Any particular brands you've got in mind?

There's some minters around :naughty:

 

Not really, I want a good sound so I'm open to suggestions. I have been offered a cheap(ish) Directed for £100 instead of £199 by my local ICE dealer but before jumping in I'd like some opinions on what's best.

 

An Alpine MRV-F340 should do the trick:-

SPECIFICATION FEATURES
500 Watts Max, 4 x 55 Watts RMS @ 4 OHM, 4 x 65 Watts RMS @ 2 OHM, 2 x 130 Watts RMS @ 4 OHM Bridged

FEATURES
Frequency Response 10Hz-50kHz, Signal/Noise Ratio >100dB, High/Low Pass Filters Adjustable 30-400Hz (12dB), Bass Boost +12dB, Input Sensitivity 200mv to 4v, High Level Speaker Input, MOSFET Power Supply


CEL have them for £173.99

 

Thanks Steve, I'd glanced at that and liked it. My credit card's itching now

 

Ya can't go wrong with an Apline IMO

My credit card's itching now

Tell me about it, just spend the best part of £1500 on springs, full zorst system and induction kit

 

You could use the same amp as I use. Genesis Series 3 5 channel amp.

This way you can power both fronts and rear as well as both subs.

Specs can be found at www.genesis-ice.com

If you have chance pop into Source sounds in Sheffield, they are VERY knowledgable and can get hold of/have in stock some very good equipment. Source are viewed in the same way as SQplus so they know their stuff. You carn't go wrong with Genesis amps though.

JL audio amps also seem to get good reviews. You mentioned Directed. Most of their amps are good quality.

 

I know a few peeps that run directed audio equipment and its absolutly fan ruddy tastic.................

 

Alpine are good, but with that kinda kit I take it up to the next level with the likes of Genesis or JL (saying that I run the same comps of alpine amps.....).

Speak to (JCBZT160+) he runs a Genny amp.

Have you consider running the comps actively, this can offer you a huge increase in SQ, however you'll need 4 channels just for the fronts.

 

Have you consider running the comps actively, this can offer you a huge increase in SQ, however you'll need 4 channels just for the fronts.

Nathan I'm going to show my numtyness now. When you say running the comps actively, do you mean running each driver/tweeter from a separate channel by any chance?

 

Yeah sorry I posted that pretty quick last night should of explained a bit better.

First off you'll need 4 amp channels to run a set of comps, then you do away with the components passive crossovers which are wasting the amps power and instead use a seperate powered crossover which goes before the amp, this is responsible for splitting the music in to the high and low frequences then, this gives you more control and invariably makes it louder.

Some high end amps have built in crossovers which will allow you to do this, your you may also have to buy an active crossover.

You coming to the Nottingham meet? You can have a listen to my active system if you want

 

Thanks Nathan. No matter how much I think I know about ICE, there's always a new corner to turn I like the sound (no pun intended) of the Genesis amps but I could end up needing 2 and that could end up costing me a small fortune as they're not cheap are they? Still, I have not discounted them at all. I'll deffo be at the Nottingham meet and I'll deffo give your system a good listening to.

Should I be looking to take the Kicker amp out of the equation as this drives the 2 subs only or should I leave that? The subs sound great with the Kicker so it seems pointless to me to remove it. But hey, I'm no expert in these matters

 

The kicker amp sounds to be doing it's job fine so I'd leave it be for now.

Were you intending amping the rear speakers to? If so I wouldn't bother tbh, just concentrate on amping the fronts and leave the others running off the HU.

 

Amps wise I've always been a big fan of the Alpine V12's. Very good quality amp for running good quality speakers. Steve mentioned one earlier in the thread Baz, it's a very good amp....

If it's quality sound you want then pick any V12 series amp from Alpine. They all start MRV-F and then then a few numbers after that (which relates to channels/power). The higher you can stretch the budget the better!

 

I hadn't thought of leaving the rears running off the HU but that makes sense. I would definitely make sense to pour my money into a good 4 channel amp for the fronts.

 

OK, firstly thanks to Gary (gmax) for taking the time out to meet me this afternoon. We went to Source Sounds in Sheffield and asked the guys there what would be best. They agreed that a Genesis amp would vastly improve things and we decided on an Stereo 100. It certainly isn't cheap but a worthy investment considering how much I've forked out already.

Now I'm not one to mess about so I've booked the ZS in for Wednesday to have it installed professionally. Thanks to everybody for your input and I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

I decided on 2 channel instead of 4 because they advised me not to run the Diamonds active. We did discover the full horror of the appalling install the previous company did of my rear speakers. Cable ties and a glue gun are sufficient clues to tell you that I'm not a happy bunny. I'm pleased to say Source Sounds are sorting this out for me at the same time. I may even put some pics up later if I'm brave enough. Suffice to say, they said it was the worst bodge job they have ever seen. I need a drink :beer:

 

:yikes: Glue gun....cable ties, oh dear, well at least it's gonna be sorted out! You know you'll be coming round to show me....

 

We did discover the full horror of the appalling install the previous company did of my rear speakers. Cable ties and a glue gun are sufficient clues to tell you that I'm not a happy bunny.

Were they fitted by Mynheer? :lol:

 

Pop over to this thread to see the damage....

Cable ties and glue gun. The installer's friend NOT

 

Were they fitted by Mynheer? :lol:

No, because after all they "DID" fit