Speakers

[Shark]

I currently have a Kenwood KDC4018 45x4 Head Unit, a phillips 4x80 amplifier and a phillips XB100 10" Subwoofer.
I would like to install a pair of kenwood speakers into the door pannels and a pair of more higher output speakers into the rear shelf. What speaker sizes/output rating would best suit my application?

Thanks
Sam

[bad_gemini82]

hey man

my mate has got 4 180 whatt in his gemini and it's loud and they put out enough sound to shake the door hanndles.....but you do have to get extanders in your front doors......he also got 2 180 in the back shelf which arnt to bad.....


but for the shelf id get sonny 6 by nines

take car
robert

[martin]

make sure all your wattages that you stated are in RMS not the highest peak output that it says on the box. hunt around for the rms rating of all your devices and try and match them perfectly.

if your amp is 4x80wRMS then get 80wRMS speakers (which will be damn loud) then you know you are getting the most efficient use of your power

i'd use all 4 amp channels for the speakers in the doors and shelf and then a seperate 2 channel amp bridged into one channel for the sub

or if you like having lots of speakers (which can give really good imaging if you set it up right) keep the speakers you have running off the head unit and then install another set of 5" or 6" inch speakers in the kickpanels, this method can sound particularly good if you run tweeters as well. that way you'll get good punchy midbass from your kick panels, and the door speakers will fill out the mids and leave the rest to the sub.

yeah...

[Racegem]

From memory the 4018 has dual RCA outputs, means you can run to the amp while still being able to fade.

First thing, martin is correct, check your power ratings. Speakers are almost always stated at their peak. Name brand amps usually rate at RMS. Cheap amps are rated at peak, makes them seem powerful. You don't state the model of the amp? That sub is a good little sub if you get the box right. 28lts for a sealed box (sealed gives more 'punch' at low to mid volumes, ported gives more at higher volumes [twice the sized box]) will sound awesome.

Secondly, couple of ways to play with this. A: Most powerful; buy another two channel, bridgeable amp for the sub. Run the RCA wires from the headunit to the back. Use the REAR pair to the 2 channel for the sub. Then use a two RCA splitters to turn the FRONT pair into four powering the 4 channel amp for front and rear speakers. Then get two sets of speakers with the same power handling, roughly 150 - 180 watts, but be careful of what you get for the front doors. B: Simpler; Check the amp's bridgeable. If so, use the REAR RCA's to 2 channels of the amp and bridge out to the sub. Use the FRONT RCA's to the other two channels to run your front speakers, invest in some good three ways or splits, 150-180 watts. Run the FRONT SPEAKER outputs from the head unit to a reasonable set of two ways in the rear shelf, up to 80 watts. You want your good speakers at the front where you are, you don't pay upwards of $80 for a concert to sit with your back to them!
In either case, running the sub off the rear and speakers off the front, you have the beauty of subwoofer control from the headunit using your fader. Want more base? Fade to the rear, Less? Fade to the front.

Hope this helps,

Yonnee.

[Shark]

Thanks man, you covered everything that i could possibly need to know. The amp is a DAP 4040, i use a sealed 1 cubic foot sub box on the XB100 and im very happy with their performance. I think that i will go with plan B, it fits my budget best and has a simpler layout.

Thanks again,
Sam.