amps and speakers

[lloyd_nickens]

Okay, get the biggest amp you can afford. That way when it is tuned to your system you can use the gain as a rca voltage matcher (like it was meant for) not as a volume control. When your amp can produce more power than your subs are supposed to be able to handle you find yourself not having to turn your radio up as loud to get the same amount of bass. And please get a class D amp. your electrical system will thank you for it.

[AznVirus]

how can you tell if its a Class D amp or not? and basically, the more power the amp puts out, the less ill have to turn it up. what kind of amp would you recommend? something thats affordable and yet powerful. something around 600-800 watt amp.

[pche059]

there aren't too many class D amps out there in the market yet i think
if i was to go class D rockford's Class BD would be my ultimate choice

how can you tell if its a Class D amp or not?

well you can't really "tell" if an amp is Class D or not by just looking at it...unless you are an Electrical Engineer
but if you have a chance to see one i am sure you it will be written somewhere in the mannual or something
Class D amps are monoblocks and can only run subs(low freq)

and basically, the more power the amp puts out, the less ill have to turn it up

yes in a way...but the main reason behind this is so you can keep the gain settings on your amp as low as possible to achieve the same SPL or power output you could say.... say if you have a 500rms amp, and a crappy 1 -2V rca head unit..if you want to run ALL that 500rms into a sub...you will have to turn the gain right up...and most possibly your volume control too....and hell....you wouldn't want this...you will pick up so much hissing noise

what kind of amp would you recommend? something thats affordable and yet powerful. something around 600-800 watt amp.

this is very subjective... and it depends on the price range
you after a 2 channel amp? or a 4 channel? what is the amp going to be running...are you after the perfect SQ or horrible SPL.. blah blah blah...you really need to take these into account b4 any decisions could be made

but just remember one thing
dont buy crappy brands ... they often overrrate their power by quite a fair bit while good brands tend to underrate their power, also they wouldn't last

I personally is a big fan of Phoenix Gold

[AznVirus]

Originally posted by pche059


yes in a way...but the main reason behind this is so you can keep the gain settings on your amp as low as possible to achieve the same SPL or power output you could say.... say if you have a 500rms amp, and a crappy 1 -2V rca head unit..if you want to run ALL that 500rms into a sub...you will have to turn the gain right up...and most possibly your volume control too....and hell....you wouldn't want this...you will pick up so much hissing noise

this is very subjective... and it depends on the price range
you after a 2 channel amp? or a 4 channel? what is the amp going to be running...are you after the perfect SQ or horrible SPL.. blah blah blah...you really need to take these into account b4 any decisions could be made

gain, as in how much power goes into something? 2 channel and 4 channel means how many different things its powering right? if i just want to power 2 subs, i would want a 2 channel? if i was say, powering 2 subs and 2 speakers, id want a 4 channel? SQ and SPL, what do each stand for, SQ i figure is Sound Quality, SPL is Sound Power Load?

[lloyd_nickens]

Um, as I said b4 gain is not a form of volume control. It allows you to match the voltage that the head puts out at a given volume to the optimal input of the amp. That is why the more power your amp has the less you have to turn the volume up. The best bang for the buck is MTX class D. The amp that I have (its equal is this years 6500D) puts out around 984 watts of power. I have one Diamond Audio M5 series 12 in a ported box. It gets really loud. The neat thing is the sub is rated for 500 watts of power. When I get a musical spike it can get up to 1300 watts of power. (The amp will pull more amps than the fuse is rated at if it needs the power. If it pulls double the fuse rating the the fuses blow) I get all that from a lowly 250 watt rms rated amp. Rockford does the same thing but they are way more expensive, and if you don't get the power series you are wasting money.

[AznVirus]

hmm i think that MTX Amp sounds too much than my subs can handle. my subs are rated at 150W RMS. would an 800W class D amp be sufficient? or does class D only come in higher wattage?

[pche059]

as i said before don't worry about having too much power
it works like this
the power from the amp is like the power from your engine
you can have a 1000hp in hand...but it doesn't mean that you will have to run your car at 1000hp all the time...
it just means that it will be there when you need it.....
it's a lot easier for an engine that is built for 1000hp to make 200hp than a engine that is built for 200hp to make 200hp...and it is impossible for an engine that is built for 190 hp to make 200hp

see my point here?
get a good amp now...
so later if you need more power (eg if you wanna up grade your subs) you don't need to buy a new engine (amp)

[AznVirus]

ya i understand, good analogy but 980W RMS? that sounds like i wont even have to turn it a nitch to even get power. wouldnt mind, but knowing me, i have a habit of turning it really loud even though its already deafening. i want something more toned down, but with power like an 800 watt amp. isnt Kenwood one of the top leading brands of amps? well not compared to audiobanh or others like that, but it does pack a punch?

[frogg]

Personally, I would get a 1 channel class D amp and run it in parallel.
I say 1 channel because some are stable at 2 ohms and sometimes 1 ohms.
I would recomment the JBL 1200 amp.
It puts out good clean power, doesnt suck too much power, but maybe is too much power for your tastes. I would recommend either looking at some that everyone else recommended or go with something like the RF bd1000.1 which is what I have or maybe a 800.2 amp.

[AznVirus]

is it possible to run a 1 channel amp and just bridge the subs? would it sound better or worse than a 2 channel amp? did you mean wire them in series, not parallel? higher resistance causes more static right?

[pche059]

is it possible to run a 1 channel amp and just bridge the subs?

hehe 1 channel amp is called a monoblock
these amps are built only for subs, and what's so special about them?
they can usually handle ultra low impedence
you can often run 4 4ohm subs in parallel (the amp will see it as a one ohm load) and it will still continue to "double" the power (i know i am getting into something new here, just apply the fomulae V= IR , where V is constant, when R (impedence) decreases, I (current) increases. P=VI, V is constant, when I (Current) increases , total power increases)
and this is why you should buy amps that can handle the low impedence

would it sound better or worse than a 2 channel amp?

well for a sub i don't think there will be too much if any difference, in order to make a sub sound good all you will need is a good powerfull amp, good subs and definitely a good box for the subs. aye...


btw SQ is the abbreviation of Sound Quality and SPL is Sound Pressure Level (DB drag measurement unit)

[AznVirus]

Originally posted by pche059


hehe 1 channel amp is called a monoblock
these amps are built only for subs, and what's so special about them?
they can usually handle ultra low impedence
you can often run 4 4ohm subs in parallel (the amp will see it as a one ohm load) and it will still continue to "double" the power (i know i am getting into something new here, just apply the fomulae V= IR , where V is constant, when R (impedence) decreases, I (current) increases. P=VI, V is constant, when I (Current) increases , total power increases)
and this is why you should buy amps that can handle the low impedence

hm that is strange, the higher the impedence, the higher the power? just learned that equation, V=IR, today in auto but if you think about it practically, lower the resistance, higher the power flow, this is stumping? how can you run a monoblock parallel? dont you mean series?

[pche059]

hm that is strange, the higher the impedence, the higher the power?

i don't think i ever said that...and no that is not true

just learned that equation, V=IR, today in auto but if you think about it practically, lower the resistance, higher the power flow, this is stumping?

ok..you are right here. Since V= IR , and voltage is the power supply to the amp, it is a constant figure. ok...do some maths here.... because V is constant, if R(impedence) decreases, the I (current) will have to increase to keep that V a constant. And this is the same that if impedence goes up, then the current will reduce to keep the V constant.

So you are right, lower the resistance, then higher the power flow ( in this case power flow is the current)

ok why does more current make more power? you use this formulae here P = VI, where P = power, V = voltage and I = current.
As i said before, voltage is constant, you cannot change it, so if the I (current) value goes up, so would the power P.

Is it better now?

[pche059]

how can you run a monoblock parallel? dont you mean series?

hm....you run your subs in series...you will increase your impedence
so no i didn't mean series

of coz you can still run a monoblock parallel,
a monoblock still has one +ve and one -ve terminal,
just connect the +ve sides of the subs to the +ve output of the amp and connect the -ve sides of the subs to the -ve output of the amp

there you go

[AznVirus]

is it safe to run a monoblock in parallel? i know the amp wasnt meant for that. and that in a sense would lower the impedence? ok im getting this now finally! thanks for the explaining.