I need help finding a good amp!
- Thread starter Jen1170
- Start date
SuperStretch18
Member
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- '07 CX-7 Sport, Black on Black; '04 Mazda3s
What speakers are you trying to run?
Totally agreed!
CRAP = Jenson, Craig (do they still make this stuff?), Best Buy generic brands (what is the name of their crap?), etc.
Middle of road stuff that I still would not buy personally = Sony, Kenwood, Blaupunkt, Pioneer.
Decent mass market stuff = Alpine, Eclipse, Rockford/Fosgate.
High end exotic stuff that I cannot afford = JL audio, Focal, Macintosh, other brands I have never heard of due to living in Wisconsin and all this s*** is in California, Florida, etc.
Speakers will always make a larger difference in sound quality between manufacturers than amps.
lol!!
hold on a minute now.
Order of importance in a sub setup:
1) Sub Box
2) Mono amp
3) sub.
Please don't tell her that the amp doesn't matter. I realize sony subs are bad and all, but atleast lets suggest she get something that will work for her upgrades later?
If you are looking at the future and you want an Alpine, I am assuming you are going to be getting a Type-R. If that is so, unless it changes Type-Rs are 500W RMS (unless you go with the 15").
Now, I don't know what sony sub you are running but it may not be able to handle 500 RMS. so I went back to the family Alpine website and checked the reference, For a type R you will need between 200-500W RMS.
If want a top of the line then JL, MacIntosh, Eclipse are pretty good.
If you want something decent and it won't break your bank, try Alpine, Diamond Audio, Phoenix gold, MTX (i hate to say it sometimes).
don't skimp out on the amp!! you will regret it later, guaranteed.
hold on a minute now.
Order of importance in a sub setup:
1) Sub Box
2) Mono amp
3) sub.
Please don't tell her that the amp doesn't matter. I realize sony subs are bad and all, but atleast lets suggest she get something that will work for her upgrades later?
If you are looking at the future and you want an Alpine, I am assuming you are going to be getting a Type-R. If that is so, unless it changes Type-Rs are 500W RMS (unless you go with the 15").
Now, I don't know what sony sub you are running but it may not be able to handle 500 RMS. so I went back to the family Alpine website and checked the reference, For a type R you will need between 200-500W RMS.
If want a top of the line then JL, MacIntosh, Eclipse are pretty good.
If you want something decent and it won't break your bank, try Alpine, Diamond Audio, Phoenix gold, MTX (i hate to say it sometimes).
don't skimp out on the amp!! you will regret it later, guaranteed.
I don't understand that logic. You can never have too much power. Either turn the gain down, or run it in a different configuration. It does not need to "match" the RMS wattage of the sub. Only problems she would run into is if she got some s*** monoblock and then tried to run a 1000W RMS 15 inch sub. Any decent monoblock will drive subs appropriatelly these days. She was looking for the best budget monoblock to buy. We did not even give her specific models, just brands. That is completely up to her, based on her planned upgrades, etc. Obviously the more wattage, the more the amp will cost. Boxes could be a whole nother thread.
ummm, well don't match it if you dont want to. I realize that she will have to limit her gain, but generally unless you running an amp like the alpine PDX line, your peak will be too high.
Per say, lets say she gets a 700 RMS eclipse which has a peak output of 2000watts, she will...for sure, massacre that Type R.
Ecniemann, I realize that you dont have to, but I am trying to play it safe for her so that she doesn't **** her bf's sub up.
I wouldn't run anything under the min. RMS though. you can definetly go higher. I know my Alpine Type-X have ran at 1200 RMS easy before (its 500-1000watt RMS), but be careful when you are over powering it as some subs can't handle it like others.
Per say, lets say she gets a 700 RMS eclipse which has a peak output of 2000watts, she will...for sure, massacre that Type R.
Ecniemann, I realize that you dont have to, but I am trying to play it safe for her so that she doesn't **** her bf's sub up.
I wouldn't run anything under the min. RMS though. you can definetly go higher. I know my Alpine Type-X have ran at 1200 RMS easy before (its 500-1000watt RMS), but be careful when you are over powering it as some subs can't handle it like others.
Agreed. That was stated well. I just did not want someone (the OP), who is relatively new to this, to be confused with a lot of eccentricities of car audio. A very basic set-up is good enough for most people. I think you would have to be fairly irresponsible to blow a sub. I listen to music loud at home and in the car and have never even heard something distort, so that is why I always go for more power than needed, as the clipping is what will blow the sub. Rarely will a clean peak hit so hard to blow a sub.
yea, clipping is the main reason I am saying don't skimp on the sub overall. I am suggesting she get a decent one. I have seen alot of amps that claim X amount of power and thats at an unrealistic temp. for the internals or its specific freqs. or its during spikes. someone gets it, the amp isnt hitting hard em, the push the gain up, turn up the headunit and turn on some bass-boost and well give it a bit and something is going to go boom! and it wont be the sound of your music thats for sure 
yea, clipping is the main reason I am saying don't skimp on the sub overall. I am suggesting she get a decent one. I have seen alot of amps that claim X amount of power and thats at an unrealistic temp. for the internals or its specific freqs. or its during spikes. someone gets it, the amp isnt hitting hard em, the push the gain up, turn up the headunit and turn on some bass-boost and well give it a bit and something is going to go boom! and it wont be the sound of your music thats for sure
Yeah, I've seen many like this! Gain turned up to 11 (when the max is 10). Bass boost............maximum! HU bass level....................maximum! HU sub level...................you guessed it, MAXIMUM! Other random EQ function that increases bass......maximum! Yeah that will blow a sub real fast. I consider it a learning experience for newbies! Plus it just sounds overbloated and distorted as s***.
That's cool you're an EE.
719prottege
Member
- :
- 03 msp
i have a $60 kicker cvr12, a nice used 1200w amp, and infiniti kappa speakers, along with hush mat everywhere. cheap system, that i think, sounds better than my friends 1700 system with an L7. make sure yo use sound deadening or it will rattle a bunch.
Alpine is a very good brand. They pack alot of power for a low price these days on their entry level amps. The PDX is definitly a different animal and not a cheap one.
Also the subwoofer and amplifier should compliment each other.
Mismatch one way, and you dont get the power out of the amp you paid for. Mismatch the other and your system will be unstable and you may even blow the sub or amplifier.
Be sure that you are buying the power you really need. For this try listening to some other friends cars and judge what you like and what it took to get their system there.
To run only a single 12" subwoofer of moderate stature, 300 watts rms is all you need. Note the RMS not peak power. Ignore peak power and look for the CEA2006 rating.
Also subwoofers can not be damaged from using to little power and it takes ALOT of extra power to kill a sub so long as its not a piece of crap. I have trippled the power into many a subwoofer and I have never blown a single one. Only one thing typicly kills a speaker or subwoofer and that is distortion! This often occurs when people want there system to play louder than there equipment physicly can. This results in alot of ineffeciencies, heat, and eventualy something give out. THis is cuased from turning the gain to high, raising the bass adjustment, using the preset sound functions in some radios (anything other than flat),or adding bass boost on the amplifier. All of it is distortion and is harmful.
I really like this little amp for the money:
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=120&i=500MRPM450&tp=115
400 watts rms if you have a 2 ohm total subwoofer load or 220 watts if you have a 4 ohm load.
This way you can start modest adn bump it up a bit in the future.
Lastly, I am firm beleiver that so long as power is equal a person can not tell the difference between two amplifiers unless one is drasticly distorting the audio signal. If in spec, most amps are 20-20kHz +/- 1 db. No person on the planet can pick that out. Richard Clark has proved that many times over. Also in the sub-bass range are ability to hear distortion and detail is much lower than in the mid and high range frequencies so it is even less likely that you will hear a difference amp to amp.
Basicly, pay for rms power, and pay for quality dont worry about much else.
I see amplifiers in five levels as with most of car audio, but the below is for amplifiers only.
Worst, just garbage: Crako, alfine, kenfer, rockwood, soundstorm, audiovox, crunch, Boss
Real brands but still not that great: MA audio, Sony, Jensen, Profile, Blaupunk, Visonik, Bazooka, hifonics, audiobahn, dual, power acoustics
- This is most of the crap you find at best buy and on the net.
Middle of the road: Alpine, Kenwood, Rockford, pioneer, eclipse, JBL, kicker, MTX, Resonant Engineering, eD (when they actualy work)
Above average: Alot of the above brands transisition into this as they have several lines of amplifiers also you find things like JL audio, Polk, Focal starts here, and diamond audio. This is really a dying bread with big box retails and internet sites pushing millions of dollars of complete crap and misadvertising.
Great amps, but a little unrealistic and more of a status symbol then electronics: Audison, Focal, macintosh, Brax, Helix, Zapco
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Make sure if your sub is dual coil, you get the right resistance for it (in series or parrallel setup).
I agree, make sure it doesnt say 1000 RMS and it cost you $100.
Another thing you can consider is the efficeny of the sub. Reason I chalked up money for a PDX is because it is running 92.5% efficeny, which is pretty rare.
Great post! Again, totally agree! I think we are on the same page; you just state it much better. Yeah, Jen, listen to 1sty, he has given great advice on other threads I have read as well.
