I'm looking for an amp to power a pair of Infinity Kappa 6.5" 62.5i 2-way speakers in the front of my accord. The kappas are rated at 75W RMS, 225W max. The two amps I'm considering right now are the Kenwood KAC-6201 rated at 60W x 2 at 4 ohms, and the Sony XM-280GTX rated at 80W x 2 at 4 ohms. I've heard some bad things about sony stuff being overrated so my question is would it be better to go with the kenwood even though it's rated for less power because it would actually put out closer to its rated power? How much do you think the Sony would actually put out? One last thing the Sony has a low pass filter which would seem to suggest it's made with subs in mind but I could turn still turn that off and run speakers off it right? Any help is appreciated thanks.

 

running coax speakers? either amp will do just fine

 

Sony is BLAH!!

 

yep

 

So 60W x 2 kenwood is gonna sound better than 80W x 2 sony???

 

:fawk: fawk sony

 

Kenwood amps have a higher signal-to-noise ratio than Sony amps do which means the Kenwood amp will sound louder and clearer than the Sony amp.

 

I would never suggest that anyone place that much importance in

a) one single specification

OR

b) the accuracy of manufacturer's specfications


Personally, I wouldn't buy either, but I would consider the Kenwood before the Sony.

What's the budget and what's in the rest of the system? Someone forgot to read the sticky!!!

 

I said the amp's powering two 6.5" Infinity Kappa coaxial speakers in the front. Head unit is a Kenwood MPV-7019. Rear speakers are still stock, money is pretty tight since I don't have a job during the school year. No subs til X-mas. Looking at what I want, if I went with the Sony it'd be 65 bucks shipped, going with kenwood maybe 95 bucks shipped and a loss of 20W x 2 RMS rated power (speakers are rated at 75, sony puts out 80w x 2 rms, kenwood 60w x 2 rms rated power). This is all not counting installation. My main concern here is whether the only problem with the sony is that it's not gonna put out its rated power and won't be able to go as loud clearly or if it's gonna sound crappier in general compared to the kenwood, no matter how loud i take it.

 

I wouldn't be concerned with the sony meeting output spec, but I'd be more concerned with reliability. Based on the prices, I'd buy the sony, but I woulnd't expect either to be along term investment.

Hell, I'd go on eBay and try to pick up an old Punch 60ix or a PPI A100 before I'd buy either of those, but that's me. I like old school gear.

I'd say go for the cheaper one (sony) knowing that it may or may not crap out....anything will be significantly better then the "amplifier" in the headunit.

Hope that helps.