Looking to buy an amplifier, but I'm on a budget. I have a 2003 Nissan 350Z and am purchasing Infinity components for the front and Infinity 6.5" for the rear. I have an aftermarket HU (Pioneer). Will amplifying the rear speakers make that much more of a difference or should I just go with a 2ch amp to power the components? The HU has a built in amp that might be sufficient for the rears, but I wanted to get opinions before I bought the amp. I'm not planning on powering any subs.

 

Buy a 4-ch amp, and power all four speakers. You'll be happier and get your money's worth on the speakers. There is no sense in under powering a speaker.

 

Are you speaking from experience? I ask because I've heard of a few people disconnecting their rear speakers in the 350Z because it takes away from the front component sound. I don't want to power the rears with an amp if this is going to happen. I heard the rears are used primarily for filler sound and dont need to be amplified.

 

Yes, I am speaking from experience. I have Kappa components in the front and 2-way Kappas in the rear. Using a Fosgate 4-chn amp to power them makes a big difference. The amp has 2 gain controllers, allowing the user to control how much amplification each set of speakers recieves. You will begin by tweeking the fronts, then the rears last. If you feel at any point that the rears are drowning the fronts, turn the gain down. Although, you will probably not encounter this because components tend to handle a higher RMS rating anyway.

 

4 channel. Connect all 4 and you can bridge a sub in as well. I was driving 4 plus a sub with my initial upgrade and it worked fine. If you need or want more power later you can add a 2 channel for the fronts and then designate the 4 channel for the rears plus the sub.

I have a JL300/4 and a JL300/2 which was added during "phase II" of my upgrade. The 300/4 drove my Focal components, plus OEM rears and aftermarket sub without any problems.

 

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Either get a 4 channel or don't buy rear speakers at all. That would be my choice. I would only replace the fronts and disconnect the stock rears. They're not needed and only mess up/muddy up the soundstage. Spend your money elsewhere.