ADVICE FOR SYSTEM

[Phenom]

can anybody tell me if the following system would even work:

1 Kenwood KAC-6404 500W Amp (4-channel)
2 Kicker Ds650 6.5" 2-way 100W Speakers
2 MB Quart ETA169 6"x9" 3-way 120W speakers

Then eventually I would add a sub but not yet.

[gt08]

Re: ADVICE FOR SYSTEM

I'm sure it will work but why do you want 3 different brand names? unless you are doing it that way to save money I would try to get all the same brand

[Phenom]

Re: ADVICE FOR SYSTEM

exactly that, save money.

[Thebeast]

Re: ADVICE FOR SYSTEM

go with the kicker ks series if you can afford that. they re much better and thats what i have. also go with kicker for the 6x9's. and whats the rms per channel of the amplifier.
if that matches up with the rms of the speakers, then it will work just fine

[DevilsAdvocate]

Re: ADVICE FOR SYSTEM

To the op, yes, that gear will work together. However, what are your goals? Do you want to get really loud, or just get it to sound better than stock? Where are you getting the equipment from, online or a brick-and-mortar store? Are there shops in the area that you can visit to test the speakers? People can rep their favorite line of speakers, but their tastes may be different than yours. What is your budget?

Functionally, there is nothing wrong with multiple brands, especially if they are going to be hidden from view anyway.

You may want to consider not upgrading the rear speakers. Everyone has different tastes, but I've found it to be most effective to replace the front speakers and then give them as much power as possible, while just running the rear speakers off of the headunit. This setup mimics a real-life concert, in which the sound is coming from in front of you. The rear speakers provide just enough rear fill to round out the sound, and give some volume for people riding back there. Again, this is just my taste, but it does free up money that can be used on a sub.

[TristinX]

Re: ADVICE FOR SYSTEM

are those speakers 120 and 100 rms or peak? and is that amp 500 rms or peak? Rms is what it runs at during normal operation and peak is when its maxed out. But lets just say that everything there is peak. you are still over powering your speakers. Which means that if you turn the volume up too loud you could blow your speakers, or make everything sound like crap. If the amp has variable resistor on it that allows your to select your output wattage i would tone it down a bit.

[Phenom]

Re: ADVICE FOR SYSTEM

To the op, yes, that gear will work together. However, what are your goals? Do you want to get really loud, or just get it to sound better than stock? Where are you getting the equipment from, online or a brick-and-mortar store? Are there shops in the area that you can visit to test the speakers? People can rep their favorite line of speakers, but their tastes may be different than yours. What is your budget?

Functionally, there is nothing wrong with multiple brands, especially if they are going to be hidden from view anyway.

You may want to consider not upgrading the rear speakers. Everyone has different tastes, but I've found it to be most effective to replace the front speakers and then give them as much power as possible, while just running the rear speakers off of the headunit. This setup mimics a real-life concert, in which the sound is coming from in front of you. The rear speakers provide just enough rear fill to round out the sound, and give some volume for people riding back there. Again, this is just my taste, but it does free up money that can be used on a sub.

My goals are to get better than stock and also have clea music. for the 2 types of speakers and amp i was hoping to stay under $200. And doesnt most of the bass come from the back anyway?

[Phenom]

Re: ADVICE FOR SYSTEM

are those speakers 120 and 100 rms or peak? and is that amp 500 rms or peak? Rms is what it runs at during normal operation and peak is when its maxed out. But lets just say that everything there is peak. you are still over powering your speakers. Which means that if you turn the volume up too loud you could blow your speakers, or make everything sound like crap. If the amp has variable resistor on it that allows your to select your output wattage i would tone it down a bit.

both are peak. maybe i should get a less powerful amp then?

[DevilsAdvocate]

Re: ADVICE FOR SYSTEM

Honestly, you don't need a less powerful amp. 90 percent of the time, damaged cause by novices is due to UNDERPOWERING speakers. They use an amp that puts out much less than the speakers can handle, and make up for it by turning up the gain knob (the "variable output resistor", as an earlier poster mentioned.) The speakers then play louder, but receive a clipped signal (squared off instead of a nice, smooth sine wave), which then damages the speakers. I have consistently run twice the rms wattage to many sets of speakers and subs, and have never lost a single driver. One just has to recognize that the gain knob is NOT a volume knob.

"Bass" comes from speakers playing under ~80Hz (roughly). Ideally, you don't want to be able to localize where any of the sound comes from, but bass is typically omnidirectional, so that's not a giant issue. If you get a nice set of speakers up front (and spend some time deadening the doors) and amp then, you will get excellent bass reproduction (technically, it will be more mid-bass, but it will seem bass-y compared to the stock set up.)

[Phenom]

Re: ADVICE FOR SYSTEM

Honestly, you don't need a less powerful amp. 90 percent of the time, damaged cause by novices is due to UNDERPOWERING speakers. They use an amp that puts out much less than the speakers can handle, and make up for it by turning up the gain knob (the "variable output resistor", as an earlier poster mentioned.) The speakers then play louder, but receive a clipped signal (squared off instead of a nice, smooth sine wave), which then damages the speakers. I have consistently run twice the rms wattage to many sets of speakers and subs, and have never lost a single driver. One just has to recognize that the gain knob is NOT a volume knob.

"Bass" comes from speakers playing under ~80Hz (roughly). Ideally, you don't want to be able to localize where any of the sound comes from, but bass is typically omnidirectional, so that's not a giant issue. If you get a nice set of speakers up front (and spend some time deadening the doors) and amp then, you will get excellent bass reproduction (technically, it will be more mid-bass, but it will seem bass-y compared to the stock set up.)

Thanks, that helped a lot. Welcome to the site!!