A good sound quality, adjustment to the upgraded speakers or aftermarket subwoofers, always need more power than your factory stereo usually can provide.
The user needs a separate amp to get a piece of loud music with a deep pass from the additional speakers or subwoofers.
Generally, a car’s stereo system can deliver on an around 10 watts RMS power output /channel, which is very low to exceed the road crowd noise by the car’s music.
You need to upgrade the in-built radio system so that it can convert the ordinary music into a rocking one! So adding a powerful amp (Obviously with other adjusting gear you need) is the best solution.
Once you decided to add an amp, now the question is how you will determine what number of channel in you amp is gonna adjust both your car’s demand and your satisfaction?
Let’s see the A to Z on 2 channel vs 4 channel amp.
Table of Contents
Which one is to choose among a 2-channel and a 4-channel amplifier?
There is some difference between a 2-channel amp and a 4-channel amp. Some users may think it is the quality difference, which makes a 4-channel amplifier more capable than a 2-channel amplifier.
Actually, it is not a valid scenario. All the difference is about the number of the channel which connects with the number of speakers or subwoofers.
A 2 channel amp can join with fewer speakers whereas a 4-channel or more-channel can connect with more speakers or more subs.
| Features | 2-Channel Amp | 4-Channel Amp |
| Number of Channel | Two | Four |
| Workable for | Two speakers, one sub. | Two sets of Speakers, one set of speakers with one subwoofer. |
Which amp is perfect for your car’s music, basically it depends on the number of speakers or subwoofer you installed in your vehicle. Each channel from your amp can connect with one speaker or one subwoofer.
Each channel presented on the amplifier act as a separate power source for each aftermarket device. All users are not prone to use the back speakers in their cars.
Instead of setting two rear speakers, they only strong up their music quality only using two high-output front speakers. 2-channel amplifiers can pair with two speakers, so in that case, using a 2-channel is the perfect solution for users like them.
So, you may already understand how you should choose the number of channels in your amp. However, using another extra pair of the speakers on the back portion of your car requires two additional channels on your amplifier.
So when the user intends to involve both the rear and front speakers for their car’s music, need installing a 4-channel amplifier. Instead of pairing with four speakers, a 4-channel amp can pair with two speakers and with a subwoofer.
That means two channels for pairing two speakers, and the other two channels are for making a bridge with the subwoofer. Interestingly, you can let a 4-channel amp drive the four speakers and add a separate 2-channel amp or a mono amp to drive the subwoofer.
Installing both the 2-channel and 4-channel amp altogether can make a boom-blasted explosion in the car music system. Rock lovers love to install such a way!
How is RMS power associated with the numbers of channel of an amplifier?
Suppose an amp featuring a 60Watts power per its channels. So it means, each channel of this amp can drive a large capacity speaker which you may install on your Sports car, Hatchback or Coupe to get beautiful music exceeding the roadside noise.
Below this 60 Watts power, you will probably get good music, but it will be a bit silly to raffle your window! Amp RMS depends on the speaker’s top RMS output rating.
A 50 Watts RMS output speaker needs a 50Watts outputs RMS capacity’s Amp channels. However, a larger car or a more significant sound volume needs a minimum 75 Watts RMS per speaker.
Thereby you have to install the amp with such channels, which can produce 75 watts RMS power output per channel. A little bit difference of this RMS power (like 5 /10) won’t make a huge difference in your sound quality.
Finally, a 100 Watts RMS output speaker needs pairing with the same RMS power from the amp channel to deliver an Eye-Popping volume in the music system.
How to select the amp’s channel for a subwoofer?
Several subwoofers are dominating the aftermarket device market, offering lots of features to the customers. Do you know why the subwoofer amplifier gets so popular nowadays?
A subwoofer installs to get deep bass, accurate, and high responsive loud noise from the factory radio. So it needs an amp to amplify the bass make it workable for the speakers.
The amplification of the bass is the toughest job then amplifies the rest of the sound spectrum. However, a mono/single channel is ideal for a subwoofer.
A multi-channel amp also can connect with the subwoofer by making a bridge. While adjusting other power adjusters to the subwoofers, avoid imperfect impedance (to prevent overheating in the subwoofer).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
FAQ-One: How to set a 4-channel amplifier to a 2-channel head unit?
Answer: Use a Y adapter to do this. An RCA Y adapter wire can safely connect with an amp. Connect the left channel of the HU with the left front and front-rear amp using the adapter. Again connect the right channel of the HU unit with the right and the remaining channel of the amp.
Final verdict:
Either a 2-channel amp or a 4-channel amp both needs a perfect RMS range and the same impedance level with the speakers or with the subs. Before installing an amp, also measure how you need your music system.
Indeed, there are lots of things of 2-channel-vs-4-channel-amp which a user should know before installing one amplifier.
Yes, you can go for both. The fact is, the more the channel, the more the speaker and ultimately louder the sound.