wow - I'm a little nervous here, I mean, I poked around and didn't see this mentioned anywhere so if there is an existing thread on this, please direct me

I'm ready to make the move to install my beloved Rio into my car (91 Jetta if it matters) and man-o-man, what amp should I get?? Anything that works best with the Rio? Anything I should avoid - thanks in advance!!

Deborah

Your options are plentiful. =] Are you planning on upgrading your factory speakers or do you just want something that will allow you to plug your empeg into the factory speakers?

thanks -
well, i had upgraded all my speakers before my last stereo was stolen so that is not a problem, it's getting the rio to the speakers, and my friend has this ENORMOUS Mackintosh (sp?) amp, which I know I don't need (bigger is not always better so I guess I'm looking for something mid-range in terms of power, something good for the size of the Jetta.

Avoid the cheap nasty bass biasd amps get some of reasonable quality since the empeg is good quality

Macintosh are good amps from what i know.

i can't make any reccomndations since my amps are one second hand sony and one that is older than the hills

With amps, bigger can be better because working a 200 watt amp at 50% load will give a much cleaner sound than running a 100 watt amp at 100%. And a cleaner amp signal is less likely to damage your speakers...

That being said, as far as I know, amps are not car or headunit specific, so compatibility won't be an issue. I think it comes down to power/quality vs. price. And it'd probably be best to get a 4-channel amp to take advantage of the RioCar's 2 sets of RCA outputs. After that, opinions differ and things get really subjective.

I have an MTX 546 4-channel amp that I just picked up "Open Box" at Circuit City for just over $200 (about 1/2 off retail) and I'm very, very happy with the sound quality over my previous Rockford Fosgate amp.

which I know I don't need (bigger is not always better

Even if you don't plan to play loud, a big amp can produce cleaner sound, just as SE_Sport_Driver said. What you do is turn the input gain on the amplifier down, so that you can turn the volume on the empeg up. This gives it a better signal-to-noise ratio.

When you mentioned your friend's amplifier, was that merely for comparison, or is it being offered to you as a gift? If it's a gift, definitely don't turn it down.

I'm not sure what speaker system your Jetta has. If it's four speakers, then any midrange four-channel amp should do fine. Were you going to have it professionally installed, or install it yourself, or have someone help you, or what?

Some of the newer MTX amps are pretty small, and i never had a problem with mine other than them being stolen, and they can be had easily and cheaply. I've only had first hand experience with MTX and JL Audio's, so i can recommend them, but other than that you get into hearsay and subjective reviews. Unless you go really cheap most amps will foot the bill. You usually get what you pay for in amps, but unless you are an audiophile, there's a wall of diminishing returns that you'll run into pretty quickly. I think you'd be alright with an Alpine or MTX from your local Circuit City... or reasonably priced amps your local custom installer would have.

I see you're in SF... are you having them installed or are you doing it yourself? I think there were a few posts about places to avoid in SF if you're having them installed...

ok - big can be OK

not a gift

4 speakers - 2 (3" in the front) and 2 regular big ones in the back (whatever the standard is) all of which I've upgraded myself.

I'll proably do it myself because I dunno, it seems when I take stuff like this into "professionals" things come back messed up (other electrical not working etc.) And I like the challege, or um, I like to challenge friends too!

Indeed, I'd love to find a pro who would just get it right instead of leaving me electrical system noise to clean up. i have 50 other things to do.

I'll proably do it myself because I dunno, it seems when I take stuff like this into "professionals" things come back messed up (other electrical not working etc.) And I like the challege, or um, I like to challenge friends too!

Good point. I certainly have heard a lot of horror stories about professional installs myself.

Installing an amp isn't much harder than installing the speakers or the stereo, except for getting the wires to run nicely into the trunk. I've done an amp in an '88 GTI, which has a lot of similarities to that '91 Jetta. The hard part is just knowing what bits to remove to get at the wiring channels.

Just remember to use a decent wire gauge for the power and ground wires, and run the power directly to the battery (through a proper fuse block and connector or else you run the risk of fire).

Tips on installation can be found linked from here. And if you're going to be installing it yourself, you might want to order it from crutchfield because they'll also make sure to sell you all the necessary bits along with a good booklet that's got instructions on how to do everything right.

With amps, bigger can be better because working a 200 watt amp at 50% load will give a much cleaner sound than running a 100 watt amp at 100%. And a cleaner amp signal is less likely to damage your speakers...

Very well put!

tanstaafl.

Good idea. They (Crutchfield) are higher than some of the other online shops, but right on par with anything you normally find locally. They throw in extra cables and adapters if needed, give you a pretty good guide on stereo installation, and charge a good shipping rate on anything big.

Looks like any straightforward 4 channel amp should work, I'd look in the 50Wx4 range or so. You might make sure you have a built in high & low pass crossover for each set of speakers, so that you can cut some of the bass off the front set (might get a little louder before any distortion hits).

I've got Rockford Fosgate in my car and love it. I'm also partial to the Alpine amps, they are good quality and the newer style with the flip-up aluminum lid simply look nice.

Thanks man.

Another point worth bringing up is that doubleing the accoustic energy only raises the volume by 3dB, yet it takes a 6dB increase in volume for the human ear to percieve something as "twice as loud". I'm not sure how wattage translates into accoustic energy, but an amp that is twice as powerful isn't really as powerful as it looks on paper.

Sorry Deborah, getting off topic here!

One thing I want to add is that once you get your RioCar installed in your Jetta, you'll have to upload the Jetta boot logo to your player!

three inch speakers are really hard to get good sound out of.I would put atleast 5 1/2 inch speakers in the front.A fosgate 4 channel amp the power series not the cheap ones from best buy.get as big as you can afford.if you have the money zapco makes a really clean sounding amp.also consider a alumapro cap to run power thru.

three inch speakers are really hard to get good sound out of.I would put atleast 5 1/2 inch speakers in the front

I dunno, I would put in whatever speaker-size there is a mounting location for. Cutting out new speaker mounting locations is something I've done, but it's a huge PITA.

Wow, that is a huge pita.

that got me hungry lol

Yeah, me too.

/me goes to make himself a sammich...

lmao

btw, are you female?

Don't mind him, it's just that the F to M ratio on this board is exceedingly skewed. For some reason, a gadget like the empeg appeals mostly to guys...

lol, yes.
it wasnt some sad attempt to get some hanky panky going, just curiosity.

that and the fact a female who is both a gearhead and a motorhead as well as geek does not appear to be common.

Maybe the geek test result should be a required signature addition for us here
Of course the fact that we are all here at all is likely enough ?!?!?

I have an MTX 546 4-channel amp that I just picked up "Open Box" at Circuit City

Oh, and Ms. Deborah, I can add that I picked up an MTX amp (two actually, a 202 and 251D) at Circuit Whatever based almost entirely on their size (to stash them in a particular spot), but am *quite* pleased with their cost/performance. All sounds quite groovy and they run quite cool.

I just replaced the amp in my truck. After looking at all the different 5 channel amps out there, I went with the Viper Audio 1100.5. It's not a brand name like Alpine or Kenwood but their parent company is Directed Electronics Inc. which is one of the largest mobile electronics companies in the world. The specs on the amp were very impressive and now that it's installed, I love it! I highly recommend this amp!

http://www.directed.com/audio/viper/amps/amp_multi.asp

thanks! yes - I'm just starting to do the research, thats really helpfull. D.

OOOOOH.... That IS tempting. Might I ask how much?

I'm with Lectric, how much?! how much?! where at?

It was only $369.00 from Discount Car Stereo in Renton WA. They don't have a website but their number is 206-824-5875 and they will ship anywhere. I was sceptical at first because my soundstream that I was replacing originally cost over $1000. I expected to pay around the same price to replace it but everyone I talked to had nothing but praise about the Viper. On a side note, I tried two Soundstream Rubicon 550-5's before going with the Viper. They were both DOA. Soundstream has gone down hill I guess and they're not what they used to be.

If you'd like, I can post some pics of my amp and install later tonight / tomorrow.

That sounds like a great deal! I did a quick search and could not find it for less then 700 bucks through www.froogle.com....

Pictures are always cool.... post em!

Not bad at all.

but their parent company is Directed Electronics Inc.

A data point *only* for anybody that cares:

Directed Electronics == Daryl Issa == millionaire conservative behind the California recall we all enjoyed so much.

So here are a few pics. Sorry about the bad quality and my truck being dirty. I didn't have my tripod with me. The Viper logo glows blue as well as the cross-over remote and controls. I've also included some pics of the rest of my system. Since the RioCar doesn't have a dedicated sub output, I ran the front outs to an Audiobahn cross-over with a remote control which I took apart and mounted in the dash. Now I have control of my subwoofer within easy reach. The amp has it's own cross-overs and remote but I installed the Audiobahn before I purchased the Viper. The truck is a 1999 Chevy Silverado Z71 (my first ever new vehicle ). The subwoofer is a single JL Audio 10w6 wired for 3 ohms. The rest of the speakers are MB Quart 6.5" separates in front with 4" coaxial in the rear.

If that's your idea of a dirty car, you NEVER want to ride in mine. My car hasn't been that clean since the day I bought it.

I was looking at those amps, can you say if the power listed on their website is RMS, or peak?

The specs on the website are RMS @ 14.4 volts.

Something about the Viper brand has always given me the willies. Now I think I know what it must have been....