well my budget is almost together to rebuild my system I have a alpine 7998 deck. I don't listen to my music very loud usally but I still want good clean sound. I need new amps (and subs but they can wait). Should I go with a higher power amp 100-150+ watt per channel and use the passive crossovers or sould I get a 40-60+ 4 channel and bi amp them with the deck 3way Xover. I have MB Quart 6.5 comp. rated @50-120. If there is a better option I am open to suggestions. I have 50 watts going to the passives and it is close to loud enough but I want more bass and more head room for when I get new subs.

Dont mix amped power with H/U power

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thats easy the deck is a pre out only model there is no deck power all those numbers are the rms rating of the amps

I want it to sound clean at lower volumes and lots of head room

Whoops, i read it wrong

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Going active= more and better control. With passives, you are always limited to their potential. Some are very good, I would always recommend that if you have the resources, go active. You'll enjoy the greater control and benefit from the fine tuning and less signal degredation.

Going active= more and better control.  With passives, you are always limited to their potential.  Some are very good, I would always recommend that if you have the resources, go active.  You'll enjoy the greater control and benefit from the fine tuning and less signal degredation.

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By active you mean the bi-amping option. what would be the best way SQ wise to lower the tweets I don't like them to bright or is it more mid bass I crave???. Should I lower the amp gain or the deck output level. I have done a lot of installs but being self taught I still have a lot I want to learn on my way to better SQ. If I do the active off the deck how do I hook up some rear fill if I wanted to.

Going active= more and better control.  With passives, you are always limited to their potential.  Some are very good, I would always recommend that if you have the resources, go active.  You'll enjoy the greater control and benefit from the fine tuning and less signal degredation.

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By active you mean the bi-amping option. what would be the best way SQ wise to lower the tweets I don't like them to bright or is it more mid bass I crave???. Should I lower the amp gain or the deck output level. I have done a lot of installs but being self taught I still have a lot I want to learn on my way to better SQ. If I do the active off the deck how do I hook up some rear fill if I wanted to.

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By going active he means ditching the passive xovers that came with the components...and using the Alpine 7998's internal 3-way xover. There is a switch on the bottom of the unit to switch it to 3way mode. You need a 4channel amp... You can highpass the Tweets (Use front pre-out to amp...2 channels), Bandpass the Mids ( Use rear pre-out to amp...2 channels), and then use the Subwoofer pre-out for the sub obviously (and you can set the Lowpass for the subwoofer...and run the amp "full-range" b/c the HU will take over the Lowpass duties ). All of these xover points are adjustable as well 6dB/oct to 24dB/oct YAY!!!

NG

Thank you for making it totaly clear.Thats what I thought but have never seen it laid out. FYI the 3way switch is a internal menu func. on my deck. now to find some good 4 cond. speaker wire and get it run. I already use the int. crossover but left the sub low pass on because I have it xovered lower from the deck doesn't sound any diff.