Recently I installed the following speakers in my 2009 Clubman S with Hi-Fi: Infinity 42.9i/62.9is in the front doors and 693.9i in the rear. If I play the stereo loudly for an extended period of time I lose all sound. It will power back up if I shut the engine off for awhile and then restart, assuming the amp has cooled down. Also my volume control only goes to a certain point and then the volume will not increase any more. Contacted Infinity and they told me my amp is clipping and that I should install another amp. So my question is this, can I install a 2 channel amp to just power the 6X9's, since they're drawing the most power and grab the signal before it enters the stock amp? I also have the Boss600 installed that I love to death. Hardly a techie here as I went through the entire Nav/Audio forum only getting confused with all the technical talk, just layman terms please. Appreciate any help and recommendations for a good amp. Also when I did the install I soldered all connections and kept everything in phase. Thanks.

 

The volume control will spin forever as it is a digital control and not a potentiometer. Thus when it gets to the limit of the radio an amp it will no longer increase in volume. You could spin it all day an nothing would change. As for it shutting down unless it is very very hot in your car. I.E. A/C not on or something like that you should not have a problem

As for adding an amp you could simply do that by tapping the X9331 connector.

Check this thread out it should give you more than enough info to tap the connector.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ust-do-it.html

 

What is the ohms of the infinity speakers? If much different than the stock speakers it will change the power required to drive them. Someone can chime in with the ohms of the stock speakers but I think i remember seeing 2 ohms (but don't quote me on that). So if you have 4 or 8 ohm speakers it would take more power to drive them to the same level.

 

Browser, the Infinity's I have are in fact 2 ohm, tried to keep everything the same. Now I'm just looking for suggestions for an amp that I can power the 6X9's. Schatzy62 was very helpful concerning my other questions. Thanks all.

 

Thanks for the info. What about polarity of the wires? Is it matched all the way around? If you crossed some wires it would make a difference. I did this once on a home system and one side was much lower in volume than the other. Thought it was a balance issue at first until I found I had reversed some wires.

Are your speakers wired the same as the factory speakers? Any crossovers involved not in the factory speakers that could change the power requirements?

Just throwing things out there for you.

 

I made sure everything was in phase when I wired everything and soldered all connections. I may have just overbought on the speakers and the amp just can't push them all without overheating (I assume). So I'm just on the prowl for a good but not over the top amp that'll be able to push the 6X9's by themselves taking some of the strain off the oem amp.

 

When you installed the Infinity speakers, were you able to confirm the impedance of the stock speakers you took out? I've heard 2Ω for the stock HIFI speakers, but I think I've also heard 3Ω.

 

Well I just assumed that they were 2 ohm since that was what I was reading about them but now you made me go out in my cold garage, 32 and snow today, in my stocking feet and break out my multimeter and my old speakers, I get 2.2 ohms on them. I hope that answeres your question.

 

Thanks - it seems the impedance of your Infinitys are pretty close to that of the stock speakers, so you shouldn't be drawing that much more current from the amp. The sensitivity numbers for the Infinitys aren't great (87-89 dB/W-m), but I can't imagine that they're worse than the factory speakers.

When you're driving your amp into clipping, are you playing the stereo louder than you did with the stock speakers?

 

I'm probably playing the stereo louder than with the stock speakers, I mean that is why I replaced the stock speakers it's just that if I have the stereo at say, full volume, it isn't that terribly loud (I am 61) and then I'll lose all volume. So if Infinity says the amp is clipping and I should add another amp I guess I'll do that to the 6X9's since they are drawing 40w apiece. Unless the stock amp needs a software upgrade (suggested by schatzy62) it could need it. Just am baffled I guess since I didn't see anyone else on the forum have a problem. And I was wondering how Mini would feel checking out the amp after I upgraded the speakers (My Fault not the amp).

 

Sounds like clipping to me!

1. What do you have your bass and treble settings at: Try making both flat, or go negative just a bit on the bass.

2. Maybe you can put a pair of bass blockers on the front speakers to clean things up as well as relieve the stock amp.

3. Maybe you can also try adjusting your fader so that fronts or rears dont play 100%.

4. Maybe you can locate your stock amplifier: If it indeed gets super hot you can maybe rig an old 12v computerfan to keep it cooler.

5. Maybe you just need an aftermarket amp!