Just got an amp... Whats Next?

[FINN444]

So my uncle just gave me an amp that he had sitting around that has never been used... its a Boss Audio CH250. Its a few years old, but I'm assuming I can still use it, right? My audio setup is just the stock Monsoon one in my SSEi. I was thinking of doing maybe a sub or 2 and putting new speakers in... So what is the best setup I could make that wouldn't cost me a fortune? I haven't really done any audio related work before so I'm pretty new to this... but I do have some friends that could help me with wiring it up and stuff, but I wanted some other peoples input on what kind of setup I could do...
Thanks,
John

[burger]

I dont think that amp would do much for speakers being 2 channel. But it would work fine to power a smaller sub. The monsoon system has a speaker amp built in I think, so you could probably just replace the speakers. Checkout crutchfield for tons or articles on car audio and diagrams, and sonix electonix has some pretty good deals.

[FINN444]

Ok so would I just wire this amp in separately to a sub and then keep the stock Monsoon amp to power the speakers?

[burger]

I think you could do that. But im not sure, somebody else should chime in who has dealt with factory head units and amps before.

[nos4blood70]

What is your goal with the system? Do you want more bass, more clarity?

[FINN444]

Well I would like some more bass, but I don't want so much bass that it starts to drown out the rest of the music... if you get what I mean?

[nos4blood70]

I think a 10" sub in a sealed box will do you good then. How is the rest of your system? Any speakers crackling?

[FINN444]

Ok, cool... as far as I can tell there are no speakers that are crackling, but sometime in the future I am going to put new speakers in. As far as hooking my new amp to the factory HU, how do I go about doing that? And is there any brand of sub that is worth getting over the other ones?

[haro1225]

You will need a line out converter and connect it to the rear speaker wires (I did mine on the HU side).

[FINN444]

So is this what I need? http://www.crutchfield.com/p_142LOC80/S ... ml?tp=2001
And when you say the HU side, do you mean the wires that come from the HU and go into the factory amp?

[haro1225]

Yeah, after the radio and before the amp. (not totally sure what it looks like if its the dock and lock connector, I'm sure someone who knows will chime in).

[FINN444]

Ok, well hopefully someone can chip in the information needed on that. I was wondering if there is much of a difference between getting a 10" vs a 12" sub? The reason I ask is because a friend of mine said he has a 12" sub enclosure that he has just sitting around and doesn't need... so then all I would need to get is a sub... Can any one give input on that or haro1225's comment above?

[nos4blood70]

Go ahead and get a 12. I think you should be able to tap into the rear speaker wire. Will (SSEiMan01) used a LOC with his Bose system. May or may not be similar enough. Hopefully he sees this and chimes in.

[FINN444]

Ok so do I "tap" in to the wires going from the factory amp to the deck speaker or into the wires from the HU to the factory amp? And does anyone know how to find out what size sub I should get, as in the power handling of it that will work with my amp? In the manual for the amp it says that the Power RMS at 4 ohms is 75watts x2, but then it also says Bridged Power at 4 ohms is 400 watts x1? I'm not really sure how to translate that into what size power handling sub to get...

[nos4blood70]

Tap them before they enter the amp. I'd disconnect the rear deck entirely.

Is that 400X1 RMS wattage? If so, then get a sub with power handling between 300-500 watts RMS and you'll be fine. The closer to 400 the better.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_639 ... 310S4.html
This is a nice choice. I have the 10 inch version. Indestructible. Even after my tool box broke the face, I was able to JB weld it together and it still kicks... Hahaha!

[FINN444]

I'm not sure if it is RMS, all it says for the 400 watt x 1 is Bridged Power at 4 ohms... so I'm not sure?

[nos4blood70]

A quick search reveals that the 400X1 is probably max power, which does us no good. I think it would be safe to assume that based on the RMS rating when not bridged, the amp is probably in the 150-200 watt RMS range when running one channel.

Once again, same rule applies. You want 80-120% of the RMS power of the amp.

[FINN444]

So i want to look for a sub that has a power handling of like 175 watts? And what if I did want to bridge the amp, would that change how big of a power handling sub I could get?

[nos4blood70]

You NEED to bridge the amp to get the power.

[haro1225]

Tap them before they enter the amp.

With the Monsoon on the Grand Prix, there are 4 wires going to each rear speaker and no matter what I did, it wouldn't work right until I connected it before the amp.