UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi all those in the know,

I've already got a Sony CDX-850MP MP3/CD-R/CR-RW head unit and a Sony CDX-565MXRF 10 disc MP3/CD-R/CD-RW multichanger winging their way to me from california sometime next week.

Now i'm looking at getting an amp/sub package.I'm looking for the best quality i can get for not too much (like everyone i suppose) so onto ebay i go.

I quite like:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 3035045477

and:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... egory=4950

Would these two go well together? Would you recommend me getting them?

That amp is a 4-channel amp so is it enough to power that sub along with a set of components for the front? Would it be able to power a set of components for the rear as well? (should i decide to get them sometime in the future....not really a priority for the rear as i have rear door speakers....) If i got components for the rear of the car, is it ok to put them on the parcel shelf? IF it helps in the calculations or whatever the head unit's power will be4 x 52w...

I don't actually have the components yet but i'll be getting them b4 christmas anywho.What components would you recommend me getting?

Sorry for all the questions but i've no idea bout all this sorta stuff

Much appreciate any help,
Thanks,
Mark

o yeah and on a more vw / audio related question....When i remove the old stereo (BETA VW one) will the sony one just click right in and wire up easily or is it more complicated that i expect? Do i need some kind of adapter for the wiring or indeed do i need an adapter to hold the actual head unit...?

Can you tell this is the first time i'm gonna go this sorts thing!?

the wiring is very easy mate, just take the old iso connector out the back of the orignal vw headunit and plug it into the new sony one. Oh yeh 1 more thing, if you find that your headunit looses its memeory when you take the keys out the ignition, swap the the red and yellow wires around on the sony headunit wires, you will know what i mean when you get it, also there will be full details about this in the headunit box. If you need any help msg me.

Get them.

i currently have £3000s worth of Audiobahn kit in my car and wouldnt recommend anything else. they drop low, punch hard and look cool as well!

i would bridge 2 channels of the amp to power the sub. 1 channel to power your fronts and you've then got a spare channel to use when you get some rears.

to bridge the amp you run the + from channel 1 and the - from channel 2 to the sub. this doubles the power of the amp (ie if it was 2x75w bridging would make it 1x150w)

Thank you both for your replies
Will the new head unit fit directly into the slot that the old one comes out of or does it need a spacer or something? It seems to me that the VW head unit's are not DIN sized...i.e. they appear to be taller than most other head unit....could just be my eyes playing tricks on me.

The head unit's memory is for like remembering what track/cd/radio station it was last playing b4 it was turned off, yeah?

Here's some of the spec of the amp:
4 Channel High Current Power Amplifier
35 watts x 4 @ 4 ohms stereo RMS 4 x 70 peak
70 watts x 4 @ 2 ohms stereo RMS 4 x 140 peak
100 watts x 4 @ 1 ohms stereo RMS 200 x 4 peak
280 watts x 2 @ 1 ohm mono RMS 560 x 2 peak

To me that's just a load of numbers...What's RMS?

If i bridge two channels then at 4 ohms - the sub will only have 70w going into it? or 140w? is this enough for a sub that's 400RMS?
Do you think i should go for a different sub? Or is it ok to power a sub that says 400RMS at 140w? or am i confusing rms and watts. ahh help!

Thanks

in your case you want an amp that can supply 400w rms (or a touch more) and in the case of a single sub it needs to be in 4 ohm (unless its a silly ig sub) and on 1 channel
watts are power
rms is axwerage power as a pose to peak/max power
ohm is a measure of resistance

it will be a straight swap, however you will need to fit the cage that comes with your sony headunit so it clicks in nicely and wont come out too easily.
Yes the memory is radio stations etc, I had the problem where it kept forgetting there was a cd inside so everytime I started the car it would spit it out.
Hope that helps

RMS - is the actual power of the amp/speaker

PEAK - is the absolute max the amp/speaker will run at. But it will only hit this for a fraction of a second at the time. As Ash said its the RMS figs you need to match.

PS Audiobahn understate their power figs by about 10%