Help Choosing Amp(s) - For 2 MM104's

Systems

Hello Everyone,

I'm currently building a system and for the subs I'm going to be getting a pair of Polk MOMO MM104's. Originaly I was considering picking up a JBL 1200.1 amp to run them, but it lacks a few of the features I would like (Remote Bass Control, Subsonic Filter incase I ever go ported, etc).

I thought about going with two of the Polk C500.1 Amps since I can get them at a substantial discount, however I realized having one sub to each amp would leave them at 4 ohms and only give me ~350w to each sub.

My question is can it be wired in such a way that both amps will get a 2 ohm load so they can put out their ~500w each?

I'm tring to stay in the $300-$400 price range for powering the subs.

Thanks
-Matt

AustinKP

Get 2 of the c300.2's and bridge them to 600w each. That'll better match your setup. I think they're cheaper too

neomagus00

yeah, a 300.2 bridged to each is a good match. it's a bit more than i would put on, but it's polk's best option. the mm124s are a perfect match with this amp, as a note.

and no, you can't wire the 2 amps like that, unfortunately. at least that ive ever heard of - it's concievable that you could do some sort of paralleling thingy, but i'm nearly positive that's not possible.

exalted512

you cant wire it like that, sorry, go for the 300.2
-Cody

mrmatt

Thanks for the responses guys!

So let me make sure I'm reading this right

300.2 Bridged at 4 ohms gives 550w @ 14.4 volts correct? So I could have one sub on each amp getting ~500w or so.

Think I just might do that, a bit cheaper than the dual 500.1 setup too!

Thanks again for your help
-Matt

neomagus00

yup, you've got it

mrmatt

One more question,

If I get two of these what is the prefered way to run the signal, RCA from Deck to Amp1 Input, then Preout from Amp 1 to Amp 2 Input or Should I split the signal before the Amps with a Y cable?

I heard with some amps you loose a bit of power with the pass-through so one sub will hit a little harder than the other. Not sure if that is true with these amps or not.

Thanks
-Matt

neomagus00

i'd split them off the deck

exalted512

i have the same problem
what are the pre-outs are your deck?
if theyre less than 4volt id look at getting something to boost that
i forget what theyre called...
but just run the RCA from the sub output on the deck
then get a couple of y-splitters--one female-2male
put one on each connector on the rca cable and connect the other side to the amp
this is what i did with mine
i would take pics, but its all behind the carpet...
-Cody

neomagus00

line driver

audiocontrol has line drivers and eq's and units that combine the 2 that are highly-rated

mrmatt

The Deck will have 4v preouts, Yeah your setup is exactly what I was planning to do. I may look into a line driver depending but for now I think I'll just split it and see how things go.

exalted512

sounds good
my deck has 6v pre outs so im not worried
anything below 4 is cause for concern though
i dont think youll have a problem though
-Cody

mrmatt

I'm going to run 4ga cable from the battery back to the amps / subs, should I run 4ga to the amps from my distro blocks or would 8ga to each amp be okay?

neomagus00

8's dandy

exalted512

id use 4
-Cody

mrmatt

Any reccomendations for a distro block that does 1 x 4ga into 2x4ga or 3x4ga? If I can find a decent one I may go that route, or I might just run 8ga to the amps, unless I decide to run 0ga to the back then 4ga to the amps...hmm guess I have some deciding to do

neomagus00

i dunno, his requirements are right on the line between 8 and 4. only reason i said 8 is cause it's cheaper, and since he's not running a sine wave through the system the whole time, he will rarely, if ever, be short on power supply. id still say 8 in the interests of saving money.

now, if an upgrade of any sort is even semi-likely, or if there's other unmentioned amps, i'd go 4.

mrmatt

I'm getting closer to making a decision and purchasing some of the wiring, I'm leaning towards running 0 gauge to the back and splitting it off to 4 gauge to each amp. I may upgrade in the future to another amp for the front/rear speakers so I figure I may as well do one run and be done with it.

-Matt

neomagus00

you'd better be thinking of running one hell of a front amp to consider 0-gauge. if you can get a cheap kit, by all means go for it, but 90% of installs are covered quite well by 4 gauge. i'd run 4 into a 3way distro, then 4 or 8 out.

i run a 300.2 and am going to be running somewhat over a kilowatt in sub power, and i'm covered by a 4 gauge run.

exalted512

www.knukonceptz.com is friggin awesome
a distro block is a distro block...all it is is a hunk of metal, mine are RF, stinger, and PG--pretty much whatever i could find that suited my needs and were the cheapest
most of my distroblocks i got off of sounddomain
-Cody

mrmatt

Alright guys one question and a quick update of what I've decided to do as for wiring.

Was looking and is their going to be a big difference between the C500.1 and C300.2 as far as the LP Filters and how low they will play? I was talking to a friend and he said he thought the C500.1 would pass lower signals to the sub than the C300.2 just was wondering what you guys think. He reccomended a single C500.1 over two 300.2's and that just seems quite a bit underpowered to me.

I'm still leaning towards getting two C300.2 Amps to go along with the Two MM104's I've ordered.

For wiring i ordered Monster 4 Gauge power and ground wire, circuit breaker, pos and neg battery terminals. Also ordrerd my RCA's which are Tsunami 9 Series and a 2 farad tsunami cap. I picked up a set of Stinger 4 to 4 Gauge distro blocks on ebay so I'll run 4ga to each amp. Reason I went monster was the discounted price i could get on it made it cheaper than say Ebay or some of the other popular wiring choices. Same with the Tsunami stuff.

Thanks for all the help so far guys

-Matt

exalted512

im not sure what your friend is talking about
they will have no difference at all at the crossover points because they are both fully adjustable
you turn the low pass on, then you turn the knob to set it at what frequency you want it to cut off at
the 500.1 offers no advantage over the 300.2 from that standpoint
id go with the dual 300.2 setup:D
-Cody

mrmatt

Thanks for clearing that up. When he said it i thought okay, but after looking at the specs and manuals on the amp I couldn't see where their would be any difference. And I would just assume have the dual amp setup, Hopefully I can order the amp's next week.

mrmatt

Hey all,

Another quick question, with these C300.2's can they be attached to each other to form one big amp, or do they just have to be mounted next to each other to make it look that way? I didn't see any obvious way to attach them and it wasnt mentioned anywhere I could see.

Also I wanted to thank everyone again for the help in choosing my componets, and I figured I would update the thread with a few pictures. I got most my componets in today, and will get my wiring tomorrow, going to hopefully finish the install up tomorrow, I'll post some more pics of the install later. If you have any questions let me know.

neomagus00

i dont know of any way to attach the 2 amps. um... you did attach the subs before carpeting, yes? cause if you mounted them on top of the carpet, i'd be worried about the seal.

mrmatt

I cut the carpet out around where they will be mounted and I think I'm going to use some weather strip material too to help make a good seal.

exalted512

looks like its going to be one sweet looking install
-Cody