# What old school amps for install?



## RedRobster (Jan 8, 2010)

To start out I am completely new to car audio. I have done a lot with stereo and home theater but never dabbled in mobile audio until now. I am a second year EE major and I like old amps and I know how to fix them. 

I have a 2009 Chrysler 300 touring, there is 6x9's in the front door and in the rear deck, there are 3.5" holes for speakers in the dash but since I do not have the premium sound system there are no speakers there hence why I want to put in a system.

I am going to keep the stock nav HU, I found the harness from PAC audio that gives you preamp out. I bought two sets of infinity kappa 693.9i for the front doors and the rear deck, and a set of 3.5" 32.9cf for the dash.

I have always liked Carver stereo amps and stuff and I once saw one of their mobile amps which has now gotten me in to old school amps. I have have been looking around and I have looked at the PPI, Phoenix Gold, and a/d/s amps. 

My buddy which has been guiding me along told me to go with a four channel amp for the 6x9's and a small two channel amp for the mids in the dash. He told me to get to get something around 100wpc for the 6x9, I kinda think this is excessive but figured you guys would know best. I may be adding a sub down the road but not now. Would something like the PPI PC4800 be suitable?

Any guidelines would be helpful, 
-Rob


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## rommelrommel (Apr 11, 2007)

I have a 06 SRT8 and have tried to help a few people with these cars.

First question is, are you dead set on those speakers, or are they returnable?

I ask this because you really don't want all those tweeters up front, stage, image, etc will all be terrible. 

To keep it really simple, you could simply not hook up the tweeters on the front 6x9s. 

A PC4800 or similar would be tons of power. A PC250 or even PC225 would run the 3.5's quite well. 

I would want to highpass the 3.5's around 300hz, and bandpass whatever you put in the doors to only do midbass.


An even simpler option would be to return the 3.5 and a set of the 6x9 and run a nice 6.5 component set up front, tweeters could go in the doors or in the dash as per your preference. Could run everything with a single 4 channel, and all you'd need is a decent highpass crossover integrated, and most of the amps you were suggesting have that.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

I can feel the OP's ears bleeding already from the MMD tweeters on those Kappas. I absolutely HATED my 682.7cf 6x8s in my Mustang and celebrated the day I removed them!


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## RedRobster (Jan 8, 2010)

I can go with a different set of speakers if needed. I may just go with the kappas for now and disconnect the front tweeters on the 6x9. Then upgrade to a component system a few months down the road when I have some more cash on hand.

So are the PPI amps a good choice? Is the PC class fine or should I go with one of their other amp series? Also I was wondering what the .2 ment, ex there is a pc4800.2 on ebay right now, is that just a revision number?


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## rommelrommel (Apr 11, 2007)

The PC class is/was a very well made amplifier overall. Try to find one that has the warranty sticker on it still, sometimes repairs were not done all that well. 

.2 was a later revision although not much changed, they came in many different heatsinks. 

I would say a 4800.2 is kinda overkill for those drivers, but definitely wouldn't hurt. 

I see a cheap PC250 and PC450 on there, that would be a nice setup. Those Kappa's are around 3 ohm drivers so that would be plenty of power. 

This is a nice amp that would run everything :

PRECISION POWER OS PC6600C 600wrms 6ch amp, CHROME!!! - eBay (item 120516248209 end time Feb-09-10 10:06:05 PST)

The PC650 was the same amp in the older heatsink if you can find one. 

Here's a decent little A/D/S/ 6 channel that could handle what you have at moderate listening levels:

Old School A.D.S. A/D/S 625X Power Plate 6-channel amp - eBay (item 110481866973 end time Jan-20-10 11:42:30 PST)


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## DynaudioNut (Jan 1, 2010)

Don't leave out the mc class of McIntosh, they can be bought now for reasonable prices especially on ebay.


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## RedRobster (Jan 8, 2010)

DynaudioNut said:


> Don't leave out the mc class of McIntosh, they can be bought now for reasonable prices especially on ebay.


I'm trying to stay away from those, I always told myself I should have a McIntosh stereo in my house before I started buying mac stuff for my car.


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## sniper5431 (Dec 8, 2009)

I you are into PPI I saw a couple at a house I bought some Zapcos from Yesterday. They looked in great shape. The owner was a very good guy. First day I met him we hung out for several hours. PPI PC2100 $140.00 2x25
(1) PPI Art Series AX400 50x4 Exc Cond 200.00 Let me know and I will get you his info.


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## RedRobster (Jan 8, 2010)

What's the advantage of the Art series?


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## ACRucrazy (Mar 13, 2007)

Sony XES 
I have two XES M1' avail










and one XES M3 avail.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

RedRobster said:


> What's the advantage of the Art series?


They looked pretty, especially the white ones.


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## RedRobster (Jan 8, 2010)

ChrisB said:


> They looked pretty, especially the white ones.


So is that worth the premium over the pc series?


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

RedRobster said:


> So is that worth the premium over the pc series?


lol, was being sarcastic.:laugh: Anyone who knows me knows that I could NOT stand the white arts.

As for being worth the premium over the PC series, I wouldn't do it. Not even for the black Art series, and I actually wanted some of those back in the day.


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## nitrofish72 (Jul 21, 2009)

Thats easy Precision Power Art Series.


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## rommelrommel (Apr 11, 2007)

The PC amps in general are dead cheap and I don't really know why.


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## target (Feb 2, 2009)

I love the old RF punch HD series, way under rated for power, very simple amp, very durable.


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## sniper5431 (Dec 8, 2009)

It was one of the grey ones. Which is better? I have no idea. I am sure there is someone on this forums that know them well. I have read much about some die hard PPI nostalgic fans.


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## invecs (Jul 30, 2005)

The power class amps sounded nice but doesn't have really much power unlike the older M and AM series amps. If you would broaden your choices, consider finding some old Zapco's. The studios and the competition series could still go head to head with any hi end amplifier available.


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## RedRobster (Jan 8, 2010)

invecs said:


> The power class amps sounded nice but doesn't have really much power unlike the older M and AM series amps. If you would broaden your choices, consider finding some old Zapco's. The studios and the competition series could still go head to head with any hi end amplifier available.



I looked at the Zapco's and they are a bit more then I want to spend on amps. 

Ive seen the M series ones and it just seems that there are a lot more of the PC series around on ebay and such.


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