Will this head unit power Infinity Kappa speakers?

[Nick21]

I'm thinking about putting some of the Infinity KAPPA 5.25 in the front and the 6.5 in the sound bar. I'm am also going to be install the pioneer AVH-3400NEX.

Would this new head unit provide enough power to make these speakers sound good or would I need to install an amp? (I will be using the factory wiring)

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_1303400NEX/Pioneer-AVH-3400NEX.html

 

[Chris]

That head unit will provide enough power to power the speakers. An amp will definitely improve it even more, but even without the amp, it will be a huge upgrade over the stock setup.

 

[89grand]

That head unit will drive the speakers no problem. Most head units will do about 12 watts of clean power per channel, regardless of the fact it says 50w x 4 on it. An actual 50w x 4 amplifier will theoretically drive the speakers 6db louder before distortion though.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Can you provode the exact model number for the speakers?

 

[Steel City 06]

Always compare the RMS ratings of the amplifiers. This one does 14 watts RMS per channel. Many head units do 22 watts RMS per channel.
Pioneer is a good brand.

There are also head units like the Sony marine units that will do 40 watts RMS per channel.

There is no accepted legal or industry standard on peak watts, so the numbers are not comparable between brands

 

[Nick21]

Here is the speakers I was looking at.

For the front:
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-4Agf0BZdj7P/p_1085211I/Infinity-Kappa-52-11i.html
For the rear;
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108K62IXM/Infinity-Kappa-62ix.html
Or
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-BTdTCI8X4XT/p_1086211I/Infinity-Kappa-62-11i.html

 

[skrelnik]

The Infinity speakers are rated 2-ohms and the head unit's manual states that you should use four 4-ohm speakers, but you may use two 4-ohm speakers plus one 2-ohm speaker at 70 watts (subwoofer).

You could look at the Polk DB 622 and DB 522 which are great speakers.

From the Pioneer manual:

Maximum power output:
• 50 W × 4 ch/4 Ω
• 50 W × 2 ch/4 Ω + 70 W × 1 ch/2 Ω (for subwoofer)

Continuous power output:
22 W × 4 (50 Hz to 15 kHz, 5 %THD, 4 Ω LOAD, Both Channels Driven)

Load impedance:
4 Ω (4 Ω to 8 Ω [2 Ω for 1 ch] allowable).

 

[Nick21]

I guess I'm kind of dumb, but what does the ohm mean? And why does it only allow 4ohm?

 

[skrelnik]

I guess I'm kind of dumb, but what does the ohm mean? And why does it only allow 4ohm?

Not a dumb question at all...don't even think that. We are all on this forum to learn and share experiences.

Short answer is Ohms are the electrical current (sound/music).

Those 2 ohm Infinity speakers will pull more ohms than the Pioneer's internal amplifier can produce. This is overworking the head unit's amp, and potentially could lead to damaging the head unit's amplifier.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Here is the speakers I was looking at.

For the front:
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-4Agf0BZdj7P/p_1085211I/Infinity-Kappa-52-11i.html
For the rear;
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108K62IXM/Infinity-Kappa-62ix.html
Or
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-BTdTCI8X4XT/p_1086211I/Infinity-Kappa-62-11i.html

With their 94/95 dB Sensitivity ratings those would work fine and produce plenty of volume from the wattage levels available from factory or aftermarket head units.

 

[Steve Rodgers]

Also, no amount of power will get you any appreciable bass from the front and sound bar speakers, a small subwoofer in a properly designed dedicated box will be needed for bass. This would need a small amp for that. The Pioneer head unit will have a dedicated sub output for the bass should you choose to add that. These Jeeps are small so you don't need a very large subwoofer unless you like to entertain the car next to you at the light. Mine is a 6.5" in a small box under the drivers seat and does just fine.
Polk speakers work very well in these Jeeps. Might want to put the front ones in the small moulded boxes that can be purchased from Crutchfield, they barely fit but they really help.
Best of luck.

 

[89grand]

Not a dumb question at all...don't even think that. We are all on this forum to learn and share experiences.

Short answer is Ohms are the electrical current (sound/music).

Those 2 ohm Infinity speakers will pull more ohms than the Pioneer's internal amplifier can produce. This is overworking the head unit's amp, and potentially could lead to damaging the head unit's amplifier.

I don't mean to correct you, but that's not really how it works. Ohms is the measurement of impedance (resistance). The lower the impedance, the more power the amplifier will try to produce. Every amplifier has a minimum impedance it was design for so if you use a 2 ohm speaker with an amplifier that has a minimum acceptable impedance of 4 ohms, the amp could end up over heating attempting to produce more power than it was designed for.

Now a speakers impedance is just a nominal figure, it's not fixed as it varies with frequency, so more than likely the 2 ohm speakers would run ok with the head unit, even if it does list 4 ohms as the minimum. This is usually a much bigger issue with subwoofers as they are typically driven a lot harder, and that will over heat an amp quick if the impedance (ohms) of the speakers is too low.

 

[skrelnik]

With their 94/95 dB Sensitivity ratings those would work fine and produce plenty of volume from the wattage levels available from factory or aftermarket head units.

Even though the head unit calls for 4-ohm speakers and these Infinity's are 2-ohm? You don't think that risks blowing the head units internal amp?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Even though the head unit calls for 4-ohm speakers and these Infinity's are 2-ohm? You don't think that risks blowing the head units internal amp?

You're right, I wasn't looking at the impedance and it would indeed be best to stick with 4 Ohm. I haven't seen that many of that type speaker with a 2 Ohm rating so I wasn't expecting it.

Back to my old standby, I'd go with Polk's DB series if it were me which also has a good high sensitivity rating. I installed Polk's DB series of speakers into my previous TJ and they sounded surprising good given their moderate cost.

 

[89grand]

Those 2 ohm Infinity speakers, and JBL has some too, are really designed for replacements for factory speakers because factory systems are often 2 ohms. Not like they wouldn't work elsewhere, but that was what they are primarily designed for.

Because of the loud environment of a TJ, I wouldn't be overly concerned with what brand of speakers I used. Anything from Pioneer, Polk, Alpine, Kenwood, JBL, Inifinity, etc, not going to name every brand, but as long as they are 4 ohms, and they fit, they should provide decent results.

 

[Nick21]

Would these be able to fit into the sound bar?

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-1UhgU7lv6CK/p_575T1650/Rockford-Fosgate-T1650.html

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Would these be able to fit into the sound bar?

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-1UhgU7lv6CK/p_575T1650/Rockford-Fosgate-T1650.html

They won't fit into the sound pods used starting in 2003 but they should fit fine in the sound bar used in 2002 and older TJs.

 

[Nick21]

They won't fit into the sound pods used starting in 2003 but they should fit fine in the sound bar used in 2002 and older TJs.

Sweet, should go perfectly into my 98 then

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Anything from Pioneer, Polk, Alpine, Kenwood, JBL, Inifinity, etc, not going to name every brand, but as long as they are 4 ohms, and they fit, they should provide decent results.

Not necessarily, you have to look at the Sensitivity rating too. A speaker with a lower Sensitivity rating like 84-86 dB requires more power to produce the same volume as a speaker with a higher Sensitivity rating like 91-95 dB requires. Each 3 dB lower in a speaker's Sensitivity rating means it takes twice as much power to produce the same sound level as one with a 3 dB higher Sensitivity rating.

 

[89grand]

Not necessarily, you have to look at the Sensitivity rating too. A speaker with a lower Sensitivity rating like 84-86 dB requires more power to produce the same volume as a speaker with a higher Sensitivity rating like 91-95 dB requires. Each 3 dB lower in a speaker's Sensitivity rating means it takes twice as much power to produce the same sound level as one with a 3 dB higher Sensitivity rating.

That's true theoretically, but car speakers sensitivity ratings are more often BS than real world truth. They can measure it any number of ways to get higher numbers, because they know high numbers (written on the box or specs) sell better, just like exaggerated power handling.

There is only so much they can do to boost sensitivity, and any design that is noticeably higher than others will have noticeably weaker bass response, and people hate weak bass response in cars. If two coaxials speakers of the same size, have very similar frequency response, they'll have very similar sensitivity. If high sensitivity could just be designed in, with no draw backs everybody would do so.

I don't believe any coaxial car speaker has a true sensitivity of 91-95 db (talking about actual sensitivity, not the spec sheet). Most home speakers in proper enclosure aren't even that high. I can guarantee that my JBL Studio 590 home speakers with a real sensitivity rating of 93db, are WAY louder with any amount of power than any coaxial car speaker ever made. I ran a small 12 watt per channel amp on them just for fun, and they were much louder than any car coaxial with 100 watts of power applied.