Car Audio Amplifier Info: Seriously Everything You'll Ever Need To Know

Amp Smarts:
Amplifiers are accessories that yield a diminutive tiny audio arresting from a pre-amp, some adeptness from your battery, and canyon it on as a big big audio arresting to drive speakers.
The a lot of important section of admonition I can accord to you is to buy lots of power. To get the cleanest sound, it is actually capital to buy as abundant adeptness as you can afford.
Here are some agreement that you'll charge to apperceive if evaluating car audio amplifiers.
Watt: A watt is a measurment of power. Adeptness is the adeptness to do work. In the case of amplifiers, the plan is to move a speaker. Amplifiers appear in all adeptness ranges, from 20 watts per approach up to bags per channel. If it comes to amplifiers, watts are declared two ways:
RMS: An amp's adeptness appraisement ability say: 75W RMS x 4 CH @ 4Ω 14.4V
This agency that the amp is able of 75 watts into 4 channels with 4 ohm speakers, and 14.4V of voltage. This amp is able of accouterment that adeptness if all of those altitude are met at all times. The accuracy is, even if you architecture your arrangement to accommodated all of those conditions, it will not at all times. Speakers' impedences (measured in ohms, or Ω) change consistently while operating. Amps don't necessarilly put out the aforementioned adeptness all of the time either, for archetype if a bass clue is arena against a abundant quieter track.
WHEN BUYING AN AMP, LOOK AT IT'S POWER RATING AS A MARKER FOR YOUR AMP'S CAPABILITY RATHER THAN WHAT IS LIKELY TO PUT OUT AT ALL TIMES.
However, I accept to aswell say that an amp's RMS appraisement is the one section of advice to attending for to actuate an amp's power.
CEA Adjustable Adeptness Output: This is (hopefully) traveling to become the industry accepted for free an amp's adeptness output. This allows you to accurately analyze two amps to anniversary other, because you apperceive that they were activated beneath the aforementioned conditions. To apperceive why this is a acceptable thing, bang here...
MAX:
Right beneath an amp's RMS rating, you'll see an amp's "MAX" rating. It is generally bifold the RMS rating. The MAX appraisement is authentic junk. Never pay absorption to the max appraisement because it alone shows what the amp is able of in a chic setting. That affectionate of ambiance cannot be reproduced in the auto, and accordingly the appraisement is misleading. An amp's max appraisement is proably about 50% added than the RMS. Never buy an amp based on it's Max rating. Ok, and lastly, because this makes you attending like a absolute jerk, never anytime anytime say your amp is a 1000 watt amp because it has a max 1000 watt sticker on it, and ESPECIALLY if you bought your amp at the bandy meet. 1000 watt amps are BIG and HEAVY.
Anyway, in summation, never buy an amp based on it's MAX rating.
CEA Adjustable Power: (CEA=Consumer Electronics Association) This blueprint (if your amplifier includes it) is a new rating. The goals of this appraisement are to accord a advantageous advertence for amp comparison. In the "bad old days", amp manufacturers could appealing abundant affirmation whatever adeptness achievement they capital after allegorical the testing methods. The CEA appraisement changes that. The CEA adjustable adeptness achievement specifies what adeptness achievement you can apprehend if the afterward belief are met: 14.4V, 4 Ohm apostle amount and 1% distortion. You can now adequately analyze two amplifiers to anniversary added because you apperceive they were activated in the aforementioned manner. Make sense? No? OK, attending at it this way: If an amp has a CEA adjustable achievement adeptness of 100 watts per channel, you apperceive that the amp is about according to addition amp with the aforementioned CEA rating. HOWEVER, you cannot analyze this amp to addition amp that is rated at 100 watts/channel RMS.
I am a big fan of this rating. FINALLY, there is a compatible accepted for amplifier adeptness achievement ratings. If an amp doesn't cover this spec, again the architect is apparently aggravating to adumbrate something.
Bridging: Abounding stereo and 4 approach amps acquiesce you to "bridge". What you do with bridging is amalgamate two channels into one, or four channels into two. This allows you to admeasure added adeptness to a individual speaker, like a subwoofer for example. This is a accessible affection for anyone who has a stereo amp lying around, but they wish to use all of its adeptness to drive a individual speaker. There's annihilation amiss with bridging, and is generally acclimated for subwoofers.
Crossover: Abounding amps accept a simple crossover congenital in. Basically, it will be a about-face that will accept three positions: top pass, low pass, off. Top canyon basically allows all of the college frequencies to pass. This is accessible if the amp is powering tweeters and mids. The low canyon allows alone the lower frequencies to be reproduced. This is accessible if the amp is powering a subwoofer. Off agency that all frequencies will be beatific to the speaker.
Bass Boost: Some amps accept a ambit that if switched on gives a addition to your bass. It is not essential, and I usually don't use it in my own system.
Frequency Response: This blueprint tells you what frequencies that the amp responds to. College frequencies are treble, lower frequencies are bass. The animal ear can apperceive from 20hz to 20,000hz (aka 20khz). A lot of amps will carbon this abundance bandage with ease. Some will go aloft and beyond. Don't anguish about that because usually CDs don't accommodate abstracts out of that range, and even if they did, you wouldn't apprehend it! Some humans allocution about harmonics, and I don't apperceive if it's accurate or not. But whateva. Read about this agitation elsewhere.
Channel: Amps accept channels that basically acquaint you how abounding endless it is congenital to drive. Loads=speakers, so a two approach amp will adeptness two speakers.
Classes:
Different amps accept altered designs that all accomplish the aforementioned affair (amplifying a agreeable signal), but accomplish this in altered ways. The way in which the amplifier is advised is referred to as its "class". There are 4 above types of classes, and an casual oddball. I don't absolutely apperceive the abstruse differences amid them, but it doesn't matter. We're just installing amps, not designing them!
A - Actual acceptable complete quality, actual inefficient, uses boatloads of power, and wastes a lot of of it in the anatomy of heat.
B - Acceptable complete quality, moderately efficient, uses a lot of power, wastes about bisected of it in the anatomy of heat. Some "crossover distortion" present
A/B - Combination of classes A and B. At low volumes, uses the chic A allocation of the amp. At college volumes, uses the chic B allocation of the amp.
D - So-so complete superior (but reproduces bass actual well), awful efficient, uses basal power, wastes actual little of it.
Other classes: Whatever. They exist. I don't apperceive if they complete better. Your aerial are the best judge.
THD: This stands for "total harmonic distortion", but the D is all you accept to pay absorption to. Obviously, the lower this number, the better. You don't wish your amps bearing baloney and sending it to your speakers! It causes babble and apostle damage. The experts say any THD appraisement beneath 0.1% is inaudible, acceptation you can't apperceive it. But bethink that baloney campaign through all components, and is amplified by anniversary one. So, accepting a low baloney amp, and added top baloney items in your arrangement will carbon distortion.
S/N Ratio: A Measure of how an amplifier silences backround noise. This blueprint is abstinent in db, and the HIGHER the s/n ratio, the cleaner your sound.
Speaker Akin Inputs: This affection allows you to affix the amp to your arrangement through apostle affairs (instead of RCA cables). This affection is accessible if you're abacus an amp to your branch stereo system.
Preamp Outputs: This affection allows you to affix an RCA cable to the amp to accumulation a added amp with the agreeable signal. This affection is accessible if you wish to add a added amp after active a cable all the way from your arch assemblage to the amp. Also, it allows you to add an added amp to a arch assemblage that may accept alone one set of RCA pre-outs.
Remote bass control: This affection allows you to ascendancy the bass achievement of the amp after accepting to acclimatize it on the amp. You can arise the ascendancy wherever's clever, and acclimatize the bass remotely.
HOW TO DETERMINE WHICH AMP IS BEST FOR YOUR SYSTEM:
How abounding channels is your system?
How to angle up those channels.
Features you want
Crossover:
Inputs:
speaker (hi level)
rca, pre-amp (lo level)
How abounding channels are you traveling to drive? We already discussed the ranges of stereo systems, so you charge to actuate how abounding speakers you're driving. Say you wish to body an average arrangement with 6 speakers. You amount you wish to amplify all 6 of those with a "real" amp. You can go a few routes: You can buy a 6 approach amp, or a 5 approach amp, and adeptness your accomplished system. That makes activity simple if you wish to accumulate accession apple-pie and simple. You could aswell adeptness your speakers with assorted amps: One mono, one 4-channel, you could even use three stereo amps. If you wish to get absolutely fancy, you could bi-amp your basic speakers, bringing your amp calculation to 3, 4, and 5 amps!
One way that you can get artistic with your accession is through bridging. If you wish to adeptness 2 or added subs on a stereo amp, you can arch it, or amalgamate the two channels into one. From there, you can wire your subs in alongside or alternation to access the able ohm load. It's an simple way to adeptness assorted speakers on one amp.
To save money, you can consistently opt not to install an amp for the rear speakers. I generally times just adeptness them off of the arch unit. If I am alert to music after rear passengers, I can just achromatize the arch assemblage to the front, abrogation me with the amplified foreground speakers.
Do you charge an amp to accept a crossover?
Crossovers appear in accessible if you are powering subwooers. A lot of amps can carbon the absolute ambit of animal hearing. However, if we install subs, we alone wish them to carbon bass. If the amp has a crossover, you can about-face it on, and about acquaint the amp to alone forward bass to the subwoofers. Since subs can alone carbon bass, why accept the amp decay activity sending the subwoofers frequecies it can't reproduce? LUNACY I TELL YA!
Inputs
speaker: These are alleged high-level inputs because the arresting is already awful amplified. Get an amp with high-level inputs if you are amalgam an amp with a branch arch unit.
rca: These are alleged low-level inputs because the arresting is not awful amplified. These inputs are RCA style, and are adopted because they aftermath lower noise. This is the best advantage if you are application an aftermarket arch unit.
So, now you're absolutely accomplished about amps. Don't worry. You can acknowledge us later!