Amp selection help....

I have 2 12" infinity references 300 rms and 1200 max....# 1 are these good subs?..and what amp would be a good one for these two without spending a ton of money? also i heard i should run a smaller amp for my mids and highs? im not very audio literate.

I have 2 12" infinity references 300 rms and 1200 max....# 1 are these good subs?..and what amp would be a good one for these two without spending a ton of money? also i heard i should run a smaller amp for my mids and highs? im not very audio literate.


let me start off by saying never jugde a sub by the Mx output always judge it by the RMS. the letters RMS mean Root Means Square. rms i used in audio components such as subs and amps to judge a safe continuous power level. its a continuous output level for amps and a continuos input level for subs. when it says the subs can handle 1200 watts max. thats the max power they can handle at a given momment. meaning dont run a 1200 watt amp on your subs or youll toast themyou wanna run like 3-600 id say is safe.

yes those subs are defeintly good. are they the Q-refrence or just refrence. infinity is well known popular brand for a reason.

when chosing an AMP make sure its a true MOSFET amp. mosfet stands for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. meaning the amp is controled by voltage not by current. they generate little heat so this results in your amp being able to run more efficiently giving you better more clear sound and a wider range of tones. have you ever noticed (not sure how much your around stereos) but when amp thats not liquid or fan cooled it tends to quit out but before it quits out it tends to sound raspy and dosent play as good/loud/clear.

now generaly the box is what makes the biggest differenve in the way subs sound most people just go out and buy any old box that holds 2-12's yea it works. but see certain subs need to be in a sealed box and other subs need to be in a ported box. now i dont know what the frequencies are rated on the subs but if you have really low frequencies its recommended to get a ported box to help move those lower frequencies a ported box can actualy add up to 4db to a low frequency running system. most amps have a setting where you can adjust what tones and frequencys you want to come out your subs. basicaly. every sub should come with a specifcation sheet if you dont have one with the sub go on a site that has the specs to your sub and check what the specs for a custom box should be at. it shouod give you the exact dept and width for each box and should tell you what to do rather to port it or not. doing this will make the subs sound increddible compared to just a general public sold box

one last thing make sure to find out what ohms the subs are rated at rather they be 4ohm 2ohm 8ohm whatevermake sure to bridge your subs to properly lower or increase the ohms to match the amp. i didnt know this in the begining and i spent 900 bucks on a power acoustic amp and i blew it. so watch that

i hope i helped i know i gave you alot of info but theres alooot to determine when sticking a system in your trunk most people dont realize that

wow, I could barely make heads or tails of that last post .......

Infinity is average at best, they are mainstream stuff. Matching power amp to speaker depends on what kind of music you listen to - if you are a ground pounder, try and match the RMS rating of your speakers to the amps. As the last guy was saying, try and match impedances too - most amps will only run down to a certain load before they crap out. If you are into sound quality, you can easily double or triple the amp power over what the speakers RMS rating is and adjust your gains accordingly.

You probably don't need the same power for your mids/highs as you do for a sub ... modern subs trade off being able to use a smaller box for needing more power. As for transistor types, it depends on where they are .... MOSFET is better for power supply sections, bipolar is better for amp outputs. Also, playing REALLY low frequencies in a ported box is usually not recommeneded since the speaker is essentially unloaded below the tuning freq - a sealed box is better for this application. Determining which type of box the speaker was designed for usually has to do with the Qts of the speaker - it's part of the T/S (Thiele-Small) parameters.

yea i like alot of bass....so the subs max power is like 2,400W...now a guy told me I should look for an amp at about 1,000W and then bridge it..and idk if my box is sealed or ported...

if you do that and you turn your volume half way then you will blow the sub. if you want nothin but bass get kicker subs. now a good amp for them will be a 600 rms

i already have subs...which i have been told are decent and hit pretty hard so you think a 600 rms amp then brige it so i make 1,200 on the amp?

A sealed box will have no other holes in it other than where the speakers fit into it .... a ported box will have a "port" - either a tube like 4" around or so, or a slot that looks like a rectangular hole in the box.

well then this box is sealed...also their is a small hole in the one about 1" will this just make excessive rattling noises?

Infinity subs are fine. no where as great as other audiophile brands like Adire, but they do a well enough job to keep basic customers content.

The box you have is sealed, your box shouldn't have any other holes in it or it will be completely ineffective. I was thinking it could be the cutout for the terminal cup, but 1" is way to small...

buy a 600 watt rms mono amp that can handle 2ohms resistance. if you want to look at mainstream, keep with infinity or MTX. they're not really all that great, but they're decently priced. HiFonics may suit your application as well. Profile amps are decent enough too, but i'm pretty sure none of their mono amps can handle 2ohms.

Also, as to the question of amping your speaks, no. If you are keeping stock speakers, don't bother powering them. They are already poor quality, and probably not very durable. First step should be to replace them with decent components, and then you should power them with a 4-channel amp to get the most out of them.

good luck

Ok i shoulda been more specific...the hole is in the sub on the dust cover not in the box...a rex audio store near me is selling a sony 600w 4ohms amp that is 2 channel...would this work for my application?

that would work, but sony isn't very good. how much $?

That sony amp is 140$...what do u guys say?

don't ever get a sony for any car audio application is what i'd say. for $140, you should probably find a profile or hifonics that would meet ur needs.

That sony is probably closer to 100x2. Ive seen them rated way over what they really are like the 540 or whatever it was was actually like 40x4.

well i went to an audio store yesterday and the guy showed me an amp called "cove" made by U.S amps,2 ohms,MOSFET,800W peak for 200 bucks...?

you know... I've heard great things about US Amps of old, but recently, they've been getting a bad wrap on another forum i frequent... Paul may know more...

(plus, 200 sounds like a steal... something's up...)

edit: also, sort your information better. listen, peak power, or max power, isn't important. so, find out the RMS power. also, you've written 2ohms... is that meaning the specs you've written is performing at 2ohms resistance? or that the amp is just capable of handling a 2ohm resistance? ...finally, most amps are mosfet nowadays, infact, i'm not aware of anymore npn amps...

mosfets are used in the power supply ... they handle more current. Bipolars are used in some of the better amps output stages. The two types have different characteristics that make them suitable for different applications.

Ok a friend offered me a 900w rockford fosgate that runs at:
150 watts RMS x 1 at 4 ohms
300 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms....


So if i bridged this amp i would make 1,800w..and then my RMS would be 600 x 1 at 2 ohms(also i quite dont understand that ohms x 1 kinda stuff) and the RMS for both of my subs would be 600...so would this work?..and also what does it take to bridge an amp?..and extra wiring or anything?

bridging an amp uses the power of both channels (in a 2 ch amp) to work as one channel. if your amp is 300rms x1 @ 2 ohms and your subs can be wired to run at 2 ohms together they would each see 150 rms.

Thats a mono amp. You cant bridge it. Bridgeable amps are 2 or 4 channels. SInce it says x1 @ whatever ohm then its either already rated for being bridged or its mono.

I love rockfords power ratings almost as bad as sony. at least rockford gives you a true rms rating though.