I need help finding a good amp!

[1sty]

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.

How you liking those?
Got one for the highs too or just the bass?

 

[1sty]

the sub is just some bad sony 12 inch, i dont know the model, but i want something that could run a couple of nice 12 inch alpines or something equivilant.

chances say the amp I linked to will work either way.
If its 4 ohms you will onyl have 220 watts for it but it wont do much with more power.
If its a dual 4 ohm sub so its wired down to 2 ohms, then you will get the full 400 watts but keep the gain setting down a little.

In the future jump to something like a single alpine Type R 12" or a couple of JL audio 12" W1 series subwoofer.
OR, sell the amp for something will more ballz and go nuts

 

[Vord]

How you liking those?
Got one for the highs too or just the bass?

They work well for the low ends. I had a friend of a friend who writes in a big audio electronics mag. test one of the 4.100 PDX. they are supposted to be full range and he found their power output to be slightly lacking on larger frequencies. those amps which force the "same watts" at any resistance are pretty cool, but they aren't perfect.

They work well in smaller freq. ranges, so maybe if they had a low end, then a high end, then a mid-freq. (3 amp setup) it would work better.

For a sub amp, they are excellent. I rarely suffer any issues, and it a small ass motherfucker, if it wasnt for me being gay and getting a huge box, I could actually hide that sucker around and have plenty of trunk space to use.


If you get a sub and you don't want to do too much modification (new alternator or extra/better battery), the PDX line is perfect.

Personally tho., my speakers will probably not be run on a PDX. I will say they may be better now, The review/freq. test he did was when they first came out.

 

[Vord]

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

The only thing I disagree with is putting eclipse as middle of the road. Those amps work like a ******' well oiled machine. I think they deserve to be above average, but thats opinion. They may not be a big improvement or worth the extra money. But if you got some cash and you want something nice and will put out at or above stated powers, eclipse the way to go.

They make some good headunits too!

 

[Jen1170]

thanks, you guys have been a BIG help!! i may not use my bfs sony sub after all, i may pick up a couple of nice subs myself on ebay, along with that alpine amp, cant really beat the price ;-)

=D ill let you know how it goes when its all done!

 

[Jen1170]

anyone who's still interested i ended up with 2 12 inch w3v3's and i am still waiting on my kenwood kac-9104d mono class d mono amp. ;-) thanks for all the input!

 

[Vord]

don't forget, do your Big 3 for a big difference!! lol (I feel like a door to door salesman now.)

 

[GOATovMENDES]

Simple and easy sub idea...

---I have the BOSE system and I wanted to get a monster sub in the car but found all the extra costs and hard work was too much to justify considering my tastes. An idea in my mind had me placing my 1000 watt Yamaha powered Servo home theater sub in the hatch. I bought a typical DC to AC inverter (AC DELCO $29) to plug the sub into for power and after tapping the white/blue & white/grey wires in the blue cable bundle under the driver's seat in my MS3, I ran a signal to the sub via DIY RCA cable. I plugged the inverter into the extra accessory outlet in the armrest. So far the advantages over a regular full blown amp/sub install is a self contained BeAsT with no need to run the usual amp/power cable and remote wire saving at least 3 hours taking the glove box out and the OEM HU. Since I already own the sub, I didn't need to buy a seperate amp and sub and box or make a permanent change to the car by drilling. When I want to invoke the BEAST, I push the power button on the DC/AC inverter to turn the amp on since I leave the sub main power on. The inverter fits wherever I want it. I can remove the entire setup in five minutes and the car remains unaltered and factory fresh; for all you Lease holders get the hint. Its a little hackish around the edges, but its cheap and easy for the rest of us consumers types. Hail![/COLOR][/FONT]

 

[Vord]

---I have the BOSE system and I wanted to get a monster sub in the car but found all the extra costs and hard work was too much to justify considering my tastes. An idea in my mind had me placing my 1000 watt Yamaha powered Servo home theater sub in the hatch. I bought a typical DC to AC inverter (AC DELCO $29) to plug the sub into for power and after tapping the white/blue & white/grey wires in the blue cable bundle under the driver's seat in my MS3, I ran a signal to the sub via DIY RCA cable. I plugged the inverter into the extra accessory outlet in the armrest. So far the advantages over a regular full blown amp/sub install is a self contained BeAsT with no need to run the usual amp/power cable and remote wire saving at least 3 hours taking the glove box out and the OEM HU. Since I already own the sub, I didn't need to buy a seperate amp and sub and box or make a permanent change to the car by drilling. When I want to invoke the BEAST, I push the power button on the DC/AC inverter to turn the amp on since I leave the sub main power on. The inverter fits wherever I want it. I can remove the entire setup in five minutes and the car remains unaltered and factory fresh; for all you Lease holders get the hint. Its a little hackish around the edges, but its cheap and easy for the rest of us consumers types. Hail![/COLOR][/FONT]

You running your DC to AC converter from your cig. lighter or what?