Car audio amps

[mudslut]

I want to insalle 15 inch woofers what type amp should I use (not watts) thers so many out there amp is only for the woofers
:xjtalk::xjtalk::xjtalk::xjtalk:

[Brasscatz]

I have an amp and sub, but only for slightly better bass than the normal speakers give. I don't have very much knowledge on the subject, but NW99XJ does for sure. Hopefully he'll weigh in here for ya ;)

[denverd1]

any respectable class D amp. so the 2000 watt you find on craigslist for 150 probably isn't going to work...

[mudslut]

so should I go 2000 watts strait speakers in series or bridge 1000 ea speaker whats better ...............thanks

[denverd1]

You can wire 2 speakers together and bridge them out but thats above my pay grade. And typically done for mids or highs. Bridging is good if your running 1 speaker and want to max an amps output.

Really depends what speaker you're running and how hard you want to push it.

Sealed or ported? I can't imagine why on earth you'd need more than 1 well powered 15, but I remember a few systems I had that would make your ears bleed.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3

[Brasscatz]

I did enjoy the licence plate rattling bass when I was younger, but I do have to say that it's a Jeep, not a night club ;) But hey, everybody has their own tastes lol. My 10" can barely be heard outside of my Jeep, but it's enough to make me hear the bass

[mudslut]

its for my sons car im buying a system for x-mas for him just want a nice one hes into the boom boom NOT ME to old

[Brasscatz]

its for my sons car im buying a system for x-mas for him just want a nice one hes into the boom boom NOT ME to old

LOL, I was giving you a hard time buddy. Here's a few links that may help you out since NW99XJ didn't chime in yet.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-RC7Q3QQVg9X/learn/learningcenter/car/amplifiers/sub_amp_guide.html

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-m2pGFEVJ5W1/learn/how-to-match-subwoofers-and-amplifiers.html


How to Match a Car Subwoofer and Amplifier - YouTube

[Metlic53]

You wanna look at rms wattage on the amp, if your on a budget the Sony amp at walmart does just fine, 15's are too big in my opinion. I have two 12" JL audio subwoofers in a ported box ran by Rockford fosgate amp and it takes up the whole rear of the jeep. It all depends on budget. My first system was 2 12" kenwood subs and the Sony amp, it sounded really good I was surprised. A lot of it has to do with the wiring you use, I used cheap wiring from walmart and it sounded bad, had drone from the alternator and exhaust, spent money and got good wiring and it worked great. I'm 22 and wanna sell the system now, cost about 1500 when I bought it new. Anything fosgate is gonna be really good in my opinion. I've had no trouble and the amp is turned up1/4 and I feel the subs will blow before the amp does

[mudslut]

thanks for the help guys I love this xjtalk

[mudslut]

You xj-ers are good pep

[Brasscatz]

We try ;) this site is by far the best out there.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 because my microwave couldn't do it

[denverd1]

Ahhhh!!! Group hug!!!!

:cheerleader: :boohoo: :indifferent0028:

[NW99XJ]

Sorry I'm late to the party here..... But it looks like you've gotten some great advice already.
The only other thing I would say, is when it comes to wiring things up, (series/parallel) ...make sure you're aware of your final connections.... if running a monoblock amp (which is ideal for subs) you wont have to worry about it too much, but if you end up with a 2ch amp, and decide to bridge the connection, the amp will actually see DOUBLE the resistance.... So if you have two 4 ohm voice coil subs, and you wire them parallel, the load would be 2 ohms, once bridged, the amp is actually going to see 1 ohm....not too many amps can run a 1ohm bridged load very stable or for very long.

Lets look at another way of doing it, same speakers, now wired in series, the final load would be 8 ohms, and once bridged, the amp would be seeing a 4 ohm load. Nice and easy, but you may not get QUITE the output you're looking for out of a set of 15's....

You're option at this point would be to look at dual voice coil subs. Granted these are typically more expensive, but perform way better than single voice coil subs.
They run in all sorts of configurations, but the most common is dual 4 ohm.
Wiring each speaker in series (creating an 8 ohm load)...then paralleling the two subs together, you would get a 4 ohm load..... at the amp (when bridged) you'd get the sweet spot of 2 ohm load.... most GOOD QUALITY amps can run this load with ease, and put out some serious power.

The sub of choice should have a cast basket, not stamped, the surround should be of a iso-butyl (rubber) variety, and not foam, and have either an impregnated cone, or fully composite, not straight paper. Quality terminals, and an RMS rating that matches the RMS rating of the amp.
How a sub SOUNDS is going to be determined by the enclosure.
SEALED enclosures produce a hard, tight bass. Good for rock, country, electronica, and most jazz.
PORTED/VENTED enclosures can produce a wider frequency, and are good for r&b/hip hop, jazz, electronica, and pop.
BANDPASS enclosures offer a massive amount of output, and will produce a LOT of lower frequency bass.... you loose alot of the snap, and punch of a klick drum, but you gain a lot of output from the lower frequencies. These type of enclosures are typically more expensive, can be elaborate in design, and take up a lot of room. These are best suited for rap/hip-hop.

Some other tips to consider.... never gain ANY amp past 75%-85%...you start to overdrive the circuitry, and introduce distortion into the audio stream..... this is bad for many reasons, which we dont need to go into here and now.

When buying an amp (if you haven't already) a class D mono block amp will be the ideal solution for any sub application. Digital amps are more expensive, but perform amazingly well for their size.
Be wary of a 2000watt amp for $99..... it's going to be garbage, and not sound much better.... not to mention, prob wont last very long either.
Typically, a GOOD QUALITY amp, from a reputable manufacturer will run you about $.50 to $1.00 per watt..... meaning a 400 watt amp will run you anywhere from $200-$400..... you're definitely getting what you pay for here.
Brands to consider: Rockford Fosgate, JBL, JL Audio, MTX, Soundstream, McIntosh,
Alpine & Pioneer are both making GREAT digital amps right now that are getting amazing reviews.
STAY AWAY from brands like BOSS, Dual, Zapco, Rockwood, Lanzar, Sonic, Crunch, Audiobahn, ...honestly the list goes on and on.....
Apply this list to your sub choices as well.

Take advantage of an amplifier wiring kit...these typically will have everything you need to install virtually any amp in any car... (aftermarket stereo's are usually required to hook up this kind of system properly)

Good luck with your purchases, and I hope some of this helps.

[denverd1]

Surprised to see Zapco on the "stay away" list. I thought they were decent quality. So lets talk about a few other brands and get some expert opinion:
Rockford - I've used extensively and recommend
Kicker - solobaric speakers got some good reviews, not sure of amps
Boston Acoust
Orion - heard their 1000 w class d amps killed
Kenwood - used their head units more than anything
Phoenix Gold - used to make good amps, not sure their around anymore
Infinity - have used their mid components and seemed to be good quality
Helix - never used them before

[NW99XJ]

Surprised to see Zapco on the "stay away" list. I thought they were decent quality. So lets talk about a few other brands and get some expert opinion:
Rockford - I've used extensively and recommend
Kicker - solobaric speakers got some good reviews, not sure of amps
Boston Acoust
Orion - heard their 1000 w class d amps killed
Kenwood - used their head units more than anything
Phoenix Gold - used to make good amps, not sure their around anymore
Infinity - have used their mid components and seemed to be good quality
Helix - never used them before
Rockford Fosgate has great circuitry, they have been around forever, and really KNOW what they're doing, their stuff simply performs... you're not going to win any sound QUALITY competitions with it, but it's going to be reliable, and do what it says its going to do.
Kicker has been around for a long time too, their speaker technology is near the top of the pack... kjicker subs are great, their amps leave something to be desired. Old tech, crossovers that lack decent db/octave slopes, and they dont have the reputation that others have.
Boston Acoustic makes great speakers, their amps DO sound good, but lack alot of the power in smaller packages that other have. Not exactly a "bang for your buck" option.
Orion WAS a leader in the industry of subs....their speakers were the pinnacle of competitions equipment for many years, ...I think they've been left in the dust nowadays though.
Kenwood has always sounded DECENT...not great but good enough for most. Their head units are feature packed, and are reliable. Their speakers are OK too, not great, but decent for an OEM upgrade. There are better for the same price range.
Phoenix Gold WAS top dog for many years, made their home right here in Portland, and for a while, made some of the best performing and best sounding high end audio gear. I dont think they are around anymore either.
Infinity is the new industry standard as far as good sounding quality upgrades for speakers. Their reference series has won more awards and has better reviews than virtually any other manufacturer.... their line of "perfect" subs were some of the cleanest sounding speakers I have ever heard, only surpassed by the MB Quart "Q-series"
Helix I have not personally used, but comes across as "swap meet" quality, and is not getting much as far as stellar reviews from the quality experts in the industry.

[mudslut]

NW99XJ WOW...... well put

[Brasscatz]

Lol, told ya he knew this stuff ;) glad he chimed in for ya :thumbsup:

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 because my microwave couldn't do it

[Metlic53]

Not to be off topic but I have the fosgate p500-1bd amp running two 12 inch JL audio w3 2 ohm subs. The way I have it wired is I have both subs connected to each other inside the box with the same wire, but have them both connecting to each side of the box, a hot and a negative. A friend of mine said it's bridged, it sounds great and the bass is actually too much. I have the amp gain at 1/4 and if I thump it loud for a song I like I start smelling something burning, the amp never gets warm tho, am I burning up the subs? I've done it this way for 3 years and never has a problem with them, cranked as loud as it will go they never distort or sound stressed.

[Metlic53]

Oh and mudslut you are welcome to come look at the sound system to see if u like it I live in conroe so not too far from you. I just took it out of the jeep and stuck it in my BMW cuz I like room in the back but I can have it hooked up fast if you wanna check it out. Just to get an idea

[NW99XJ]

Not to be off topic but I have the fosgate p500-1bd amp running two 12 inch JL audio w3 2 ohm subs. The way I have it wired is I have both subs connected to each other inside the box with the same wire, but have them both connecting to each side of the box, a hot and a negative. A friend of mine said it's bridged, it sounds great and the bass is actually too much. I have the amp gain at 1/4 and if I thump it loud for a song I like I start smelling something burning, the amp never gets warm tho, am I burning up the subs? I've done it this way for 3 years and never has a problem with them, cranked as loud as it will go they never distort or sound stressed.
IF i'm reading this right, it sounds like you may be running your system near a dead short,
(the closer you get you resistance - measured in ohms - to zero, the closer you are to a dead short) .....
Most amplifiers (even monoblock amps like your Rockford Fosgate) can only run stable at a 1ohm load.
Can they run below that? ....yes sometimes, especially at very low gains, this may be why you are/can run YOUR gain at only 25%...
To further illustrate this I created some super fancy presentation slides with my ultra impressive paint skills....
(where's the sarcasm font when u need it?)

This is how it sounds like you have it hooked up:
The positive of one speaker hooked to the positive of another speaker.
The negative of one speaker hooked to the negative of the other speaker.
You can then either hook both the positive and negative from the one speaker to the box (shown).
Or take a positive from one, and the negative from the other and hook it to the box, either way, you get the same results.
PARALLEL:
http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h328/jbchill1/PARALLEL.jpg (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/jbchill1/media/PARALLEL.jpg.html)

The way it SHOULD be wired in your case is this:
The positive of one speaker hooked to the negative of the other.
The remaining positive of one, and negative of the other get hooked to the box.
SERIES:
http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h328/jbchill1/SERIES.jpg (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/jbchill1/media/SERIES.jpg.html)

If indeed you have your box wired up in parallel, then you are forcing your amp to drive VERY hard,
which is why you may occasionally smell burning, this is the circuitry in the amp overheating.
Lucky for you, Fosgate amps are nearly indestructible, but I would still strongly suggest rewiring your enclosure.
You'll have to ge-gain your amp, but your system will be running MUCH more efficiently afterwards.

[Metlic53]

I'll take the subs out and snap some pics and holler back!