Do I use Amp crossover with components

Hey guys, another newbie question that I know ya'll love to answer.  I have the new kappa 50.7cs and I tried to tune them in based on most instructions here.  They are rated at 85rms and 255 peak.  I using an MRV-F357 with below specs.  I turned the gain all the way down and started to turn up head unit (Panas CQC 5110U) volume with everything set to flat on the head unit!  When I heard distortion i backed up a notch and then proceded to turn up gain.  It didn't take very long to get distortion with the gain turned up, only about 1/3 of the way.  So with a Top volume level of 40 on the deck, I heard distortion @ 30 so backed it up to 20.  Oh yeah these speakers are 2ohm.  So with both the deck set and the amp set, I plugged in the old DMM and checked it.  With 1000hz and 800hz I only got around 7 volts max but with a music cd, hip hop, I got around 5 volts and 8 volts peak.  This works out to around 20-25 watts.  That just seems like it sucks.  Why the distortion at such low wattage??  Same thing on rear 6x9 kappa's. but they are 4 ohms so I got around 12volts constant with gain set fairly low.  I'm lost at this point.

Next question. I have a crossover for the components, one for the front channels and one for the rear channels Alpine amp and one on the Head unit.  Which crossover do i use, should I just rely on the Infinity crossover,  or the amp, or the deck???  Does the component cross just filter for the tweets and allow full range for the driver??? 

MRV-F357

Per channel into 4 ohms (CH-1 – CH-4) ..... 50W, 0.08% THD

Per channel into 2 ohms (CH-1 – CH-4) ...... 60W, 0.3% THD

Bridged into 4 ohms (CH-1 – CH-4) .......... 120W, 0.3% THD

4 ohms (CH-5) ......................................... 150W, 0.3% THD

MRV-F357

Per channel into 4 ohms (CH-1 – CH-4) ........................ 90W

Bridged into 4 ohms (CH-1 – CH-4) ............................ 240W

4 ohms (CH-5) ........................................................... 300W

Why can't I turn my gain up?  So many questions, thanks for all your help fellas!

You must use the crossovers supplied with the speakers to protect your tweeters.  I suggest you also should use the HP (high-pass) crossover on the amp and set it to the same as your subwoofer LP setting (if you have a sub) or to between 80-100Hz in any case to prevent your speakers from bottoming out.

As far as your voltage readings, did you take them with the speakers disconnected?  If they were connected the numbers you saw are meaningless.

thanks I'll try it and let you know what happens.

Yeah, I know they don't produce bass, but after I set my x-over at 100hz, I still recieve distortion at around 7-8 volts max which is fairly little power going to them>  Maybe I just am not understanding something.  Why can't I get more than 30 watts peak before these things distort, they're brand new.   Oh yeah, I do have a kappa 10dvq running in the trunk as well, so I don't need bass out of these 5 1/4 drivers, just good midrange :  drums, etc.  By the way, the tweets on these new 2005 model are so much more tuned down than last years kappa's.  They aren't too bright at all, and very smooth.

Into a 2-ohm load your amplifier is rated at 60 watts, which corresponds to 10.95 volts AC.

Are you saying that with all speakers (and crossovers) disconnected and your meter set to AC volts connected to the speaker output, playing a 1000Hz test tone at 75% head unit volume you cannot achieve 10.6 volts output from your amplifier?  If this is what you are saying, then you are either doing something wrong or you have a defective piece of equipment (or a bad meter!)

Then you have another problem (and you should not have to use "full gain" to get 10 volts from that amp!)  What is your HU?

-edit - Opps, I see, a Panasonic.  Well either it is producing a lot of distortion or your amp or speakers are defective.  If you set the gain properly, Kappa speakers will handle 60 watts and will not produce distortion on their own, usually.  They will however accurately reproduce whatever distorted signal is being fed to them.  Are you certain you have the speakers connected to the crossover correctly?  Maybe you are simply expecting too much.  Turn it down.