Amplifiers

Amplifiers or Amps... We've all heard of them, but why are they so important? And do they really do?

Well they're one of the most important pieces of kit in a sound system. Not only used in car audio, or in home cinema, but also at concerts where you are not only able see your favourite artists but hear them with crystal clear sound quality! This is where amplifiers come into play. An amplifier in your car audio sytstem will enable to you to successfully reproduce music at higher volume levels without the distortion that would plague head units directly powering speakers. Ranging in power output and specifications, the main aim of any amp is to allow you to greatly increase the volume of the signal being sent to your speakers and try to minimise distortion or any kind of crackling. Amplifiers come in a variety of forms, from the mono block bass amps to the 5 channel amps that have the ability to create a cinema style set up in your car.

Amplifiers based upon their circuitry are put into different classes. These different classes enable you to pick an amp that would be best suited to your exact requirements. Usually amps are judged by their power output. Generally the less powerful amplifiers will only advertise the maximum power output that the amplifier is able to produce. However it must be noted that the maximum power output should not be your method of choosing an amplifier. You want to focus on the RMS power (or Root Means Squared). Through some research I have found that if an amplifier has stated that it is able to produce 350w MAX, the RMS power is usually about 70% of that so therefore the amp would be able to continuously produce 240w and at split seconds would be able to produce 350 watts.

For the protection of your subwoofer it is important to never try and push more than the manufacture's recommended power. Overpowering a subwoofer can burn out the voice coil and render the subwoofer useless, however on the other end of the scale, under powering a subwoofer can result in clipping, when the subwoofer will be playing a distorted signal due to the amplifier powering the signal beyond its recommended range.

Subwoofer amplifiers are specifically designed for bass amplification. Usually, the circuitry of subwoofer amplifiers is put into the ‘Class D’ mono block group. These amps are able to output a signal at high power levels and are used in bass conditions due to their ability to run much cooler than other amplifiers however their ability to amplify every detail of the signal is somewhat poor when compared to other classed amplifiers. This is why for my car audio system, I am running two amplifiers, one for the subwoofer and one for my speakers. This set up has enabled me to have a dedicated amplifier for my subwoofer, a Kicker L7 as well as a dedicated amplifier for my main speakers, a pair of coaxial and a pair of component JBL speakers, and anyone who has heard the system will agree with me when I say that factor in the total price of the system with all the components, this set up is one that will produce a loud, yet clear sound!

Amplifiers are not just used to drive sub woofers. There are numerous amplifiers that are suited to amplify the high and midrange sounds from your music ranging from two channel amplifiers as well as four channel amplifiers to five channel amplifiers, some of which can be used as part of a cinema style setup while others are able to output to six channels. These amplifiers are able to power multiple channels at a reduced power, for example my amplifier is able to produce 50w rms x 4 channels and all the amplifiers have the ability to be bridged(so a four channel amp will be powered in two channels). The benefit of this would be for someone who was interested in a system but due to a number of reasons, only wanted one amp. A system we had installed into a Vauxhall Corsa C comprised of a JVC head unit with the door speakers being replaced by a pair of JBL coaxial speakers, a custom rear install that utilised a pair of JBL 6x9’s, a four channel JBL GTO-504e amplifier with a JBL GTO-1202D subwoofer. Then end result with this car was a system able to play a full bodied sound with bass that did not overpower the system, but just result was an experience that’s sure to not disappoint!

So now we come to your car. You must be wondering what amplifier/s would be ideally suited for your needs. If you’re looking at just adding a little bit of bass then a small amp powering a subwoofer such as the MTX all in one series are able to warm your sound up without having window shaking bass levels. For those who want some more power I would recommend the amplifier in my car in a heartbeat. Although there is the Rockford Fosgate 500.2 which due to its Class A/B circuitry, will be able to power other speakers if needed. If budget is no issue, a Rockford Fosgate Power T1500-1bd powering two Kicker L7 subwoofers would be able to put out close to 148db, which believe me, is loud! If you decide that you want to run a separate amplifier then these will range in price and specification, but it is a known fact that due to their established name in the industry, Rockford Fosgate have built a reputation that people around the world respect and recognise and their Power Series amplifier range has continued to prove that they have worked hard for their reputation. The Power T600-4 amplifier is able to produce 100 watts continuously to 4 channels at 4 ohms enabling you to run your system cool and efficiently (for more information on how to wire your systems keep checking back).

I hope that this has given you an insight into car audio amplifiers and that you now have an idea on how to go about designing your car audio system. If however you require more help then there are a number of ways you can contact us. You can leave a message on out Facebook, send us an email, or visit our website at http://www.sound-evolution.co.uk.