Should I use more than 800 watts?

After doing a lot of research and reading all of your threads, im looking to solve and unanswered question. If i were to run 2 15" Brahmas, is there any point in running more than 800 watts per speaker since they hit their Xmax at 800 watts in a big ported box. If so, will it do any good to put more than 800. Same situation with the XXX

Nope. If you can size the box right, you won't need more than 800W. That will be plenty.

thanks, any more opinions? And then why is this sub rated to max out at 4800watts, if it only needs 800 to max out? i know 4800 will toast the sub but...why not rate it at 1500 then?

Simply because you won't gain anything by giving it more watts if its in the appropriate sized box. If you have a big enough box (and I'm assuming you do, as you did the math) there will be no need for more than 800W. The Brahma is rated at 1600RMS because thats all it can handle - if you get too small a box and need more watts than that, you can damage the driver, but you'll be fine where your at (great actually).

Btw, good choice on the Brahma =D I've got a NINe.1 that should be here today (I hate waiting at school) and am looking at getting a 15' Brahma. Not sure if I'll go ported or sealed.

TFFantasy... run the nine.1 2 ohms or 4 ohms. I would love to see it still cleaning up at 2 ohms... since at 2 it did a good 1000watts

800 would work fine

they're rated at 1600 because that's what they can handle thermally without problems. The actual amount of power that it takes to hit full excursion is completely box dependent, which is why they have a chart that shows how much power it will take to hit full excursion in each box. If you need to put it in a smaller box, you'll know how much power you need to give it, and unless you put it in a tiny box and give it loads of power the sub will be able to handle the power thermally without a problem.

I wish more companies would do this, as opposed to some other sub that's just rated at say 300rms. Is this 300rms thermal or mechanical? If it's thermal then how much power does it take to hit full excursion? If it's mechanical, then what size box is it for, and how much power would it take to cook the coil? It just leaves a bunch of questions unanswered.

TFFantasy... run the nine.1 2 ohms or 4 ohms. I would love to see it still cleaning up at 2 ohms... since at 2 it did a good 1000watts
Okay...I'll probably do 2 cubic foot sealed for it, though I'm still thinking of going ported. I've got a while to decide, payday is still a ways away. Right now I've got a 12O.44 that'll I'll finally be able to put to good use. Also, I'm thinking I'm gonna go for their component set with the NINe.2 aswell, money permitting.

snb: is 2 15s gonna fit? if ur puttin 2 15s in a ported box in your trunk, im guessing u will need more than 800 watts because the box wont be big enough.

IMO ported is 110% better than sealed. if propery tuned and the port properly built the sound clarity is nearly identical and has an avarage of 3dB gain over sealed of same size and same power. but 2 cubes is quite small for even 1 15 ported. 3-5 cubes is adiquite for 1 15. and the larger the box the less is needed to reach maximum xmax (this has already been explined above). so no if the box is large enough more than 800w isnt needed if at 800w maximum xmax is reached then the sub will only get louder through distortion. which is how you kill your suspension and make your stereo sound like crap....

I have about 6 cu. ft. now in my trunk, so im guessing that if I get my seats to fold down that will give me a little extra space for a box, maybe 6-7 cu. ft. tuned to about 33-35 hz have the subs face me, and mount the amps right on the back of the box so you see them right when you open the trunk

That'd be great IMO. Let us know how it goes.

a little advice. never mount your amp on the enclosure. amps dont like vibration and even if an enclosure if overly braced it will vibrate. ont top of of anyone where to steal your enclosure they would get a free amp along with it with out the extra work.... best way to keep your amp is to build an amp rack that is covered so you can see the amp in the first place. run fans so it stays cool, and then molly bolt it to where ever you are going to bold it....the makes it very hard to get them amp out. and as for hte enclosure, bolt it down to where ever you are going to have it so that it can just be taken out. and if possible make an enclosure to where the part of the basket which is screwed to the wood is covered. do all that and even with out an alarm system it will take the SOB hours to get everything. remember, if done right for every hour you put into the actual install should take a theif that is uneducated to your system 2...

Im trying to get a box with 6-7 ft^3 into a 1998 toyota avalon, If I did that, i really would not have anywhere to mount the amp BUT on the box, or under the back seats (but that would make them heat up) The only thing I can think of is have the ssubs face the back of the trunk and have the amps mounted on the back of my seats??? Think that would work?

CBFryman (do you watch aqua teen) this is my car with a box that is 5-6 ft^3 i believe, so a bigger box will not leave me much room to work with as you will see here....-------->
http://www.sounddomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=674005&cat=25&val=1

a little advice. never mount your amp on the enclosure. amps dont like vibration and even if an enclosure if overly braced it will vibrate.

that's a myth, you'll get more vibration in the chassis of the car than on the sub's box. If vibration was a problem for amps then you would actually be better off mounting them to the enclosure vs mounted solidly to the chassis.

ught oh, someone is gonna have to prove someone wrong here. FIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!! no j/k, but i do want to know whats right

hah, well regardless of who's right and wrong, it's still not a good idea because of the other reason that he listed, and that's theft.

You should be able to find a spot, I have a 2.7cf box and 3 large amps in my trunk, and I just have a sentra.

Ive seen smoke pouring out of amplifier's coil packs because of vibration after being mounted on an overly braced (IMO. had more wood bracing than air space almost, hell of alot of sanding to get all the corners smooth so there wasnt any whistle from the port) enclosure. boxes ususally have straight vibration for extended periods of time (especailly if listening to rap or some rock) Vibration on the chasis is just short jolts (unless your engine is horibly balenced) from bumps on the road. the perfect place for an amp in reality is in a suspended enclosed amp rack that has minimal space between the walls of the rack and the heat sink (but still a little for ait ro flow over the tips of the heat sink) with small 12v fans pushing or pulling (or both) air across the sink. but yes either way you dont want any of your stuff to get stolen, but if it has to happen make sure you dont loose it all and you make it hell for the bastard that is too cheap to save up and buy his own crap or just wants to sell it to make money.

OK, now you forced me to come in. I've been in the bizz for a very long time now and never had seen ANY smoke comming from an amp due to vibrations. If that was the problem, you wouldn't be able to have an amp ANYWHERE inside the car. Harmonic vibrations, especially those you can not see but feel, are much more a problem than panels shaking. I mean, when you are hitting so hard you think your heart is beating with the music, don't you think your amp is FEELING it too? Of course it is.

My boxes that I build come out of 10million CNC machines. The substrate that I use is so hard that you can barely cut it by conventional means. Many people think it is the same MDF board you get at places like Lowes and such but it is not. Now, depending on the application, I usually use .75" or larger. Like my box since I planned to hit high SPL numbers, much of it is 1.25" thick. The box itself without subs weighs well over 100lb. This being said, I know that my boxes do not flex or shake. So even if it were true about attaching amps to boxes causing problems, not on mine. If your box resonates that bad that you can feel it when you place your hand on it, you are losing way too much sound!

Personally, I usually do not like to mount an amp to a box though. Reason, it looks too unprofessional to me and plus you have that theft problem that was mentioned too. I usually like to build a panel and mount the amp in a corner or somewhere else to give it a cleaner look. I did however, mount them on a box in my old demo truck. It was a S-10 ext. cab. I built a rear jump seat and molded it to look like an actual bench seat. On the front, I made a flush mount panel out of fiberglass so you could see the tops of the amps. Then, everything was covered in the exact same faberic as the front OEM seats. Someone looking in had no idea there were 2 12's in the back. You could even sit on them and put seat belts on! :eek2: