Here is what I have at the moment:
HU: soon to be Alpine 9833 since I wasn't happy with my Clarion
RF Punch P5002 (125W/channel, measured at 190W/channel)
MB Quart PCE-216 in front door

Now, I just got the MB Quart and RF installed and I initially thought it sounded terrible. After closing up the holes in the doors and adding more deadening, it sounds better. I cut the treble on the x-overs and this fixed it up somewhat. Either I got used to the sound, the speakers broke in, or I did make it sound better. I haven't figured which one is true yet. :)

Obviously I need a sub to fill in the low frequencies (probably going to use a 80Hz x-over because the doors suck for lows). I'm probably going with Image Dynamics ID10 v.3 in a .66sq sealed enclose (1" MDF) for the trunk.

Now, here is my question. I think to get some better sound quality, I should use the RF to drive the sub since it should have plenty of power bridged (claimed of 760W into 4 ohms) and buy a better 2 channel amp for the components. I'm looking for something around 100W/channel into 4 ohms with good quality (ie, on the Elite line of offset's great Amp write up:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=713891)

I looked up most of those amps and only a handful have reasonable prices in the power I would like. So, what would you guys recommend? Please keep it under ~$400. :D (So, no Sinfoni, McIntosh, tube amp recommendations.) Maybe you have some models I should track on ebay?

My main complaint with the RF so far is the noise floor seems too high (uh, when the car is off). This *may* be from my head unit, but I should find out soon enough when I drop in the Alpine HU.

Look up PPI , Phoenix Gold, and Alpine. Any one of those brand make a quality product and should be fairly easy to find.

These are sort of what I'm looking for if I buy new:
Arc Audio 2100-XXK
US Amps USA-400X
Zapco 350.2

If you are willing to buy new why not get a 4 channel and bi amp those seperates? Youve got a fully capable crossover in the 9833.

I would go with a zapco if I could afford it.

Actually, if I had 400 I would buy the one rick is selling

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=719761

Thanks for finding the FAQ useful ;) I would guess that the noise floor issue is from the source and not from the amp. But that isn't to say they aren't both contributing too much noise. As for which amp to go with... I think I would be looking at Arc if I were going to spend the money. But those should all be good choices. If you want more praise about Arc, PM Rick (raamaudio) and I am sure he could give a good sales pitch for them.

offset

Actually, if I had 400 I would buy the one rick is selling

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=719761

Very good point, and I agree with that one completely.

offset

If you are willing to buy new why not get a 4 channel and bi amp those seperates
I would think it would be hard to match the x-over from the components. I may try this if I end up with a 4 channel amp, but I generally like to avoid any active manipulation on anything above 160Hz.

that is my problem...I have some new CDT 6.5 components, and I figure the crossovers they come with are pretty damn good....so why waste 2 more channels on my amp when I could use them for rear fill.

Its not hjard to match crosover points with that HU and if you bi-amp them you can apply delay to the tweeters and mids seperately and improve imaging.

As for the crossovers for the CDT comp...they are probably decent. But the less things in your signal path the better.

that is my problem...I have some new CDT 6.5 components, and I figure the crossovers they come with are pretty damn good....so why waste 2 more channels on my amp when I could use them for rear fill.
why waste the channels? here's why.
a crossover is basically a "shelving eq" which when designed properly, will send a certain band of frequencies to a speaker, tweeter, etc. we all understand this. But what happens to the other frequencies? they don't disappear. that would be impossible. what happens, is with the low-pass section of the crossover, the coil, or "inductor" raises the impedance of the circuit for those frequencies, at a certain rate, or "slope. the speaker's circuit still sees those frequencies, but the amp basically sees a wall of resistance.same thing happens with the high-pass tweeter circuit, but the opposite slope applies when using a capacitor for a tweeter. resistance builds, but it does it in the opposite slope of the coil. so, you have a great amount of resistance that the amp is trying to deal with, and is still making power for. If the speakers each have their own channel, and the frequencies are filtered before the amp, then each channel won't have the impedance problems associated with a passive crossover.

CN: bi-amp your components. you won't believe how much better they sound IF they are tuned right..

Do you know what the resistance is of the tweeter and woofer on the MB Quart PCE-216s? The german instructions are not very useful.

4 ohm

4 ohm
double check that. I believe the tweeter is 6 ohms. check the back. they are labeled. since the tweeter circuit has high-power resistors, I believe the combo of resistors in parallel/ series in the tweeter circuit will bring it to 4 ohms, but the actual driver should be 6.

I read through the mbquart site (in german) and didn't see anything about 6 ohm.....but I also do remember haveing a set of mbquart tweeters YEARS ago and they were 6 ohm...do what he^^^^ said.

... If the speakers each have their own channel, and the frequencies are filtered before the amp, then each channel won't have the impedance problems associated with a passive crossover.

CN: bi-amp your components. you won't believe how much better they sound IF they are tuned right..

verry true...I think you just talked me into it. :p Now I gota dish out the money for a 4 channel....And I guess I'll use my deck to drive the rears...and my pro bass shakers :cool:

Yeah, you guys are always costing me money. I've been hunting for a Arc Audio 4150, but I may go with something cheaper so my wife doesn't kick me in the nuts.
So, Arc Audio 400.4 for ~$250 or
Soundstream VGA320.4 for ~$230?
I was a little worried about this from the 400.4:
"Only in one category did the ARC Audio fall short of its rated performance. Using the CEA-2006 standards, I measured the signal-to-noise ratio at 92 dBA. This was 3 dB shy of its rated 95 dBA."