Underpowered?

streetKJ · **Posted:** Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:51 am

For those of you who added aftermarket decks without adding aftermarket speakers, do you find that the new deck works well with the existing speaker system? I think our speakers are Infinitys, which is a pretty decent OEM fitment. I'm thinking of upgrading to an MP3 capable deck soon so that way I dont have to leave my ipod in my ride all the time, which also eliminates the ugly mess of cables.

I'm worried about the sound quality of using an aftermarket deck with the existing speakers. My objective is not to upgrade the sound system, but rather just the playback portion. I DONT want a more powerful sound system because the current volume and clarity is good enough for me. So my concern is where the aftermarket decks I'm looking at which provide about 50wattsx4 of MOSFET power will be underpowered for our premium OEM sound sytem, or will it be a bit more powerful without causing excessive clipping or distortion? I don't intend on buying aftermarket speakers, since I dont turn the volume waay up, but I would like the aftermarket deck to work well with the OEM speakers.

Any thoughts?

kolesy · **Posted:** Fri Aug 25, 2006 4:38 am

You are gonna be fine dude! I added a Pioneer Premier deck to my rig and the stock factory speakers more than keep up with the more powerful deck. You will be happy because you will have more control over the sound and be able to fine tune it to your taste. I was definitely surprised by how decent the stock speakers sound in the KJ. I even run two 12s in the back and the stock speakers compliment them well.

unixxx · **Posted:** Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:55 pm

Yeah, the Infinitys should work fine with any 4 ohm aftermarket amp. They actually sound pretty good too. I just wouldn't turn the volume up past where it starts to clip. Also, remember to short the amp power-on wire (labeled "Power Antenna" on most install harnesses) to the "Acc" wire, if you don't the stock integrated amps won't turn on.

streetKJ · **Posted:** Sun Aug 27, 2006 12:07 am

unixxx wrote:

Yeah, the Infinitys should work fine with any 4 ohm aftermarket amp. They actually sound pretty good too. I just wouldn't turn the volume up past where it starts to clip. Also, remember to short the amp power-on wire (labeled "Power Antenna" on most install harnesses) to the "Acc" wire, if you don't the stock integrated amps won't turn on.

Are you talking about wiring just a deck (no external additional amplifier), or are you talking about wiring an external amplifier in addition to an aftermarket deck?

Does this power-on wire thing apply if I were just getting a deck (which I am, because I dont plan on buying an external amplifier)?

unixxx · **Posted:** Sun Aug 27, 2006 11:53 am

Both, since your deck provides 50W of power it has an integrated amplifier. You'll have to shunt the Infinity amp "power-on" wire to a switched 12V supply no matter what kind of amp/head unit you use with the speakers, unless the Infinity amps have a pass through. You can try your setup first without shunting the wire to see if you can get decent audio with out the Infinity amps turned on. Then later you can always turn the Infinity amps on if you find the speakers don't work without them on.

BTW, since the Infinity amps are usually amplifying speaker level signals, would they work with a headunit that outputs line level? Or does everybody install headunits that feeds the Infinity amps speaker level signals like the factory headunit does? Right now I've got my 70W Alpine amp powering my Infinity speaker amps, needless to say I don't really have to turn the volume up too high....

Underpowered?

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