Car Stereo Gurus: got an amp for Xmas-- no idea if its good
 

Hey-
I just got an amp for Christmas from a family member who knew I was considering upgrading my system. The problem is, I know nothing about car audio or amp specs. I have no idea what type quality amp I recieved was or what other components I would need to make it work.

my car: 04 WRX completely stock system (no factory upgrade)

the amp I recieved(stats in the owners manual):
Crunch car audio 'Ground Pounder' GP1400.4 4 Channel amp
Power output RMS/Dynamic
4ohms: 160x4/175x4
2ohms: 320x4/350x4
4ohms mono bridged: 640x2/700x2
Power Supply: PWM
Configuration: Mosfet
Soft Start Sound: Yes
Dampening Factor: >151
Signal to Noise ratio (A-weight): >95dB
Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.05%
Channel Separation: >72dB
Input Gain Control: 0.2V- 5.0V
Input Inpedence: 47KOhms
Variable Frequency Control: 50Hz-250Hz

so my questions are:

is this a good amp?
what else do I need to buy to use this amp?
can I power a headunit and speakers and not have to have a sub??
is it worth keeping??

thanks in advance...

i think its a 4 channel so you can amp the speakers...ur gona need a wiring kit from a store..also would recomend aftermarket speakers if ur gona amp.

i'm not an expert but it sounds like a cheap high power low quality amp. i'm not sure if you'd really benefit from it much. if you are trying to improve your audio i'd think about a decent head unit and component speakers for the front, then a lower powered higher quality amp if you're still looking for more.

Speakers are always gonna be your biggest jump in sound quality. I really don't know much about that amp so i am not gonna talk about it being crap or not. I would rather see you get something alittle nicer tho doesn't need to be a jl could be a jbl. But as i said your best gain is gonna be with speakers.

im gonna agree w/ troll on the amp...and i recommend changing front speakers, leave the rear ones stock, new head unit, and if you'd like a sub also, thats what i did and i love my sound

I don't think you would "hurt" your audio system by putting it in, but then again you will always be limited by the factory speakers before anything.

I am looking to upgrade my speakers sometime too but I don't want to blow a crapload of money on speakers... I just want some nice speakers that have tone quality before anything else.

The problem is if I decide to sell it, I have to find some way to explain that to the person that gave it to me... kinda puts me between a rock and a hard place.

say you changed the external cover to a design you liked better...?

or just keep the factory speakers and have them reinstalled b4 you sell...you'll get the same amount of $ for the car and then you can eitehr sell or re use the speakers

I meant, if I decide to sell the amp I got for x-mas, the person who gave it to me sees me kinda often (my sisters fiance) and how do I explain that I never installed it. Makes me feel like a dick.

just say that when you went to have it installed you were scammed into an upgrade (assuming you get another one)

FYI Crunch audio isn't all that bad. They are a company under HiFonics

say you took it to somewhere to get it installed, the installer dropped it and they offered to give you whatever you decide to get as a replacement and it was worth double the value...

That doesn't happen.

It probably isnt the best amp in the world, but as long as its installed and tuned properly I dont see a problem with using it. If anything it probably just dosent put out as much power as it says it does. Even still its got plenty more juice than any aftermarket head unit. Its deffinitly a step up from being unamped. Go for it!

Your deffinitly gonna want some aftermarket speakers. Personally I would go with a really nice set of fronts and skip the backs maybe even take the rears out if you dont have passengers to often. I'm assuming you have a head unit with a set of preouts. An amp installation kit is going to be needed. If you plan on putting a sub in the car I would just go straight for a 0 gauge kit so you have room to grow in the future. When you get the second amp for the sub just pickup a set of distribution blocks and your done. No ripping out old power wire and running new.

Your probably gonna want to keep the gains on the amp set to minimal as to not blow the speakers. In my old setup I turned the gains down low enough as to make it impossible to get distortion even on the highest volume setting on the head unit. Keeps people that may borrow your car from blowing the hell out of your speakers.

I have a totally stock 04 WRX sound system.

I have installed amps and subs before in friends cars-- I just dont know thing one about amp quality.

it's just the run of the mill amp, pretty average quality. as long as it's installed properly it will sound fine.

average amp
i would run it
it will most likely not do its rated power
and like others said also upgrade the fronts and headunit.