stereo to amp

[jordano]

i got an alpine head unit with 3 outputs, front, rear and sub. well i jst got an alpine 5 channel amp wit3 inputs, at the moment iam gonna run a separate wire for each of the outputs to the 3 inputs on the amp, jst wantin to no how much different it will run if i use the sub oput to the sub input and the front output to the front and rear input, wantin to no as i will be gettin another amp in future so will need the output on the stereo, or is it better to just join the amps.
if that makes any sense
jonny

[mrLEE30]

no it makes no sense at all.

your have to run the sub to sub front to front and rear to rear and no you cannot join amps!

best bet is this. most higher end alpines have no internal amp so you will only be able to use your 5 channel. for now run all off of this amp. once you get a second amp go for a 2/3 channel and simply run your sub off of this amp (bridging across 2 channels) to get max power to your sub. Also go for a dedicted sub amp as no need to waste money on a amp that is designed for all frequencies.

your 5 channel amp can now be used to run four fronts and rear speakers, it is aslo easier to set it up without having to drive a sub. Dont forget good quality cables from head unit to amp and amp to speakers. (bigger conductor, generally the better as less resistance) secondly good power supply, use a dedicated power line direct from your battery (with a fuse at the battery end).

check the tech articles for tips as an excellent section on E30 ice.

mrlee

[jordano]

the amp i hav at present is 75w x 4 with the 5th channel being 300w i think, so wen i get another amp i should run fronts to fronts, and backs to backs and sub, and then run my sub to the new amp?

[mrLEE30]

sounds very unusual, generally amps are 2 or 4 (or 6) channel but you can bridge two channels to make one more powerful channel. if you look at my boot set up you will notice the bottom red and black wires are accross two of the four output connections, so i have bridged two channels to make one (thus the output is 2x150 W making a 300W output) yours sounds like a 4 channel (4x75) but bridgeable to give 2 x 150W outputs) i have never heard of a 4x75 and 1 x 300. best bet is to wire your fronts and rears through this amp (thus using all four channels) and wire it properly, if you can be bothered junk the original BMw speaker wires in favour of oxygen free cables. then when you have some more time (and cash) buy a second amp, bridge it and run your sub from this fed by your dedicated sub output at the back of your head unit. dont forget that a sub has different methods of installation, a ported box as in mine gives the best responce and deepest bass, but check the literature when you get your sub speaker and it should give you different options (a half ported box, or a free standing sub). my box is 3 cubic feet with a 3inch wide 13inch long port and it sounds fantastic, deep and bassy!

mrlee

[fowler]

Hello mate your Amp isa five channel because it will run to sets of fron speakers two sets of rear speakers and the 5TH channel will be a dedicated sub out put because i hav eone of these in my convertible 88
Any more if needed PM Me
Regards
ben

[mrLEE30]

never heard of that set up, learn something new everyday, but how many inputs does it have?? if is does have a dedicated sub channel then you should have three inputs (front,rear, and sub) i just assumed that 4x75 = 300W amp, sounded to coincidental, hope i am wrong as you will have a complete set up there!!

good luck

mrlee

[jordano]

yeah it has front, rear and sub inputs on the amp, all i need to no really is wat to do wen i wnt another 2 amps which iam plannin on in the future, wat do i run them from

[mrLEE30]

in that case you would run each amp from a seperate input, i.e one amp for fronts, one amp for rears, one amp for sub. will be a big system hope your security is up to the job!!

mrlee