Amp advice for a newb

Last year, my older sister bought me 2 Dual Subwoofers. I know they're crappy, but it's what I have, so I have to work with it. I just finally got around to buying a box for them, so now all I really need is an amp. I'm wondering how powerful of an amp I should get so as to maximize what I have without blowing them.

Here's a link for the info on the subs:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=5788105&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03081&id=1059573942761

Like I said, I'm not looking for a "sell those and buy some other ones" response, as I know that's what would be best, but I don't have the money for that. Thanks in advance for your responses.

You need an amp with at least 300 RMS power handling 150 + 150 are your subs. I purchased Rockford Fosgate (used) from ebay and am happy with it so far. I say look around online (if you consider saving money) to find something good at a reasonable price.

Go by the following chart:

NOT RECOMMENDED:
-------------------------------------------
Boss
DHD
Dual
Jensen
Legacy
Optimus (Radio Shack)
Lightning Audio (lower end models)
Pyle
Pyramid
Sony
Soundstorm
Thump
Verge
Volfenhag


AVERAGE:
-------------------------------------------
Bazooka
X-site
MA Audio Visonik Cliff Designs (Anaba Group) (Execpt for high end amps)
Low end Alpine
Kenwood
Lightning Audio (high end)
Pioneer (minus high end head units and premier series)
Lanzar
Audiobahn
Crunch
MTX (minus amps)
Panasonic
Rockford Fosgate
Blaupunkt
Kicker (subs)
Alpine (low end subs and speakers)
Polk
Audiopipe
Concept
Cerwin Vega
Infinity
Alphasonik
Digital Audio
JVC


GOOD:
-------------------------------------------
Autotek
Hifonics (for the price)
MTX (amps)
Profile (price is AWESOME)
Pioneer premier and high end HU’s
Ma Audio, Visonik, and Cliff Designs high end amps (especially for SPL applications)
Phoenix Gold
Directed
Orion
PPI
Viper
Alpine (higher end subs and speakers, lower end head units)
Kicker amps
Avionixx
Alumapro
Audiomobile
Boston
Clarion
Crystal
Crossfire
Earthquake
JBL
Memphis
Soundstream
MB Quart


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
-------------------------------------------
Alpine (higher model head units)
Cadence
Eclipse
JL Audio
Elemental Designs
Helix
a/d/s
Adire Audio
Arc Audio
Brax
CDT
Diamond
DD
Focal
Image Dynamics
Kove (borderline good/highly recommended)
McIntosh
MMATS
Morel
OZ Audio
PPI (old stuff before they were directed)
RE Audio (resonant engineering)
US Amps
Zapco
Linear Power
Incriminator Audio
Ascendant Audio
Stereo Integrity
Sound Splinter
Audioque
Xtant
Tru Technology
TC Sounds
Rainbow


BOLD means that this is a brand we talk good of frequently on this board and is within most people's price range. A lot of these products will be recommended.

This is one I had been looking at. Not listed one the Poor/average/etc. list.

http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/vpid/1605103/vpcsid/0/SFV/30046/order/asc/order_by/sell_price/sret/12131221521419162812102192262832302192862172202892 26223294225224233240235230231232237236239

It belongs on the average list.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Profile-Clarus-CL400-400W-2-Channel-Bridgeable-Amp-WOW_W0QQitemZ220013535248QQihZ012QQcategoryZ18796Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I wouldnt put much more than this to those subs. 100 rms each should get them thumping pretty hard.

heres a new one not refurb for a little more

http://cgi.ebay.com/Profile-AP600-2-Channel-600Watt-Car-Amp-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ120016444039QQihZ002QQcategoryZ 18796QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If you dont like profile

http://cgi.ebay.com/ALPINE-MRP-F250-4-3-2-Channel-CAR-AMPLIFIER-AMP-06-NEW_W0QQitemZ120014027088QQihZ002QQcategoryZ39740Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Any of these are perfect for you application. I wouldnt give it more than 100 to be safe.

i'm gonna have to agree with pimprolla on this one(dual subs are like sony decent but no body respects them) but i had one of their tens and blew it hooking up to a 600 watt amp so i wouldn't get anything bigger than 100 watts RMS, or get ready for a smoke show

you could go well over 100 rms with your amp, just know how to set gains. look at my sig 1500 rms amp to three 150 rms subs, going strong for over 6 months.
that way if you wanted to upgrade subs later you wouldn't need to upgrade the amp as well.

you could go well over 100 rms with your amp, just know how to set gains. look at my sig 1500 rms amp to three 150 rms subs, going strong for over 6 months.
that way if you wanted to upgrade subs later you wouldn't need to upgrade the amp as well.

Problem being, I don't know the first thing about car audio. Replacing my 6x9's was about as complicated as I can get. I don't know the difference between 4 ohms/2 ohms (except that 4 is safer, I think), and I don't even know what gain is.

gain is the level matching knob on the amp. lots of people confuse it for volume, but it's not volume. you have to match the output of the head unit to the amp with the amp's gain. otherwise you will blow the subs.

Another question. Will I have to replace my stock HU? I'd prefer not to if possible, as I'd like to keep the steering wheel controls.

yes

He won't. He will need a line out converter. Since you are it sounds like electrically challenged as well as audio challenged...(not being rude or anything) but it might be easiest to take it to a Best Buy or something and buy one of their amps and have them install it for you. But that is just my opinion.

No you dont have to replace the stock HU you buy an amp with a high level/speaker input. The amp would come with a connector that you would have to splice into the speaker wires for your rear speakers and hook the connector into the amp.

He won't. He will need a line out converter. Since you are it sounds like electrically challenged as well as audio challenged...(not being rude or anything) but it might be easiest to take it to a Best Buy or something and buy one of their amps and have them install it for you. But that is just my opinion.

No offense taken, what you said is pretty much true. The Best Buy idea was what I was kind of leaning towards. I just prefer not to be screwed over if I can help it.

If I have to buy the amp at Best Buy, would this one work?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7684865&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03085&id=1138083263869

It has the right RMS as far as I can tell, and it's a decent price.

Oh, and is this what you guys mean by a line out converter?

http://www.ebizenterprise.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=23656&MMP=1

i'm not a fan of sony but try this http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7668696&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03085&id=1134701342982 it's rms is at the subs rms but thats at 4 ohms which the sub you have is so it should be like better

Yes that is a line out converter. Best buy should have one though if you buy the amp there. I think installation is free on basically everything from there. So just tell them what you have and they should be able to suggest something.

I wouldnt suggest any amps from best buy overpriced, and i think its good for anyone to take some time to learn how do an install. My first wiring job was less then average. But its good to learn it first hand.

But if you want to go the way of best buy the sony will do the job.

I wouldnt suggest any amps from best buy overpriced, and i think its good for anyone to take some time to learn how do an install. My first wiring job was less then average. But its good to learn it first hand.

But if you want to go the way of best buy the sony will do the job.

If the car didn't have to last me a few more years, I might try, but I'd rather not f' up my car by screwing up. Not to mention, I also want it to look nice, which wouldnt happen if I did it. I found a place that will do the install for me, waiting to hear back on some estimates from them. I might buy my amp from them becuase it would be cheaper for the install, just depends on if they have what I need.

Ok, so, one more newb question, showing how inept I am. I was reading something in I think it was the manual, maybe it was a website, about being sure to match the combined ohm's of 2 subs to the ohms that an amp can handle. Can anyone make sense of this for me? I figured it was just I had two 4 ohm subs, so the amp would/should run at 4 ohms to work correctly. The word "combined" in there is confusing me.

combin is the way you wire it you have 3 options;

parrell (to find that will add the ohms up and divid my the number of subs i belive)
series (to find the total ohm you just add)
series-parrell(i think you need at least 3 subs for this)( to find the total ohms you need to divide each section into series and parrell then add the two together

That depends on the amp. Some amps are stable down to .5 ohm, the majority is 4 ohm and 2 ohm though. There mainly saying dont mix the impendance. Such as a 2 ohm load on one channel and a 4 ohm on the other. To keep it simple i would keep the subs matched to the amp at 4ohm. So SVC (single voice coil) subs at 4 ohms each and a 2 channel amp that has such and such power at 4 ohms should be the way to keep it.

That depends on the amp. Some amps are stable down to .5 ohm, the majority is 4 ohm and 2 ohm though. There mainly saying dont mix the impendance. Such as a 2 ohm load on one channel and a 4 ohm on the other. To keep it simple i would keep the subs matched to the amp at 4ohm. So SVC (single voice coil) subs at 4 ohms each and a 2 channel amp that has such and such power at 4 ohms should be the way to keep it.

Ok, so as long as I have each sub on its own channel (I'm gettin a 2 channel amp), and the amp is 2x100 watt RMS @4 ohms, I don't need to worry?

Let me make that a little clearer since both subs are 4 ohm and the amp is rated at 2x4ohm ie 2 channels at 4ohms=100rms so yes it will be fine. It wouldnt be good if you had one sub a SVC and the other a DVC and you put the svc to one channel and the dvc to a another channel so 1 sub at 4 ohms and the other at either 2 or 8 ohms then it wouldnt be good for the amp.

So yes it will work. Sorry for the length of explanation but ive seen people put 2 different loads to the same amp. And it didnt end good.

Let me make that a little clearer since both subs are 4 ohm and the amp is rated at 2x4ohm ie 2 channels at 4ohms=100rms so yes it will be fine. It wouldnt be good if you had one sub a SVC and the other a DVC and you put the svc to one channel and the dvc to a another channel so 1 sub at 4 ohms and the other at either 2 or 8 ohms then it wouldnt be good for the amp.

So yes it will work. Sorry for the length of explanation but ive seen people put 2 different loads to the same amp. And it didnt end good.

K, I'm still working on understand Ohm's Law so I can actually understand it, but I do get what you mean. Thanks.

No problem

Ok, I found this amp, and it seems like a good deal. The RMS is 125x2 at 4 ohms, which is still under the max rms for the subs, it's Pioneer (respectable brand), and it's pretty cheap. What do you guys think?

Oh, and best of I won't need the line-out converter, it comes with speaker level inputs so it will work with OEM head units.

http://www.kmart.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=155575&Ne=90000000&more=Price_RN&pCategoryId=89&Ns=PRODUCT_IMAGE_FLAG%7c%7cPRODUCT_MAXPRICE%7c1&N=1824+250000000&Nty=1&categoryId=1824

I had one of those once. It was nice. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this or not but when I used the hi input instead of RCA I got feed back. But for subs it shouldn't matter.