I need a good 4 Channel amp to power my 2 4" Alpine Type-S and my 2 5 1/4" Alpine Type-S speakers. I need an amp that is compact and can bring the sound level of music up. For example, the bass tends to drone out the words, so I need an amp which can make the words more profound. Any ideas? Max I want to spend is $200

Maybe I should just get new speakers? The ones I have sounds pretty good, let me know what you guys think.

 

How about this one?

Alpine, 11 people give it 5 stars, only 150 bux.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-grpGfs...20&I=500MRPF240

 

I've hooked that amp and some of it's older equivalents up in some of my friends cars. That amp mated with some decent speakers like your alpines will make a world of difference. Overall the sound is pretty good. One friend had them hooked up as well as 2 Kicker Comp VR 12's with just some midline Kicker coaxials and you could hear the words fine. Amping the speakers with even a small amp like that one will make a huge difference.

 

Alright, sounds like a good deal. Found it for 126.00. Exciting. Do you think I should invest in a capacitor? I have an optima red top. I am running a sub, four speakers and a head unit. The sub is only getting 300 watts rms or so.

 

I wouldn't think a capacitor would be needed. You're running a pretty low power system so you should be fine. Just get everything installed and afterwards look for warning signs like dimming lights or large voltage drops. Capacitors are a very controversial subject in the car audio world. Some people like them...a lot of people don't like them or feel that they are wrongly used. I had a 45x4 amp and 300 watt sub amp running in my 4runner with stock electrical and had no problems whatsoever so you should be fine.

 

IMO Caps are only useful on Subs.

 

Dumb question, but what does a capacitor do?

 

A capacitor stores energy. They have the ability to quickly deliver power when needed.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/capacitor.htm

 

Think of a Capacitor as a power need buffer. It stores energy and releases it when the amp pulls more current than can be delivered over the wire. So it kicks in and adds the voltage to keep the current steady.

 

caps= lol

look into the avionixx amps, specifically the 440.4, they can be had for under $100 and put out a good bit of power

 

check ebay for a used alpine V12 4-channel. you can pick them up for less than $100, about 50-80W per channel depending on model, clean and efficient, and very good for the money.

 

I vote for the avionexx. You can find them for around $75 and they are great amps.

Capacitors are very controversial in the car audio world. I personally wouldn't run a 1-farad cap. They aren't big enough to hold any kind of charge. You shouldn't need one, but if you did I would invest in something better than a 1-farad cap. A hybrid cap like www.batcap.net or even Kinetik Audio's KHC-600 would be a much better choice. They can be found for about the same price as your coventional 1-farad piece of crap.

 

Instead of a cap, look into upgrading your battery, big 3, alternator, etc.