How can you tell if the distortion in the components is the head unit or the speakers? I am trying to decide if I should get a four channel amp, I have an alpine 60X4 head unit but I know that is max. And 4 type r-s, I think they take 65 or 75 RMS. So It doesn't make sense that they would be distorting. I have them crossed at 120. I am looking at an Eclipse 4X50 RMS amp, what are my incentives to get a 4 channel amp if I would only be able to use the same power?

 

Get the amp. You will notice a big difference, and less distortion. Don't pay too much attention to the head unit power ratings. They are always inflated.

 

Id agree with that.

 

with the alpines the tag that says "CONNECT DIRECTLY TO THE BATTERY" actually means something. The alpine decks have a DC to DC power supply that ups the voltage to in around 18 volts, but it requires more power to do this. I wired mine into my 98 civic's factory wiring harness, and the distortion would hit around level 17, and the lights on the radio would dim. I then ran 16 guage directly to the battery and even doing that helped a buttload. The distortion wouldn't hit around 22 at which point the radio would start to dim again(which was louder than I listened to it). It's a quick solution that might help with the distortion until you can get a 4 channel. Switching to one of those is going to make a major improvement.