Alpine PDX-5

**VooDude** · 05-08-2008, 03:41 PM

5 channels.

75 x 4
300 x 1
tiny

I'm almost ready to "pull the trigger", but wanted to know if anyone has experience with this amp?

my plan is 6.5 components front/rear (in pods)
single 12 in a wicked cas box.

Will it work? or will the sub be underpowered with only 300 watts.

ZenPunk · 05-08-2008, 09:06 PM

I am no expert, but I would have one amp for the components, and one for the sub. Ask Briman or Jt what power you would need.

**VooDude** · 05-08-2008, 10:48 PM

sorry... if i go with a wickedcas box, it will be the W3... other than a custom box, what else do you recommend?

**VooDude** · 05-09-2008, 09:10 AM

I really like the looks/specs of the PDX-5... perfect fit under the seat...

I was really just worried that 300 Watts wouldn't be enough for the JL 12w3v3... The 4 channels of 75 Watts should be enough to push 6.5 components (at least for what I need them to do)...

I'm obviously not looking for a competition system... I just want one that won't distort when I go above "average" listening volume. Plus, right now with the factory "sub" connected and running off the AVIC D3, something is F'd up and it sounds like crap.

**VooDude** · 05-09-2008, 12:57 PM

Quote:

SandyFJ previously said:

Ah, forgot that the 12" W3 requires 500w...yeah...You'd have to go with a W1 if you wanted to do JL and just that amp. You'd still get plenty of thump, far more than the weak stock sub. PDX amps are fantastic because they sound good, and they are TINY, if you wanted to you could even bolt it in your wheel well and no one would ever know you even have an amp.

Does it really require that much? According to the specs, recommended RMS 100-500... I'm not too smart about this stuff... 300W would be way underpowered or would it work OK? I like the PDX, but might just split up and do 2 amps instead.

CaliChaos · 05-09-2008, 01:31 PM

late Friday ramblings... just talking out my ear here....

but RMS:
Root mean square - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
is basically an average. the speaker is rated at 500 watts RMS, it doesn't REQUIRE 500 watts RMS.

so... if you drive the speaker ALL day long at 500 watts RMS it will not burn up or degrade in performance.

Now.. you could go peaks of 50% higher without out damage, but prolonged extreme use, and the speaker will degrade.

Now.. you could go lot lower than RMS without damage -- because of HOW a speaker works:
Howstuffworks "How Speakers Work"
Howstuffworks "How Speakers Work"

now.. if you drive a 500 RMS speaker at 10 watts all day long will you damage it? no.

Distortion kills speakers -- not wattage; the key is good clean, reliable signal and power. Is your battery up to snuff, your alternator, do you have an inline capacitor -- all this and more effects signal quality.

Not to say good clean wattage CAN'T kill a speaker.. but you have to really try harder to go that route.

When the signal is distorted (IE you overdrive the amplifier by turning the gain all the way to 11, or the amp overheats, or under power the amp at 11V) the cone moves irradically and thus the voice coil rubs and "blows" the speaker. Yes you can blow a 500 watt RMS sub with a cheap 50 watt amplifier.

So... commenter's said .. "would that be enough power.." -- yes.
Alpine, Kenwood, Sony, Fosgate, JL, Soundstream, (name brand) amplifiers have a reasonable sound quality to drive a sub without damage. This is not to say that if you drive that alpine with the gains turned all the way up and give it 14 volts you wont damage this sub (or any other sub); but at 1/2 gain with the volume nob on the deck at 75% you are in the safe zone.

Will it be loud enough? That is a subjective question. Is 130db loud enough? Is 140db loud enough?

Separate amp? Not needed. He already said he wasn't going for competition level SQ or DB levels. He just wants a nice decent "upgrade" -- like the 3" OME.

Matching brand name? Nah not needed either. Companies would love you to believe the hype.. that is you buy our complete product line it will sound the BEST. Out right lie, if not a severe stretch of reasoning. Each car/truck/boat/atv is different. Each person's music preferences are different. You have to mix and match as you and your budget see fit.

Pioneer deck (heck even factory), JL sub, soundstream amp, cables from:
HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!
or
Blue Jeans Cable -- Broadcast-Quality Cables at Reasonable Prices

However you mix and match the consumer products, you should be fine.

I would say in the given configuration, and comments made by the original poster -- that the configuration would be fine.

**VooDude** · 05-09-2008, 03:28 PM

thanks to all for your advice... i took some of it and left some of it... but i ordered the PDX-5 and should get here next week. Cost to me $370. Ordering a dual 10" setup from wickedCAS... now just trying to figure out which 6.5's to go with front (comp) and rear (coax)... I'm thinking reasonable. Trying to keep the cost for all 4 under $350... Feel free to make a rec...

**VooDude** · 05-09-2008, 11:41 PM

gotcha... i've already purchased the PDX-5, and Alpine Type R 6.5 components up front, coaxials in the rear... waiting to hear back from Nazar about the wickedcas box, pair of 10s and the pods...

23V · 05-10-2008, 08:34 AM

I have a similar setup in my FJ and love it. Like you, I wasn't looking for competition-level performance, but something that performed a lot better than the stock system.

Head Unit: AVIC-D3

Speakers: DLS Ultimate UR36i 3-way components up front (6.5" midbass in doors, 2.5" mids in factory dash location, tweets on upper door sail area)

Sub: JL 10W3v3 in a FJ-specific box from FJcruiseraudio.com. I didn't want dual subs and liked the look and build of this box better than the others I'd seen. I also carry two big dogs in my cargo area so couldn't have a really big ported box in the back. This unit sounds great and fits in really well in the FJ.

Amp: Alpine PDX 4.150 under the passenger seat. It sends 150w x 2 to each set of componets up front and is bridged to send 300w back to the sub. JL Audio's specs for this sub show 300w as the optimum power for the 10W3v3:

I'm really happy with everything and don't think I'd change anything if I had the chance to do it over again with the same size/location and budget constraints.

Briman42487 · 05-10-2008, 01:54 PM

Quote:

CaliChaos previously said:

late Friday ramblings... just talking out my ear here....

but RMS:
Root mean square - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
is basically an average. the speaker is rated at 500 watts RMS, it doesn't REQUIRE 500 watts RMS.

so... if you drive the speaker ALL day long at 500 watts RMS it will not burn up or degrade in performance.

Now.. you could go peaks of 50% higher without out damage, but prolonged extreme use, and the speaker will degrade.

Now.. you could go lot lower than RMS without damage -- because of HOW a speaker works:
Howstuffworks "How Speakers Work"
Howstuffworks "How Speakers Work"

now.. if you drive a 500 RMS speaker at 10 watts all day long will you damage it? no.

Distortion kills speakers -- not wattage; the key is good clean, reliable signal and power. Is your battery up to snuff, your alternator, do you have an inline capacitor -- all this and more effects signal quality.

Not to say good clean wattage CAN'T kill a speaker.. but you have to really try harder to go that route.

When the signal is distorted (IE you overdrive the amplifier by turning the gain all the way to 11, or the amp overheats, or under power the amp at 11V) the cone moves irradically and thus the voice coil rubs and "blows" the speaker. Yes you can blow a 500 watt RMS sub with a cheap 50 watt amplifier.

So... commenter's said .. "would that be enough power.." -- yes.
Alpine, Kenwood, Sony, Fosgate, JL, Soundstream, (name brand) amplifiers have a reasonable sound quality to drive a sub without damage. This is not to say that if you drive that alpine with the gains turned all the way up and give it 14 volts you wont damage this sub (or any other sub); but at 1/2 gain with the volume nob on the deck at 75% you are in the safe zone.

Will it be loud enough? That is a subjective question. Is 130db loud enough? Is 140db loud enough?

Separate amp? Not needed. He already said he wasn't going for competition level SQ or DB levels. He just wants a nice decent "upgrade" -- like the 3" OME.

Matching brand name? Nah not needed either. Companies would love you to believe the hype.. that is you buy our complete product line it will sound the BEST. Out right lie, if not a severe stretch of reasoning. Each car/truck/boat/atv is different. Each person's music preferences are different. You have to mix and match as you and your budget see fit.

Pioneer deck (heck even factory), JL sub, soundstream amp, cables from:
HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!
or
Blue Jeans Cable -- Broadcast-Quality Cables at Reasonable Prices

However you mix and match the consumer products, you should be fine.

I would say in the given configuration, and comments made by the original poster -- that the configuration would be fine.

great info. it touched the basics on many things. i sometimes have a hard time getting the point across in laymans terms. great job and i like your take on it.