Amp Question

Massif

I have Sony Xplode subs. Couldn't tell you the model but I know they're 1000 watts. Lol I should've listened to you at the beginning of the thread, oh well.

I'm looking at this amp with your suggestion.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_2068ZX7501/Kicker-08ZX750-1.html?tp=115&tab=features_and_specs

I really can't spend any more crazy amounts of money on car stuff right now so anything in that $250-$300 range will have to do.

Massif

and lastly...

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500MRP1000/Alpine-MRP-M1000.html?showAll=N&tp=115&tab=features_and_specs

I found a way better price for under $300 though.

Massif

These are the subs I have http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158XSL12B5/Sony-XS-L120B5D.html?tp=112&tab=features_and_specs

Would the Alpine amp over-power them too much or should I just get the Kicker?

Alpine
Kicker

arun1963

kicker, alpine, RF are good brands for amps. Your 2 subs would present a 2ohm load to the amp. Hence the amp needs to be stable at 2ohm.

The subs are rated 600 watts rms at 2 ohm. So an amp from the above mentioned brands, that fits your budget and puts out say 7-800 watts @ 2ohm is fine. Its better to have a littlle extra watts you can turn the gains down a bit.

arun1963

correction to the post above. The subs are 600 watts rms at 4 ohms. So you need an amp that puts out at least 600-700 watts at 4 ohm.

Massif

thanks for that. I guess I'm going with the Alpine then. I hope this is the last car speaker purchase I'll need to buy for a while lol.

arun1963

Don't bet on it. You may just turn into an addict like the rest of..........constantly wanting to move up the audio chain.

Good luck. Come back and tell us how your setup sounds with the new amp

Massif

I really do think I need to enter myself into a audiophile rehab if I keep going from here XD. Really though I need to learn how to do all the installation myself as I've seen a lot of people go through it, it can't be all that difficult with patience/practice. Also making sure not short any circuits in my car . I'll post how it pans out with I get it installed. From the current installation with the Kenwood, there was a lot of rattle inside my car which I need to investigate more when I get the new amp. I never got the Dynamat so that could be the issue, although the rattle I think was coming from the back somewhere. It's really hard to test something like that in front of my house though.

Massif

I read some of the reviews for the Alpine amp I want to get and one guy said that this amp is only able to power one sub, is that true?

I'm now looking at this one as it has a better signal to noise ratio.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113XR1S/Kenwood-Excelon-XR-1S.html?tp=115&tab=features_and_specs

chu

Massif wrote: »

I read some of the reviews for the Alpine amp I want to get and one guy said that this amp is only able to power one sub, is that true?

I'm now looking at this one as it has a better signal to noise ratio.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113XR1S/Kenwood-Excelon-XR-1S.html?tp=115&tab=features_and_specs

depends on how power hungry that "one guy" sub is.

Dude, that kenwood is the same price as a pdx 600.1 amp. You might as well grab the pdx amp, since it will run your subs at max 600 watts @ 4ohm.

Massif

Bought the PDX. I'll let you guys know how it sounds when I install it Sat.

Massif

The subs blew. I kind of knew it was going to happen because of how cheap the subs were. Now I'm thinking about getting these.

unrealii

What caused yours subs to blow? I'd figure out the reason for that before investing in a new set of subs.

Massif

I think it was the subs not being dual-coil and me putting the gain up to high. They were low-end subs to begin with. I can keep the box from the old one, that's a good thing.

arun1963

For about $165 you can get the polk MM 1240D you can also look at the IDQ12.v2.d2 for about $ 145 on woofersetc..........what are you going to power this off? The pdx?

Massif

I found this awesome deal on eBay and I think I'm going to go through with it. The PDX would power them to the max.

Massif

Installed the S class Alpine subs over the weekend and from what I can hear they sound better than the Sony's. The Alpines fit perfectly in the Sony enclosure so it worked out well.

arun1963

hi massif, welc back. Good to hear that it turned out good. Be careful with the gain setting. Am sure the alpines would sound better than the sony's

Massif

arun1963 wrote: »

hi massif, welc back. Good to hear that it turned out good. Be careful with the gain setting. Am sure the alpines would sound better than the sony's

Yea, I pushed the Sony's a little to much. There is a voltage selector on the back of my PDX with 2 options, 0.1V-1.0V and 1.0V-8.0V. The 1st option seems to make it so less gain is needed for more power and the second voltage option seems very weak, would it matter which voltage I use given my subs and HU?

arun1963

The gains of 0.1v-1v is for speaker level inputs from the hu. That is if your hu does not have preouts and you're using a LOC (or any such device) to connect your speaker line output to the amp. If you're using preouts from the hu on the first setting, your pdx would max out very quickly if you turned the volume up a bit.

If you are using preouts, select the second option i.e. 1-8v. Set the gain at under the pre-out voltage number from your hu. E.g. if your hu has a preout of 4v, set this gain to around 3v around the 10 o'clock poistion. Try that.

You'll have to do this largely be ear. I set a low xover point and then go a bit aggressive on the amp gains. The low xover points keeps my lower mids/mid bass clean and prevents the sub from being 'located'. The slightly aggressive gains gives a punch to whatever the sub is playing. However at all times I keep gains well under the hu volts.

So on a 5v source signal, my sub/mid xover is 63hz with the sub on a 36db slope. The amp gain is at around 10 ish, ie just under 4v, on my amp.