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New speakers, what Amp do I need?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by Vari0us, Dec 28, 2018.

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  1. Vari0us

    Vari0us Junior Member

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    2010 Prius 2 here, I recently treated myself to a new jvc head unit and a set of new Rockford fasgate door speakers and memphis audio dash corner speakers. In the front doors they are component speakers, so there’s a sub and a tweeter in there, and the dash speakers are just full range spekers. The back doors are just full range fasgate speakers. When I crank the volume, as I do frequently, the sound quality takes a nosedive. I assume the way to fix this is with a new amplifier, but I have no idea what kind I need. How many channels, how many watts, and what is going to get me the most out of my fancy new speakers?? Any helpgeezgreatly appreciated!
     
    #1 Vari0us, Dec 28, 2018
  2. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    This does not compute.
     
    #2 Grit, Dec 29, 2018
    SFO likes this.
  3. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    The cheapest fix would probably be going back over the speaker installation and adding a bit of glue and insulation here and there to reduce rattles and sympathetic vibration. Your speakers are probably making great sound, but they may also be causing a part of the door to vibrate almost as loud and with far less control, which muddies up the sound badly.

    The loudest fix would be adding a 4-channel amplifier, something north of 50W per channel. You would use one channel per door. The front door speaker would be wired in parallel with the same-side tweeter. (You are probably already wired like that for the JVC)

    The bump-est fix would be adding a powered subwoofer. That way the door speakers don't have to work nearly as hard to produce bass sounds- they aren't very good at it anyway. A sub has the physical size to produce those sounds easily, and with a built-in amp it's relatively easy to install. This removes much of the workload from the JVC built-in amps, so they will sound much better driving the new RFs.
     
    #3 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Dec 29, 2018
  4. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    I think it is even more likely that the distortion is from having speakers of the wrong impedance for the amp in the radio.

    I suggest a visit to a respected "custom car audio" shop in the area.
     
    #4 sam spade 2, Dec 29, 2018
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