoping I won't have to put a capacitor in, or at least right away. I think the 98 Civic's alternator is 75 amps. Not sure where I will mount the amp and may keep the stock speaker wires for now but do want to look into upgrading the other wiring involved.
If your going to shove the 6.5's in there, id stuff some polyfill behind them to help the sound. I had the same issue in a buddies car they acually sounded pretty good for being in the completely wrong enclosure . Dont bother getting a cap. Theres alot of debate on whether there useful or not, but id save the money for getting speakers that fit in the doors! Lol. You MITE get some headlight dimming but without a big amp and some subs youll be okay. Just use proper gauge wire and everything should go well. If you'd like to ensure your amp is getting all the power it needs, Research " The Big 3 ". Youll be under the hood anyway! GL!
Thanks again for the quick reply! I appreciate the advice on using polyfill and capacitor. What I'd read recently on the latter confirms what you said. Grateful for the Big 3 reference. That's a good article.
