kicker 650.4 or comparable? need advice!

mustang90 · 08-08-2009

Hello! I'm new to these forums and hopefully I can contribute from my last 20 years of car audio experience. But first, I have a question regarding a setup I am doing for a second truck.

To give a little background, the system in my current

truck consists of a kicker zx200.2 powering 4 infinity 5.25" reference speakers, a kicker kx650.4 powering 2 infinity 6x9 reference speakers and a kicker solobaric L5. A JVC arsenal head unit controls the deal. I picked the kicker amps

because of the pretty good SQ and the price point. I chose the reference infinitys for the same reasons. Some people might frown upon the infinitys, but I think they sound quite respectable and are easier on the ears at higher volumes.

The second truck I am putting a system into consists of a kenwood head unit, 4 infinity 6x9 reference, and a kicker zx650.4 amp

. I chose the kicker amp because of the price point again, and the fact I have had good luck out of the last 3 of them I've owned. The problem is with the kicker 650.4 amp. This newer ZX series does not have a built in fan like my older KX series does. The ZX gets unreal hot and will go into protect mode within 10 minutes of playing at volumes of about 75%. The speakers are all wired stereo(each speaker with its own channel

) and are rated at 2 ohms. The amp is advertised to run a 4 channel stereo 2 ohm load, but it will not! I talked to a tech at kicker and he said these amps are borderline of being able to do what I am trying to do. What a shame that an amp cannot handle a bit below its impediance load with just 6x9's!!

Back in my day, Orion, PPI, Rockford, and others would not have had any where near a problem of handling such a load. I once had an Orion 250sx running (2) 12"dvc subs and (4) 6.5" seperates without ever a problem!!

So my question comes down to... what comparable SQ and pricewise amp will do what I'm trying to do? Most of the newer amps look pretty chincy when it comes to looking at their specs. Do I need to rely on the old school stuff that I grew up with, or is there something new that can do what I need? Thanks, and sorry for such a long first post!

mustang90 · 08-08-2009

Thinking more about it.... I need a fairly stout amp that will either run a 1 ohm 2 channel load, or run a 2 ohm 4 channel load without flinching or running super hot. I would like for each of the 4 speakers to see 100 rms watts.