macaroni 17 1 Cars Posted November 11, 2006 Hi, I am planning a new ICE setup for my car and need some advice. I have a reasonable Sony HU, and plan to fit some Pioneer TS-A132C component speakers. I also want to fit a Blaupunkt THB-200A-type active sub. My question is which amp to use to power all this stuff? I am a bit of car audio numpty, so any advice gratefully received. Cheers, Antony Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edd-XS 0 Posted November 11, 2006 If its an active sub your running then you obviously dont need to faff about with an amplifier for it, so a decent 2 channel amp should do the trick. The alpine MRP-F220 (i think thats right!) is a good little 2 channel amp, not massively powerful but should keep those componants running alrite! Halfords have just stopped doing them too so prob got some nice cheap stock still lying about Edd Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macaroni 17 1 Cars Posted November 11, 2006 Cheers for the advice, I'll check it out. This is a daft question, but what powers the active sub then? Is there another output from the HU? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paintguy 0 Posted November 11, 2006 An active sub is called so because it has an internal power amp. It'll need feeding with power and ground (earth), and possibly a remote turn on from the HU (usually a blue & white wire). Then it'll need to get the actual music signal from somewhere. Depending on which one it is, this may be done through speaker wires, or (better) a pre amp output from your HU, usually through RCA leads. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macaroni 17 1 Cars Posted November 12, 2006 I knew it wasn't going to be as simple as I hoped! If I have an amp, won't that use up the pre-amp output from the HU? OK, so first I'll get some speakers, then the amp and think about the active sub later. Thanks for your help. Cheers, Antony Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrSarty 90 1 Cars Posted November 12, 2006 Follow exactly what Paintguy said. An active sub is, a bass box already fitted with the subwoofer(s) and amplifier needed to run it/them. This 'ready to go' box needs: 1) securing to the car for safety, 2) an earth lead (keep it thick, short and fixed to a secure & clean (bare metal) part of the car 3) a FUSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (18" tops distance away) power lead from the battery 4) a remote turn on lead from the Sony H/U (often called 'P.cont') and 5) the music signal itself (best done with the red & white RCA lead pair) again from the Sony H/U. I would suggest you either power the components from the H/U's internal amp, OR, when installing the power lead for the active sub, fit a thicker guage cable and more appropriate fuse near the battery to cope with two amps, i.e. the sub amp plus the second amplifier you mentioned you may buy. To fit 2 amps though, you'll now need to buy a fused power distribution block which splits the power to the 2 amps. Even Halfrauds can help you with this, in fact they have amp wiring kits complete, then you'll just need the power distribution block. Both amps'll need earthing (use the same point on the chassis) and of course the second amp will also need points 1,4 & 5 above. Good luck. PM if stuck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
