chickenbandit

I decided to start piecing my system together after dealing with the crappy stock stereo and speakers for a year. So far I've ordered an Alpine CDE-154BT, I'm looking at the JL Audio C2-650X speakers. My dilemma lies in the amp selection. Due to the fact that I wanted to keep things simple and semi cost effective, I was looking at the Alpine KTP-445 mini amp that i see many people saying good things about. The JL speakers are rated at 60 watts RMS while the 445A is 45 watts RMS x2. I was looking at the universal 445U because I know it can be bridged but i think 90 watts RMS might be too much. So far my options are as follows...

-Just stick with the 445A
-Do the bridged 445U
-Run a real amp(Any suggestions?)
-Go with the Polk Audio db651s instead since it's a closer match to the 445's output

So yea. Any help with this decision would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

PorgyS2K06

1) More power does not hurt. You can go a little over the power rating generally and be fine. Adjusting the gain down a bit to accommodate for the headroom is not a bad thing.
2) What is your budget?

chickenbandit

I wanted to keep my budget at around 600 max. Currently with the head unit I already bought, the KTP, JL Audio speakers, Modifry DCI, I'm at about $500 even and I'm ok with that. I know that it's ok to have a little more power to them, but I wasn't sure that 90 watts to the 60 watts was too much or not. I liked the idea of the KTP because it's plug and play and I can hide it under the passenger dash nice n easy. I dont really want to take up room inside the car and I saw some people mounting it above the fuel tank with custom mounts, but unless there's someone selling a mount like that I can't go that route either. Thanks for replying.

chickenbandit

Are there any KTP 445 users that can chime in? Also, instead of under powering the 60 watt JL audio speakers, should I just buy a speaker with a higher RMS rating that will keep it closer to the 90 watts of the bridged 445?

I was also looking at these as an alternative since they're rated up to 80 watts RMS and would be closer to the bridged 445u. Let me know what you guys think.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108P650...0cs.html?tp=95

oth

Don't worry about the RMS rating of the speakers - it's pretty meaningless. The most useful spec for speakers
is probably the sensitivity, a measure of efficiency, and of course the really important thing is how they sound
to you.
The reason the speaker's power rating generally doesn't matter is that at most times you are actually supplying
it with very little power regardless of the size of your amp - often single watts or even milliwatts. A more
powerful amp will allow you to turn up the volume that much louder without distorting, and will be able to
supply enough power for those transient peaks like a loud, low frequency note, which is the reason audiophiles
often use a more powerful amp than the speakers nominal rating.
Which brings us back to efficiency. Doubling the power results in a 3dB increase in volume, so a speaker with a
92dB sensitivity will need 1/2 the power of one with an 89dB sensitivity, which is the reason fancy but inefficient
aftermarket speakers can sound worse than cheap OEM ones if not sufficently powered.

As for the KTP-445, I have no personal experience, but if you don't have rear speakers to power, seems better to get
the 445u so you have the option of bridging. It's not plug&play, but splicing the amp harness to the adapter
harness will not be difficult.

chickenbandit

Thanks a lot for your insight. Electronics have always been the bane of my existence but I'm trying to get a grasp of it better now. I just wasn't sure if the bridge ktp would have been "overpowering" the jl audio speakers by too much. I don't need crazy sound just something more enjoyable Than stock. Since I have an alpine head unit I was going to get the plug and play version but like you said for the ability to bridge down the line it looks like I'd be better off with the universal unit.