Head unit is a ax5500 amp is a BT4180.14. I am running a 6 speaker set up right now possible upgrading to 6x9 lids in the future. I want to add a dsr1, so should I add a second amp to the the rear or should I just upgrade the 4180?

 

What speakers are you running and what speakers are you planning to add. Can't be very loud running 6 speakers on one 4 channel amp. Or at least, you're not playing your speakers to their fullest.

I think two amps would be better if you continue to run 6 speakers, but again which speakers?

 

Right now i have BT7.1 pro's in the fairing, hetz sv 165's in the lowers and arc 602's in the TP, no idea on lid speakers yet if I go that route. It is loud but I know I am leaving a bunch on the table and since I have no gain adjustments right now I want to add the dsp to clean it up.

 

And how do you have your speakers wired?

I'm sure someone else will chime in with much more experience than me, but my first thoughts would be to get a second amp at least to power a couple of those speakers. Maybe someone else has a better approach with your current equipment.

 

Fairing and lowers in series and TP on there own. That what I was thinking about doing, adding a second for the TP and lids if the come, or maybe up grading the main and moving the 4180 to the rear, I know enough to be dangerous.

 

are you sure your fairing and lowers are wired in series? I have that same setup and have mine wired in parallel. (fronts on ch 1/2 and rears on ch 3/4). Only difference is my rears are BT 6.5 coax.

Interested in what you end up doing here as I was thinking of maybe dropping in a 2 channel amp for the rears, separating the 7.1 Pros and SV 165s on the 4180, and putting in a DSP. I also agree it's plenty loud enough and so far I'm not convinced that I'd gain enough to make it worthwhile. I've checked the gains and get plenty of volume with no clipping. I'm going to play with the HPF cutoff on the BT355s to see if I can get a bit more on the bottom end before doing anything.

Your situation in going to 8 speakers would be different. I know most would advise putting in a second amp for your rears/lids and I wouldn't argue that's a bad thing but you might want to run 4 ohm lids in parallel to your Tour-Pak pods first to see how that sounds from a volume perspective. (I'm pretty sure you'll find that's how your front 2 sets are wired). You could then drop in another amp and a DSP if the results weren't to your liking. Just a thought.

 

Nope you are correct and I am wrong they are in parallel, again know enough to be dangerous lol. I don't necessarily want to gain any volume but to clean the sound up, my understanding is that adding the dsp and another amp I can give each speaker it full potential and tune them for better quality. That said please correct me if I am wrong on anything I say or have said.

 

no, your not incorrect in anything you've said. I am fighting the urge to follow your plan only because it's a slippery slope that I've been down before. The question is if you will gain enough in your ability to tune individual channels with the DSP to make it worth your while (cost, space, effort etc.). The sound I get is pretty good and plenty loud and my ears aren't getting any better with age so in my case I'm not 100% sure it is....yet

 

I think what I'm looking to gain besides sending each speaker enough power is to have each speaker get the correct EQ, I know my 7.1 and spl do not sound there best because of being in parallel. I just don't know enough and it has been long enough that tech has changed, so there could be a amazing 8 channel amp that solves everything for me.

 

there's no doubt putting in a DSP will give you incredible flexibility and no question our front setups are a compromise. A reasonable one IMO, but still they are not the same speaker and would benefit from being tuned differently. Having said that after I ran some quick tests with an RTA (there's another thread here that discusses that and you can see my results) I get a decent frequency response across the audible spectrum. Could it be better? Yes, and I hope by tweaking the LLs a bit that I'll get some benefit and maybe that will be good enough for me. In your case? Dropping in another 4 channel amp with each of your 8 speakers on it's own channel and a DSP with at least 4 in (assuming you want to keep fade) and 8 out will get you an awesome setup. Lot's of great advice here on what that amp and DSP would be (DSR1 is almost impossible to get these days and there are some very good options out there) and how to properly set them up. Good luck and keep us up to speed on what you're doing. I know I'm interested.