Homestar1217

Right now I have all Infinity speakers and an Infinity amp in my Cobalt, but I'm about to switch cars and I'll be purchasing some Boston Acoustics speakers for the new car I'm getting, however the Boston amps are super expensive. I've found a Kenwood amp that puts out more power but still costs less. I know Kenwood is a good brand, but I'm not sure if mixing and matching speaker/amp brands is a good idea. Doesn't seem like it would be to much of an issue since near as I can figure all amps do the same thing, but I'm just curious. I want my new car to sound just as good as this one does, and I'm not against spending the money for the Boston amp if it will make a big difference.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

the boston will sound better then the kenwood... but what are u getting? a 4 channel for the mids im assuming? how much power is it rated at?

Homestar1217

Well here's my plan. I'm going to keep my mono sub amp (Alpine) and get a new Boston sub

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...s+G312-44.html

and i'll have one set each of component speakers and 2-way speakers from Boston as well

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...tics+SR65.html
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...tics+SR60.html

now those speakers have a pretty high RMS rating, 85/75 respectively, so I was looking at this Boston amp but I'm not sure it has enough power

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...s+GTA-504.html

It is however, the only Boston amp in my price range. Two other options I've found are a pioneer and a kenwood amp that put out more power and are in my price range.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...GM-D9500F.html
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...+KAC-8405.html

if you don't think there's enough links I can get some more for ya :-) As always Emp, I appreciate your help on this. I'm learning more and more as I go but I'm not quite there yet. On it's face, it seems to me that the brand shouldn't make a difference since all it's doing is delivering power to the speakers, but I'm a newbie.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

u dont nessicarily need to give speakers their rated rms. its not like 50wrms wont be enough and will blow the speakers. its all in the settings dude

i would stay away from pioneer amps like the plague. kenwood is ok but not quite boston either

http://cgi.ebay.com/ALPINE-MRP-F300-...item3efd807f20

Homestar1217

So would you stick with getting the Boston amp? Am I correct in assuming that all amps do the same thing, just the quality and tuning options are the difference? Obviously the Kenwood puts out a little more power, but if the Boston is gonna sound better than I'll stick with it. One problem I have now, and this could be because I have 2 subs, is that my speakers sometimes get drowned out by the bass. Also if i turn the volume up pretty high the mids get pretty distorted. These are both things I'm trying to avoid in the new car. By moving to 1, bigger, much better quality sub I hope to get clearer bass, and by moving to more powerful and much better speakers I hope to get better mids and highs than my current Infinity/JBL setup.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

most of the times the mids are distorting its not having anything to do with the speakers... high pass on the amp and overall quality/power is whats going to keep the mids from distorting. even stock speakers

SS SCHGD

Hope you've listened to the new speakers for a bit somewhere else, cause as I've found out, if you've become accustomed to a certian sound, you might not like the change over. I've been running Infinity (although high end ones) in my cars for 12 years, and had someone talk me into Diamond for the cobalt. Even though there pretty decent Diamonds, I'm not what you would call extremely happy with the new sound.

I'll be getting some JBL's (have listened, and like them even more then the infinity's) to replace the Diamonds soon enough now though.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

lol by diamond did u mean boston man?

SS SCHGD

sorry, I was telling my story, I have Diamond. (unless your telling me Diamond was bought by Boston) I was trying to suggest he make sure he wants to change speaker companies. Cause I did and was not happy.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

oh ok... lol i was all confused

Homestar1217

I'm not what you would call ecstatic that I have Infinity speakers now cause while they're about 30 times better than the ones I pulled out (looked like cardboard), they aren't quite as clear and balanced as I would prefer. We've had Boston speakers before, and I have also listened at Fry's and I've fallen in love. Their G3 sub is also the clearest I've heard so far. It'll hit for sure, but otherwise it blends perfectly with the highs and mids, which my 2 JBL's do not do, they tend to overpower the speakers at times. I got tired of constantly turning the gain up and down so I just leave it at what works well for most songs. I'm also not surprised you like the JBL speakers because Harman/Kardon owns Infinity and JBL, so they probably share a lot of tech.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

lol same speakers diff look

but homestar alot of subs will overpower the mids. a bass knob is generally bad but i have to have one otherwise **** sucks

gdubs

iTrader: (32)

Buy my MTX from me

Homestar1217

Yeah I've just come to accept that on some songs, but on others it's so unbearable I set the fader a little to the front on the radio, that way it takes some of the subs out since they're tied to the rear. Which is another question I meant to ask. The new car I'm getting is gonna be pretty much impossible to put an aftermarket h/u in, but the stock one has a lot of things that I wouldn't want to get rid of anyway (steering wheel controls, bluetooth, usb/aux in). So I know I'll have to use some LOCs, and in my cobalt I know the subs are tied to the rear, not sure about the speaker amp since I haven't pulled the radio since best buy installed it. I do know he used 1 LOC and 2 Y cables for the speaker amp, which could explain why they're not all that clear... But when you run an LOC for the sub or the speaker amp can it be tied in to all of the speakers? I'm really hoping I can run all the wires myself this time without having to pay for that too.....

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

whats the new car gonna be?

Homestar1217

well I'm pretty much set on the Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8. I'm gonna go look at the Camaro and Mustang V6 models but I think they're a bit out of my price range, plus they drive like base models, and the 3.8 is the high end model of the Genesis, therefore it drives like a performance coupe. Mainly I'm interested in a quality car with some power to the rear wheels for once. The Genesis comes with a good set of features, including leather, for a good price, but the sound system is something that's lacking. Even the upgraded factory Infinity one doesn't get very much praise. So I'm looking forward to doing it myself.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

in that case i would try and get the basic system so u dont waste any money. if you do then you will tap the LOC to both rear speakers. or behind the deck

If you get the amplified system u must tap after the amplifier. so if it has a sub tap there. if not then at the rear speakers or on the output area of the amp

Homestar1217

Oh I'm for sure getting the base model V6, so no Infinity stereo for me. I'll just be happy to have power stuff though. For the first time my car can be unlocked Before I get to it :-) I've never worked with component speakers though, so I'm sure that'll be fun.

SS SCHGD

I know JBL and Infinity are both Harman, but The JBL's that I enjoy over the Infinities are the GTi line, and are likely to be liked over a lot of other choices by a lot of people, not just me. (If I splurge for the 660GTi set, you'd better hope they are worth the $$$. and I think they are)