club.liberty.asn.au

Reegan wrote:Hey there!

In my 2008 liberty 3.0r-b I am currently running the stock 14 speaker mcintosh system, with an upgraded 4ohm 80 watt sub that I installed a few days ago. I am looking at upgrading the entire system except for the head unit at this point in time.

Does anyone have any recommendation on an amplifier which would be able to continue to run the new sub as well as the upgraded system? I understand that currently the amp is 4ohm whilst the rest of the speakers are 8ohm. Should I continue this set up once I upgrade the amplifier or run all 4 ohm speakers, as I can seem to find more of these around online these days.

Any other general advice or speaker/amp recommendation? Cheers.

spike2135 wrote:

Reegan wrote:Hey there!

In my 2008 liberty 3.0r-b I am currently running the stock 14 speaker mcintosh system, with an upgraded 4ohm 80 watt sub that I installed a few days ago. I am looking at upgrading the entire system except for the head unit at this point in time.

Does anyone have any recommendation on an amplifier which would be able to continue to run the new sub as well as the upgraded system? I understand that currently the amp is 4ohm whilst the rest of the speakers are 8ohm. Should I continue this set up once I upgrade the amplifier or run all 4 ohm speakers, as I can seem to find more of these around online these days.

Any other general advice or speaker/amp recommendation? Cheers.

Hi Reegan,

when you say "rest of the speakers are 8ohm"? Is this what is stated on the speaker itself?
have you measured the impedance of each channel (E.g. front left, front right) to get a rough idea of the total combined resistance for each channel?
because although the speakers may say 8 ohm on the back, the overall resistance will change depending on how they are connected to each other.


That being said most car amps typically like 4 ohm, but most quality amps are versatile and can run 8 ohms and are even 2 ohm stable

additionally most amps around will provide enough power you need but the build quality, design and component quality can greatly change the tone of an amp (full bodied or weak bodied bass, warm or cold toned mids, crisp or muddy highs) and, if you have a keen ear, the sound you hear will vary from amp to amp. this is why audiophiles are quite selective about which amps they use and have their preferences.

to make things more complicated different speakers have different sounds, some are wet, some dry etc so testing an amp in a shop may or may not be accurately representing the sound quality of that amp from within your car.

so if you dont care about it all that much just go down to a shop and pick an amp with a higher wattage rating than your speakers, as having a lower rated amp will lend itself to clipping thus blowing speakers more frequently. e.g. i've run many setup including 80watt sub on a 350 watt mono amp and even 250 watt speakers on a 1500 watt per channel amp! watch those little buggers move! and pull back a bit when you hear cone flex

spike2135 wrote:All good, i hoped it's helped a little.

unfortunately i'm not sure if i can be any more assistance as i've been out of the car amp game for a little while now, and all my home hi-fi equipment is either home build or from the 70's ...not that i was alive then

But if i were in your shoes the first thing i'd do is some online research. see if you can find other videos or write ups of subies and get an idea of what systems other people have in their car, and see what they say the good and bad points are and what they say about the colour of the sound.

then, if possible, try to find an audio place that has experience in Subaru audio systems. Best case scenario you can describe what kind of sound you're looking for and they should be able to tell you what you need to achieve it. failing that, find an audio place with people who have vast experience and know what they are talking about. Being forearmed with your own knowledge will put you in an advantageous position to discuss your needs with them and more accurately create the system you want... even if it does takes a little tweeking.

Thanks again! I’ll be sure to update you
i'm keen to know how it turns out for you so keep us updated with your progress and results.
i'm sure it'll help others out too