Amplify Speakers or get a sub..

[95DGcamaro]

Ok, well heres my question..

My friend has a 98 dakota truck. we recently picked up 4 alpine type-R 6.5" coaxial speakers (the ones like dual voice coil sorta.. one pos/neg for the woofer, and one pos/neg for the tweeter). I'm thinking that because it is in a truck cab (which is small, obviously) there is really no point for an addition of subwoofer(s) because of such a small space. Subwoofers would only make it over-bassy and sound poor(of course with correct tuning it could sound fine). What I was thinking was to get a 4 channel amplifier and amplify the 4 speakers because they are underpowered when running off the deck (50x4 watt max.. and around 22x4 rms). This way the sound would be much better and more accurate than running the speakers off the deck and adding a subwoofer (along with more cost efficient).

Does anyone have first hand experience with amplifying their speakers and what sound quality you get from it? (I personally do not know because i have infinity kappa 6.5" around and a alpine type-R 10" custom enclosed in the back of my camaro)

Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks, Scott

[nda0602v6]

Originally posted by 95DGcamaro:


Does anyone have first hand experience with amplifying their speakers and what sound quality you get from it?

If you use a decent name brand amp, the sound quality will be ALOT better. Don't expect lots of bass out of a coaxial speaker though. A nice 4-channel amp would work just fine.

[96firebird311]

Biggest improvement I'd say is when you add a subwoofer into the system and then HP the rest of the speakers. A subwoofer really adds another dimension to your music. Low notes you've never even heard before come out and can be enjoyed. Additionally, the other speakers will no longer try to play those low frequencies. Which will contribute a tremendous amount to clarity. Hook those four 6.5"s up first and you'll see...... VERY little bass at all. And I mean VERY little. Not much below 150Hz. :( A single 10" would be plenty in any vehicle for someone just looking to add a little low end into their lineup. In a small cab such as the truck, an 8" should be fine. I honestly disagree with your thoughts regarding a subwoofer making your friend's music "over-bassy". My vote goes to running the Alpine's off the deck and getting a small sub powered with around 200WRMS. Does your friend's deck have a built in HP filter for the 4 Alpine's? If not, you'll want to wire in a small capacitor in-line with the speaker to block out low frequencies.