Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Great amp, easy to install!

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Perfect companion for my Alpine iLx

Really cranks! Clean sound

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Speaker turn on popping w/ Alpine HU + KTA

Setup: Alpine ILX-507 and this amp. 2017 Wrangler JK. Amp and HU grounded separately to vehicle ground passenger footwell. Remote turn on wire used from HU for amp and sub. Soldered and twisted connections. RCA outs. Powered 8" Kenwood sub. Seperate power wires for sub and amp. Polk mm6502 front and rear. Issues: Turn on pop. Called Alpine and Crutchfield. Very disappointed with Alpine-they are zero help. It is your amp and HU. No wat to delay remote turn on wire from HU. Not the only person reporting either. Crutchfield confirmed I need a delay turn on trigger. Installing that this week PAC TR7, if does not solve, I am eating the amp as took a few months to get around install (my fault). Observations:It is small so opens up mounting options in dash area.Sound is good. only needed to bump up front rear speakers. No power on light, but matters little since it is tucked under the glove box, be nice to have during install/testing. Opinion-Get another amp, the stealth size promise is great. It is not worth that reason to get. Find a spot to mount a non stealth sized amp.

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Perfect Pair

This fits perfectly wit the ILX-650 head unit and combined they are both still smaller that my factory radio. I have not even upgraded my speakers yet but the sound quality and clarity has already improved. awesome little package.

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Nice upgrade

Really woke up those Alpine S series 6 1/2" door speakers.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Turn off pop, called tech support and they confirmed it was either inside the amp or Alpine head unit. The "on back of head unit" mounting option said it would fit in my car but doesn't. Wiring harness coming out of side hits dash kit/mounting.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Rough experience with this amp. It was super appealing to purchase because of the small footprint and that it would fit behind my head unit for the install. However, had two failed units in a row. Both had the same quality issues. When the gain was turned up past 30% the unit would completely shut off. To the point that it would not even power back on after a full reset. Meaning unplugged the unit and power source and restarted the head unit. And then it would intermittently turn back on or off over a 45minute driving period. There's not even a power indicator on the unit. Simply disappointed with the setup overall. Ended up installed a full non-compact JL Audio RD400/4 amp and never looked back! Will never purchase an Alpine product again.

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Major Improvement over Factory

Problem: muddy, boomy incoherent bass, and scrambled mids and highs in my vehicle, purchesed used, with "factory premium sound". Consider fixing first the amplification. Even with the dull speakers shipped from the factory the overall coherence was greatly improved. The low frequencies (which are often hardest for amps to deliver) became more responsive and in-sync with the rest of the music. The mud was gone. And the higher frequencies came together with much better coherence and "slam". The transients matter, and this amp keeps up. I'm driving this with the preamp outputs of the Alpine iLX-W650 (it just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?) which is designed to go together with this amplifier, though it can be used with any head unit. Upgrade speakers? definitely. Just don't forget to pay attention to what you feed them. This amp is really good.

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Mansfield

Didn't quite last a year. Started surging on one channel after 9 months was hoping it wasn't the brand new amp. Was unable to pull the car apart to verify that amp was issue until after 12 months warranty period. Alpine would not warranty out acted like no big deal it had even lasted 1.5 years. Buy a different amp that easier to access when it fails. This Alpine amp was only lightly used at that.

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Great amps

It is good to have, but if I start over the set up, I don't need this amp because the ILX-W650 is loud enough unless you are crazy with sound, with this amps I use only 7%-8%, 10% maximum

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Cheaply made, avoid

Would not buy again. Selling it. Alpine - please up your standards. This price for an amp that goes behind the head unit - ok I should have known it was not going to sound great. Hissing, static, clipping. I changed the ground 3 times, changed the power both of the battery and the 12V lead in the harness, used the RCA inputs with my Alpine W ILX 650 (also a cheaply made and unreliable piece of gear). I hooked up bookshelf speakers to the speaker wire out puts from the amp and same distorted sound (gain was set very low). I bought this unit open box - likely someone returned it because it's low quality or defective. An amp shoved back behind all those wires just isn't a good idea anyways. I don't get these folks who are giving high reviews - perhaps my unit really was just busted. Crutchfield people were nice and helpful - great folks. For the low cost of the HU and this amp I've learned a lot. And learned that you get what you pay for...and a few hundred bucks is not going to get you much in car audio. Also tried ground loop isolators. Craziest thing - when the pan and fade were set center is when the amp distorted loudest on the peaks. As I moved away from center is lessened although still present. Do yourself a favor - save more, spend more, get a better HU and amp. Don't be fooled by this product. It has no longevity, reliability, or quality. Harsh I know. When Alpine does better they'll get praise.

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Good Powr But Noisy

Puts out great power but is noisy. Hiss/hum/static, research it. It's not a ground or power wire near audio cable issue. I've been doing car audio for over 30 yrs.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Definitely glad I paired this up with my Alpine ILX-W650. Makes the sound that much crisper and the clarity is amazing. I had replaced my speakers with some Infinity Reference REF-8632CFX that fit my truck, and yeah a huge jump up in sound and enjoyment.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

WOW WHAT A LOT OF POWER TOO BE SO COMPACTING.. DEFINITELY RECOMMEND TO OTHEES!

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Impressive

I initially replaced the factory speakers in my non-JBL Tacoma with Infinity References and as expected I lost volume and bass due to the factory head unit not having enough power to drive them. Installed the Power Pack and it made a dramatic difference. Clean power for my needs; with this combination I haven't noticed any distortion with my use. I can almost forego a subwoofer with this setup. Only issue is a slight consistent hiss from the speakers which is only noticeable without music and the truck is off. Once the music is on, even with the engine running I have a hard time hearing it unless my ear is right next to the speakers. Gains are set as low as possible. I've tried 5 different grounding locations with no change.

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Perfect compliment to the Alpine iLX-w650.

Perfect compliment to the Alpine iLX-w650. Easy to follow instructions for a DIY. (dip switches may confuse some) I recommend 80hz HPF for Front and Rear settings if you're not sure.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Easy to install. Does what it's supposed to.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

This amp is well designed physically to attach directly to the back of the Alpine iLX-W650 stereo however I returned this amp due to a loud thump on turnoff. I tried several fixes at the direction of Crutchfield techs but the issue was never solved. I now run my head unit without this amp with no issues. I would not recommend this amp in this configuration.

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great idea. near perfect execution

Really neat idea and tiny little powerhouse. Makes installing a breeze when stacked with a compatible Alpine HU. My only complaints are that the wires exiting out the side made a bit of a tight squeeze in my application and that you have to pull the HU if you want to tweak the settings.

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Small but mighty!

Very powerful and compact. Easy to mount under the dash out of the way. Sounds perfect! And when it's under the dash wiring is short and easy.

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Great Amp!

Gives a nice kick to the Alpine stereo that I got with it!

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Great little amp. I was quite pleased with its versatility. I added it to a 2022 Chevy Spark with only front speakers. The amp is taking speaker level inputs, driving Polk separates in the front and Polks in the rear. Great amplifier.

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Great amp, compact and powerful

I had purchased another compact amp and because of the lack of input gain control I returned it for this Alpine with the help of customer service. I had already upgraded the dash and door speakers in my 21' Tacoma double cab to the Kicker 48KSS269 up front, and kicker 47KSC6704 in the rear doors. If you're familiar with these trucks the factor radio puts out almost no power especially to the rear channels. I wanted to keep the factory head unit so I added this amplifier to increase the overall sound and fix the shortcomings of the rear door speakers. BOOM! Problems solved, I adjusted the Front gain at 40% and rears at 70% and the sound is corrected at center fade control. More power then I need as volume at 12 is the old 32. Lastly the amp is small and fits under/behind the factory radio with ease.

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Scion sound system

Clean sound, loud, and compact. Connected to Rockford Fosgate R165X3 and Rockford Fosgate R165-S and they match great. Both from Crutchfield.

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KTA-450 power pack

Like all Alpine components, you just can't go wrong. I have used Alpine products for several years in my rigs and love the sound quality.

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Good little amp

Good little amp. Clips when other amps pull too much power.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Very compact design

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Nice little amp.

Overall, a great little amp. Easy install in an e30 (1986-1991) BMW 3-series. It fits almost perfectly in the factory amplifier location. The only thing I really didn't like is the setup switches. The instructions on the amp are a little different than in the manual, which is confusing.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Freaking awsome

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DO NOT BUY

Avoid this amp. I've had this amp for 2 years and there's always a problem with it. The volume randomly increases or decreases and becomes really annoying. I've contacted Crutchfield but they aren't much help because they say to just contact Alpine. I did contact Alpine sent the amp in they said there was something wrong so they gave me a new one. Everything worked fine until 7 months later. Same problem and I don't have the warranty anymore. My guess is that this amp gets REALLY hot and since there's no vents on this thing the heat stays inside which definitely screws things up. Spend a few extra dollars and buy something worth your money then this junk.

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Impressive little amp.

This is my third KTA 450 to install in my vehicles. I liked the results so much after installing in my Ford truck and my son's Tahoe that I bought and installed another in my daughter's car. It is so easy to install because of its small size and design - it fits inside the dash. It has plenty of power for my needs. I don't need to rock the hood but am happy with the power and clarity at 2/3 volume that I don't need to go any higher than that usually. I paired it with Alpine S-Series speakers and an Alpine ILX-407 head unit and am more that impressed.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Can't say enough about how well this integrates and puts punch in my system

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Big power in small package

This little guy is awesome. I had it professionally installed and it makes the speakers sound amazing. My only wish was that I was informed I need a separate module to make the chimes and turn signal sounds not be amplified as well.

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Great fricken' Amp!!

I recently bought the Alpine ILX-w650, and I felt I needed to add some power to my system. Naturally, I decided to add this little amp, since it pairs with the stereo flawlessly, and I figured 50x4 was perfect. The installation was a little difficult, but the wiring support from Crutchfield made this less intimidating. Setting up the amp wasn't too difficult, just make sure you read the directions to determine which direction is up, to set the pins for the power configuration, and LPF. This amp is absolutely perfect for the money, value, and amount of space you will need.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Works great for me , enough power for the speakers

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Nice little amp, using it to push 4 JL audio 6.5! The only problem is alpine printed the diagram upside down and it is confusing. For the past 2 weeks I knew there was a problem and to date I flipped every switch opposite. Now it sounds right. Also using alpine M-1000 wired to 1.3 ohms for three JL 12 W3-3.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Wasted 1/2 day trying to make this amp work. Very good support from Crutchfield. They decided to replace first unit . Billed me for the second unit also , not good with pricing structure. Haven't received second unit yet.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Great little amp, it made a huge difference in my system!

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Gray compact amp. Fit under the fairing in my motorcycle. Delivered very fast.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Works great

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Excellent with iLX-407

I have this PowerStacked onto an Alpine iLX-407 head unit and together they pump out plenty of power for my tastes. These two devices are definitely designed for each other; I have the KTA-450 input gains (fronts and rears) dialed to minimum and the system is noiseless (no detectable hiss) between tracks and silent passages. I chose to use the iLX-407 line-outs and REMO (remote power-on) connections. No strain in the sound even when turned up to my maximum enjoyable volume. The piggy-backed unit fit easily into the dash cavity. User tip: attached the cable harness before attaching the mounting brackets. My only complaint - and this is very minor - is that you can't adjust gains or dip switches after mounting the piggy-backed unit into dash mounting brackets (trim kit). In my case I wanted to play with some settings and that meant some extra deinstall/reinstall steps, but it was a short one-time inconvenience. I used a CK12 wiring kit and it was straightforward to run; I found a nipple in the passenger-side firewall wire grommet and used that to run the positive cable to the battery (passing behind the glove box), and I found a dedicated factory ground point inside the dash cavity so my ground run was only 7 inches. I used wire disconnects instead of crimp connectors between the CK12 cables and the KTA-450 factory wires just to give myself a little flexibility in the future. Overall this small form-factor amp is a great match with the iLX-407.

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Great Addition

It was the needed assistance the stereo needed to push out the right sounds. Everything is so much more clear and precise. In my opinion, it has made my stereo a whole new experience, exactly what it needed. It fits well behind the stereo with no fitting issues, did not even take any extra pressure to install it. Installed with ease.

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Big Bang for the Buck

Purchased to add some punch to my Alpine iLX-W650 and Fosgate speakers. Easy to install and really added depth and bass to my system. A no brainer if you love your music and on a budget. Beware mounting brackets for Subaru Foresters do not allow the power pack to be mounted to the rear of the W650.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Exactly what I needed/wanted, right power to make my Morel Maximo 6 flex.

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The 450 is excellent with sound

The Alpine KTA 450 is Very Strong little amplify great with sound. It is also very easy to install anyone that does not want to be running so many wire and having to deal with the hassle of running wire I'm trying to hide them this is a great option.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Tons of Power, Very easy to install!

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Pretty slick how mounts and saves space

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Easy to install and connects to factory speaker wires

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Added that extra power to all the speakers

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Mighty Little Amp

I bought this to install in my 2018 WRX without replacing the head unit. This amp is amazing for its size!

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Great Amp if You Can Which Way is Up!

The amp is compact and powerful. It really brings out the full range of my Hertz DSK 170.3s with punchy bass, balanced midrange, and crystal clear highs. The only complaint is the ambiguous up/down caused by the dip switches being upside down from the instructions printed on the end. Ignore the "up" printed on the upside down dip switches, and follow the indicators printed on the amp body itself and you'll be on your way to awesome sound!

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An essential add on for any iLX-650 owner.

Compact, crisp clean sound and perfect companion product for my iLX-W650 head unit. I driving 4 JBLs in door on my Silverado and two tweeters and the unit is perfect for reasonable level, full spectrum and noticeably clear sound.

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Should of installed it sooner

Finally installed the amp a few days ago....This mofo kicks!!! I have the Alpine 650 and the difference this amp made to my system is immaculate. The sound in my car is so clean, no distortion, and the bass is on point.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Nice compact amp. Clear and crisp and works great with JL audio speakers. Very happy customer!

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Easy to setup and works like a charm

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Sound improvement, poorly laid out

Good investment- sound is good, easily connects to existing alpine head. It took me about two hours to install plus a bit extra to get setup. There are a few design issues- dip switches and wiring. Fortunately the folks at Crutchfield can help you figure out the missing instructions and help you get it working.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Sounds clean, but I was hoping for a lil more.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Decent amp except for the fact that it regularly overheats and won't power on on hot days. The other two amps work flawlessly (not alpine) but this one for whatever reason cannot handle the heat of being in the dash on hot days. Zero issues 9 months out of the year but summer.....forget it. Sorry I bought it.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Works great with 2004 Honda Pilot. Even thought there is no way to hookup current Subwoffer Amp to new radio using this KTA-450 amp and disconnecting existing Honda works great. Y'all need to put this in your how to hookup existing Honda Subwoffer

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Lot of clean power in such a small package. Put in TJ

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"Your amp is... in the dash?"

Alpine really nailed it with this add-on amplifier. It specifically fits their shallow mount head unit and installs together as a single unit , amazingly, with room leftover! Wiring is not cramped on the amp, on the head unit, or in the dash. The RMS output is nearly triple of most head units making it a perfect match for entry level replacement speakers.

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Alpine

Absolutely fantastic

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Great sound! Design? Meh.

I don't know how this won design awards. It's a good amp. The sound output is impressive. The dip switch settings for "up/down" are really bad.... and I wish I had not read all the other reviews complaining about this, which threw me off. Alpine needs to print an arrow on the amp with an "Up" and an arrow near the dip switches to remove the confusion. Of course I had it complete backwards. The installation kit Crutchfield sells with this covers up the gains and dip switches. I had to trip that to keep access. The wiring is a little cramped. I expected some kind of special cable harness assembly for this amp to the iLX-W650 head unit it is designed to be paired with to make connections MUCH simpler.... but nothing was provided. THAT would have been impressive. I did not enable any high pass filter, because the Alpine head unit handles that. The worst part about this amp, is that the gains had to be set very low, or there was significant hissing with no audio source, that becomes very noticeable at any level much higher than minimum gain. That said, once you get it set right and dialed in, it is a VERY impressive amp for the size. Night and day difference over the premium factory head unit. Not even close.

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Small but mighty

Love it. This little thing not only fits well in the dash, but it sounds good with much sound. It has dsp which smooths out the peaks to provide better quality audio. It is great as the power pack, but standalone too. My alpine speakers are loud and still sound great with this. It's easy to install with RCA connections and a Crutchfield amp wiring kit(best value/quality).

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

This amp was easy to wire and made my stock speakers clear up. I'm still planning on upgrading the stock ones. Well worth the buy

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

This amp works very well. Definitely save time by having all the connections right there without the need of having to run cables (except for the battery cable). Set up can be a little confusing with the dip switches. Alpine printed a guide for setting the dip switches, then mounted the switches upside down. Leaves you to figure out which way is TRULY up/down. Performs very well, and sounds great. My only concern so far is heat dissipation. Not a lot of air moving around behind the dash to aid with cooling. I may add a fan for my own piece of mind. Other than that I am happy with this install.

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Great for Jeeps

Amazing power and clarity for my Jeep

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Great compact amp for great sound.

Very easy install. Plenty of power for my 50 RMS door speakers. It fit perfectly behind my single den Pioneer . I was so happy with it I ended up getting the Alpine 650 head unit that matches it. Together they blew me away. Great sound and clean install and the dash appeal is on point. Definitely worth every penny.

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Not as easy as lead to believe...not Crutchfield's fault.

This review has to do with using the KTA-450 with the ILX-W650. Do not be fooled, it is not as easy they say. You will need to wire 3 different wire harness together. Part of the factory wiring goes to the Amp and part goes to the ILX. Its a VERY tight fit and the wires have to be routed just so...If you have a car with lots of space behind the radio, you should be good. My car was VERY tight and at some points I wished I had not gone this route. I ran the ILX separately from the KTA-450 for some time and the KTA-450 made a big improvement on the sound with my upgraded speakers. Is it a good package where you can keep the amp with the radio, Yes. Is it an easy plug and play, NO, does it sound good, yes, would I do it again, probably not.

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good little unit but needs work

I just finished installing this today (4/9/21) overall easy to wire, a lot of cable management will help slide it into your dash easier. would recommend sanding down a good ground and cleaning it well to help the "hissing" noise. Put this on my ILX-650 just wished it was more easier to install to that head unit. Sounds amazing and gives good power to the speakers BUT still get some hissing noise from the gain knobs, would recommend going less than half. Also the instructions on the switches are horrible, took a while to figure out but called Crutchfield and their help made things easier. Crutchfield always with the great customer support thanks for the suggestions on the grounding.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

Great little power amp. Love that it fits in the dash. Sounds awesome.

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Great Power Amp

Great improvement to the sound compared to no amplifier. There is a hissing noise at low volume, so need to keep gain low to keep the noise under control. This one is designed for Alpine ILX650. In fact Alpine ILX650 shouldn't be sold alone.

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Alpine KTA-450 Power Pack

This lil amp packs a big punch.. since I upgraded my deck & realized I can add this lil guy behind the stereo while tapping into the factory speaker wires makes this an awesome addition to power your door speakers. Big step up from no amp running my door speakers.. I am really happy with this addition to the sound system!

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The PERFECT amp...

I've now installed the Alpine KTA-450 into three different vehicles, and could not be happier with this little amp. At 45-50w per channel, it will easily provide ample power to the speakers with no distortion (in fact, the gains on all 3 I've installed are adjusted quite low- otherwise you can only use the bottom end of the volume control). Also, the amp provides resistance in each channel (so if you have a vehicle that normally needs resistors installed to ensure the factory head unit doesn't turn off the speaker channel, this amp will work without them). The band pass features allow you to customize the front vs. rear channels for the best sound, and overall this little amp just gets the job done while using very little space.

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Keeps up and sounds great

So overall performance is 5 stars, but based off the whole thing I have to go with 4. The sound is fantastic and the crossovers are nice to have. Wiring to the matching ilx-w650 is easy enough and you can tell the Amp is made to match the HU in size. This 4 channel keeps up with the 1000 watt RMS 12 in the trunk Now let's get to the tricky bits. The manual that came with the ilx-w650 is a nice little booklet...this thing that is made to match it comes with a 3 language, ye' olde driving map. The multi fold, almost impossible to get back in gracefully map. A small thing in the end really. But them switches though...the designer on the labeling should be demoted. It's labeled with the word "ON" on the bottom with an arrow above it pointing up, as if to say "flip UP for ON". Oh no, dear Crutchfield customer, that makes you a fool. DOWN IS ON AND UP IS OFF (making that statement is why I'm really writing this whole thing, to hopefully help someone else out there). Since this unit pairs with the ilx-w650 it would be nice if instead of the badly labeled switches it just interfaced with the equalizer and crossover settings in the HU so they made one functional Megazord, instead of 2 units with the same options on each. A nice option though if not using the ilx-w650, then you get handy dandy crosover options you might not have had before. Get a 12 gauge amp kit too! Plenty of power.

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