25W Alpine or 35W Pioneer?

[eug k]

hi,

I cleverly ended up with two old'ish amps, and am a bit undecided.

ALPINE MRH-F254
PIONEER GM-X354

The Alpine is 25x4 and the pioneer is 35x4. The alpine's probably
a bit older. Would the 10W difference be huge? Any other difference?

I just want good sound, not wake up the neighbourhood. :)

They'll be driving a simple pair of three-way 6" speakers
with alpine tweeters and 3-way sony xplod 6x9s at the back.


thanks!

--

[eug k]

You might recognize the amps better if you saw them, so
here are photos of them:

Pioneer:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/eug/pioneeramp.jpg

Alpine:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/eug/alpineamp.jpg



thanks

--

[Scott Johnson]

are you going to use just one amp? then use the pioneer. otherwise, use
both. bridge the 35x4 to the front and bridge the 25x4 for the rear. that
would give you plenty of extra power and keep it sounding clean.



"eug k" > wrote in message
...
> hi,
>
> I cleverly ended up with two old'ish amps, and am a bit undecided.
>
> ALPINE MRH-F254
> PIONEER GM-X354
>
> The Alpine is 25x4 and the pioneer is 35x4. The alpine's probably
> a bit older. Would the 10W difference be huge? Any other difference?
>
> I just want good sound, not wake up the neighbourhood. :)
>
> They'll be driving a simple pair of three-way 6" speakers
> with alpine tweeters and 3-way sony xplod 6x9s at the back.
>
>
> thanks!
>
> --
>

[eug k]

Scott Johnson > wrote:
> are you going to use just one amp? then use the pioneer. otherwise, use
> both. bridge the 35x4 to the front and bridge the 25x4 for the rear. that
> would give you plenty of extra power and keep it sounding clean.

I was going to use one amp to save space. Hmm, will the extra power
make a noticeable difference at a-little-louder-than-normal volume
levels? 35W vs 70W for the front and 35W vs 50W for the rear I guess.

thanks!


>
>
>
> "eug k" > wrote in message
> ...
>> hi,
>>
>> I cleverly ended up with two old'ish amps, and am a bit undecided.
>>
>> ALPINE MRH-F254
>> PIONEER GM-X354
>>
>> The Alpine is 25x4 and the pioneer is 35x4. The alpine's probably
>> a bit older. Would the 10W difference be huge? Any other difference?
>>
>> I just want good sound, not wake up the neighbourhood. :)
>>
>> They'll be driving a simple pair of three-way 6" speakers
>> with alpine tweeters and 3-way sony xplod 6x9s at the back.
>>
>>
>> thanks!
>>
>> --
>>
>
>

--

[Scott Johnson]

it would be a noticeable difference.


"eug k" > wrote in message
...
> Scott Johnson > wrote:
> > are you going to use just one amp? then use the pioneer. otherwise, use
> > both. bridge the 35x4 to the front and bridge the 25x4 for the rear.
that
> > would give you plenty of extra power and keep it sounding clean.
>
> I was going to use one amp to save space. Hmm, will the extra power
> make a noticeable difference at a-little-louder-than-normal volume
> levels? 35W vs 70W for the front and 35W vs 50W for the rear I guess.
>
> thanks!
>
>
> >
> >
> >
> > "eug k" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> hi,
> >>
> >> I cleverly ended up with two old'ish amps, and am a bit undecided.
> >>
> >> ALPINE MRH-F254
> >> PIONEER GM-X354
> >>
> >> The Alpine is 25x4 and the pioneer is 35x4. The alpine's probably
> >> a bit older. Would the 10W difference be huge? Any other difference?
> >>
> >> I just want good sound, not wake up the neighbourhood. :)
> >>
> >> They'll be driving a simple pair of three-way 6" speakers
> >> with alpine tweeters and 3-way sony xplod 6x9s at the back.
> >>
> >>
> >> thanks!
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >
> >
>
> --
>

[C & C Machine, Inc.]

Scott is correct. To really hear a difference you need that magical 3 db
increase and to achieve that, you double the power.


"Scott Johnson" > wrote in
message ...
> it would be a noticeable difference.
>
>
> "eug k" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Scott Johnson > wrote:
> > > are you going to use just one amp? then use the pioneer. otherwise,
use
> > > both. bridge the 35x4 to the front and bridge the 25x4 for the rear.
> that
> > > would give you plenty of extra power and keep it sounding clean.
> >
> > I was going to use one amp to save space. Hmm, will the extra power
> > make a noticeable difference at a-little-louder-than-normal volume
> > levels? 35W vs 70W for the front and 35W vs 50W for the rear I guess.
> >
> > thanks!
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > "eug k" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> > >> hi,
> > >>
> > >> I cleverly ended up with two old'ish amps, and am a bit undecided.
> > >>
> > >> ALPINE MRH-F254
> > >> PIONEER GM-X354
> > >>
> > >> The Alpine is 25x4 and the pioneer is 35x4. The alpine's probably
> > >> a bit older. Would the 10W difference be huge? Any other difference?
> > >>
> > >> I just want good sound, not wake up the neighbourhood. :)
> > >>
> > >> They'll be driving a simple pair of three-way 6" speakers
> > >> with alpine tweeters and 3-way sony xplod 6x9s at the back.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> thanks!
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> >
> > --
> >
>
>

[eug k]

C & C Machine, Inc. > wrote:
> Scott is correct. To really hear a difference you need that magical 3 db
> increase and to achieve that, you double the power.

That's good to hear (ha ha), but I just checked my speakers and
realized that the rear 6x9s are 40W continuous. The front ones are
probably 30W. Will I still benefit?

I suppose running a 70W amp at a 35W level would sound better
than running a 35W amp at full power. I noticed though, the
THD on the amp when not bridged is 0.08%, and 0.8% when
bridged. Would that negate any benefit?


thanks!




> "Scott Johnson" > wrote in
> message ...
>> it would be a noticeable difference.
>>
>>
>> "eug k" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > Scott Johnson > wrote:
>> > > are you going to use just one amp? then use the pioneer. otherwise,
> use
>> > > both. bridge the 35x4 to the front and bridge the 25x4 for the rear.
>> that
>> > > would give you plenty of extra power and keep it sounding clean.
>> >
>> > I was going to use one amp to save space. Hmm, will the extra power
>> > make a noticeable difference at a-little-louder-than-normal volume
>> > levels? 35W vs 70W for the front and 35W vs 50W for the rear I guess.
>> >
>> > thanks!
>> >
>> >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > "eug k" > wrote in message
>> > > ...
>> > >> hi,
>> > >>
>> > >> I cleverly ended up with two old'ish amps, and am a bit undecided.
>> > >>
>> > >> ALPINE MRH-F254
>> > >> PIONEER GM-X354
>> > >>
>> > >> The Alpine is 25x4 and the pioneer is 35x4. The alpine's probably
>> > >> a bit older. Would the 10W difference be huge? Any other difference?
>> > >>
>> > >> I just want good sound, not wake up the neighbourhood. :)
>> > >>
>> > >> They'll be driving a simple pair of three-way 6" speakers
>> > >> with alpine tweeters and 3-way sony xplod 6x9s at the back.
>> > >>
>> > >>
>> > >> thanks!
>> > >>
>> > >> --
>> > >>
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>> > --
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

--

[C & C Machine, Inc.]

You would still be fine bridging that amps. A 70 watt amp is only going to
put out 70 watts for a musical peak and only for a millisecond of sound.
Now, if you were to drive around with your volume at max all the time and
playing some heavy rock music then, you might have to worry. For everyday
listening, you would not have a problem.

Any THD rating below 1% is fine is the general rule.



">
> That's good to hear (ha ha), but I just checked my speakers and
> realized that the rear 6x9s are 40W continuous. The front ones are
> probably 30W. Will I still benefit?
>
> I suppose running a 70W amp at a 35W level would sound better
> than running a 35W amp at full power. I noticed though, the
> THD on the amp when not bridged is 0.08%, and 0.8% when
> bridged. Would that negate any benefit?
>
>
> thanks!

[Scott Johnson]

"C & C Machine, Inc." > wrote in message
m...
> You would still be fine bridging that amps. A 70 watt amp is only going
to
> put out 70 watts for a musical peak and only for a millisecond of sound.
> Now, if you were to drive around with your volume at max all the time and
> playing some heavy rock music then, you might have to worry. For everyday
> listening, you would not have a problem.
>
> Any THD rating below 1% is fine is the general rule.
>
>
>
> ">


I agree.

[eug k]

Scott Johnson > wrote:
> "C & C Machine, Inc." > wrote in message
> m...
>> You would still be fine bridging that amps. A 70 watt amp is only going
> to
>> put out 70 watts for a musical peak and only for a millisecond of sound.
>> Now, if you were to drive around with your volume at max all the time and
>> playing some heavy rock music then, you might have to worry. For everyday
>> listening, you would not have a problem.
>>
>> Any THD rating below 1% is fine is the general rule.
>
> I agree.

Thanks guys, I decided to use both amps after all. :)

Incidentally... a friend mentioned that I could just put
an amp on the front speakers and run the rear speakers off
the head unit. While I realize that the rear speakers
are mostly for a fill, would amping them make a
big difference?

hrm. once again, i know that "difference" is subjective,
but what do *you* guys think? :)


thanks


--