Channel Mono
What's the difference between a mono, 2 channel, and multi channel amp?
I am wanting to get a system for my car and here is what I was wanting: Infinity Kappa 60.7cs Component Speaker System, 2 Infinity Kappa Perfect 12d VQ Subwoofer (12" Dual 4 Ohms • Variable Q Design • 400W RMS / 1,600W Peak), 1 Kicker Solo-Baric S10L72 Subwoofer (10" Dual 2 Ohms Solo-Baric L7 Series • 600W RMS / 1,200W Peak). But I don't know anything about amps. I have picked out 2 JBL GTO 601.1II Subwoofer Mono Amps (400W Grand Touring Series Class D • 580 Watts @ 2 ohms) for the infinity subs and a Infinity Reference 611a Subwoofer Mono Amp ( 456W Reference Series Class D • 657W at 2 Ohms) for the Kicker. I have not picked an amp out for the speakers yet. The cd player I already have is a JVC KD-AV7010 In-Dash DVD Multimedia Center (Peak Power: Power Output: 235W Max. (Front/Rear: 50W x 4, Center: 35W x 1). So I need to know about the different amps to be confident in picking the amps before I get them installed. Thanks
Wow, sounds like you've got quite an impressive system starting up there. To answer you basic question, it's simple.
A mono amp simple means one channel. These are typically used for subs and only use one channel of input. They can be connected to one or more subs depending on how you connect them to acheive the impedance load that the amp is capable of handling.
A 2-channel amp has two outputs and allows for 2 inputs for stereo sound. Most 2-channel amps can also be bridged to work the same as a mono amp. 2-channel amps can be used for subs or for mid to high speakers depending on your input frequency. If ran in the stereo mode, you get the left and right ballance controls from your radio.
A multi-channel amp is an amp consisting of 3 or more channels. These amps also can usually be bridged down to two or even one channel. These multi-channel amps allow for both left and right ballance controls as well as front to rear fader controls if done properly. If you use a 4 channel amp and use 4 seperate input channels from your radio, you can utilize the full ballance and fader controls.
If your radio has any kind of surround sound processor, you would want to take full advantage of this. Since you are using a DVD multimedia head unit, chances are that it is set up for the 5.1 surround sound or even higher processing. If this is the case, you will want to seperate the left, right, front, and rear channels as best as possible with the amps. Now you can either do this with a 4-channel amp, or even 2 2-channel amps. If you do this, you will acheive the best overall sound when watching movies.
There are many other factors between the different amps, but this is the basics as far as your question goes. I hope this has been of help.
T.G.P.