What Kind of Amp do I need?

[minimotos95]

wrms = watts RMS = nominal/thermal wattage
ohms is the resistance
say if you have a 1 channel amp you can run 2 subs at either 2(parallel) or 8(series) ohms total... running 2ohms you can use a smaller amp, or at 8ohms you could run an amp rated at roughly double rated power of the subs(which are 4ohm) and the subs would still get the same power...

however most cheap amps aren't stable down to 2 ohms so it would probably be smarter to get a nice audiophile amp and run them on one channel at 8ohm. or a cheap 2 channel amp and run them at 4ohm


walmart has a crappy 2 channel sony xplode that makes about perfect power for those pioneers...
185 watts x 2 RMS at 4 ohms
Walmart.com: Sony 2/1-Channel Xplod XM-GTX1852 370-Watt Car Amplifier: Auto Electronics
the price seems steep for a xplode... i am going to check out audiopipe's website for you, usually they are cheap and put out more then the rated power

edit: the audiopipe APSM-4050 is rated at 150x2 at 4ohms
http://www.audiopipe.com/products/amplifiers/apsm/apsm-4050.html

 

[leet]

Sorry leet but were talking about car amplifiers

Oh, well, that thing doesn't even fit in the back of a DSM anyways..

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Something that makes Dubstep not sound like music for ####ies.

Which is rhetorical.

Because it's impossible.

 

[minimotos95]

dubstep is the lowest form of techno... made by armatures for people who don't know sh#t about music... hell most of the people i see listening to dubstep haven't even heard the classic... sandstorm... yup haven't heard sandstorm.....
my rants over... back on topic...

 

[That1Talon]

No offense but please don't do this. In the last 15 years I have seen several amps fry due to the hot wire grounding out on the metal running it this way. Look under your dash and find a place to either drill a hole and grommet it, or even slice the boot under the steering column and go that way.

I had a kid come by the shop and want to know why his amp would work with the door open but not closed. When he closed the door it was pinching the wire causing it to ground.

i have ran multiple systems this way. i have never had a problem with the wire grounding out you can run them so they dont pinch you just have to know what your doing.

ok, your speakers are 50-150 each, with 800 peak each. With that said id aim for 150-200watts on each speaker. Your going to be over the rms but way under the peak(kind of a median point). With that said, me my opinion id get 600rmp amp so that you wont have to crank the amp all the way up to maybe cause it to run hot. As far as the amp, stay away from 4 channel amps. Running your speakers in pararell on this amp will give you 600 rms watts.

Amazon.com: Pioneer GM-D8500M Class-D Mono Amplifier with 1200 Watts Max. Power: Car Electronics

hat will not even be worth hooking up. those speakers can handle it granted numbers are numbers and if you know amplifiers you will know most all of your 800 plus watt amps are not true watts. he can run that amp and never come close to blowing them.

 

[Bud92gsx]

Dude you have a hatchback..I've ran subs on a 250 or 500 watt amp and pounded the hell out of myself..


But if you want to be loud as hell..Yeah go with 1000 watt amp..

 

[That1Talon]

i see no issue why he cant run the 1000 and just turn the gain to where he wants it. better to have more and not need it than to not have enough

 

[rvaughn]

There is a lot of confusing information floating around here, lets look at the basics.

If you were to run this amp, http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-GM-D8500M-Class-D-Amplifier-Watts/dp/B00362CLLU with the following ratings,

Mono subwoofer amplifier with 1200-watt max power capability
Delivers continuous 300 watts x 1 at 4 ohms, 600 watts x 1 at 2 ohms
and use the two pioneer subs you have, IN PARALLEL, the results would be as follows,

The amp can deliver 600 watts rms to one channel at 2 ohms. By wiring the subs in parallel you will effectively drop your resistance 'seen' by the amp down to 2 ohms. Dont believe me?

Here is the equation:

(R1*R2)/(R1+R2) In our case R1=R2= 4 ohms... doing the math---> (16)/(8) = 2 ohms

Now, with that configuration we have a rated 600 rms watts available, that wattage will be divided equally between the two loads (woofers) to bring the grand total to 300 rms watts per woofer. Considering that you have a peak watt rating of 800 watts per woofer, that 300 watts isnt going to hurt your 800 watt peak power woofer. Simply put, that amp will work fine for your setup.

A source rating from an amp tells you how much the amp COULD provide, given its load demands it. The load (woofer) rating of rms is the nominal or continuous power required to run the woofer, NOT THE AMOUNT OF POWER THAT WILL KILL IT. Running an nominal (again nominal = rms) rating higher than the nominal rating is ok, IF YOU DO NOT EXCEED THE MAXIMUM RATING.

Simply put, if you had a single 4 ohm, 200 watt rms, 800 watt max woofer and an amp with a 300 watt rms, 800 watt max, 4 ohm channel, you could wire that woofer to that channel and never have a problem.

Conversely, if you had a single 4 ohm, 200 watt rms, 800 watt max woofer and an amp with a 600 watt rms, 1200 watt max, 4 ohm channel, you would smoke that woofer.

On a side note, you should NEVER knowingly wire a setup in a manor that can create a fault to ground. Doing so is asking for a potential fault and possible failure of your electrical components being powered by the wire in question.

Do us all a favor, wire it right the first time, go through the firewall! You will be much happier in the long run!

 

[crusada]

This should help you out heres how you will want to wire them id wire in a 2ohm configuration.

Subwoofer Wiring Diagrams, Two 4 ohm Single Voice Coil (SVC) Speakers

as for an amp this one would work


Orion Cobalt CO500.1 Monoblock Cobalt Series Amplifier (CO-5001)

 

[Leonthefaded]

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_18885_Orion-Cobalt-CO8001-CO800.1.htmlThank you all for explaining, ohms, wrms, wattage and how the channeling works. There was a lot of confusing information. So I decided to go out into the world and speak to the car audio installation, as well as dealers and see what they had to say. After showing my subwoofers to hitech audio a local dealer/installer he immediatly suggested the Orion 8001 Cobalt. I can't say much for specs but I will link it in a few minutes. He pretty much said if the amp don't work bring it back and ill get my money back.

 

[Zdrummer15]

There is a lot of confusing information floating around here, lets look at the basics.

If you were to run this amp, Amazon.com: Pioneer GM-D8500M Class-D Mono Amplifier with 1200 Watts Max. Power: Car Electronics with the following ratings,

Mono subwoofer amplifier with 1200-watt max power capability
Delivers continuous 300 watts x 1 at 4 ohms, 600 watts x 1 at 2 ohms
and use the two pioneer subs you have, IN PARALLEL, the results would be as follows,

The amp can deliver 600 watts rms to one channel at 2 ohms. By wiring the subs in parallel you will effectively drop your resistance 'seen' by the amp down to 2 ohms. Dont believe me?

Here is the equation:

(R1*R2)/(R1+R2) In our case R1=R2= 4 ohms... doing the math---> (16)/(8) = 2 ohms

Now, with that configuration we have a rated 600 rms watts available, that wattage will be divided equally between the two loads (woofers) to bring the grand total to 300 rms watts per woofer. Considering that you have a peak watt rating of 800 watts per woofer, that 300 watts isnt going to hurt your 800 watt peak power woofer. Simply put, that amp will work fine for your setup.

A source rating from an amp tells you how much the amp COULD provide, given its load demands it. The load (woofer) rating of rms is the nominal or continuous power required to run the woofer, NOT THE AMOUNT OF POWER THAT WILL KILL IT. Running an nominal (again nominal = rms) rating higher than the nominal rating is ok, IF YOU DO NOT EXCEED THE MAXIMUM RATING.

Simply put, if you had a single 4 ohm, 200 watt rms, 800 watt max woofer and an amp with a 300 watt rms, 800 watt max, 4 ohm channel, you could wire that woofer to that channel and never have a problem.

Conversely, if you had a single 4 ohm, 200 watt rms, 800 watt max woofer and an amp with a 600 watt rms, 1200 watt max, 4 ohm channel, you would smoke that woofer.

On a side note, you should NEVER knowingly wire a setup in a manor that can create a fault to ground. Doing so is asking for a potential fault and possible failure of your electrical components being powered by the wire in question.

Do us all a favor, wire it right the first time, go through the firewall! You will be much happier in the long run!

Read this post and ignore pretty much everything else posted. Plan to wire your two subs in parallel so your net impedance will be 2 Ohms. Use a class D/mono channel amp to power them and look for one that is rated at more than 300 watts RMS (at 2 Ohms). Any less than that and the subs won't sound good at all. I wouldn't run a ridiculous amount more than that though because I wouldn't trust that 800 peak wattage rating. Peak numbers are basically pointless because they are almost never accurate. Also, a general rule of thumb for amps is that a quality brand amp will probably be underrated while a Wal-Mart special or any other cheap one will likely be highly overrated.

Ultimately, just get a quality brand amp and you'll be happy because it'll last and get your subs to produce the best sound possible.

 

[hocka09]

Orion Cobalt CO8001 Monoblock Car Amplifier (CO-8001)Thank you all for explaining, ohms, wrms, wattage and how the channeling works. There was a lot of confusing information. So I decided to go out into the world and speak to the car audio installation, as well as dealers and see what they had to say. After showing my subwoofers to hitech audio a local dealer/installer he immediatly suggested the Orion 8001 Cobalt. I can't say much for specs but I will link it in a few minutes. He pretty much said if the amp don't work bring it back and ill get my money back.

That amp looks like it would work great with the woofers you have. Mono-blocks are normally the type of amp that I look for when it comes to powering two twelves as it is simply an amp that offers complete power to both subwoofers, equally and consistently. As long as you are getting it at a reasonable price I would go for it. The way I have always seen it, if you pay a modest amount for your amp you are getting a quality piece of equipment. As for wiring, with that amp I would SUGGEST 4 gauge or higher. Definitely through the firewall as some have said as well. The steering boot works very well and is something you already have. Hope you enjoy your new woofers as soon as possible!!

 

[Leonthefaded]

That amp looks like it would work great with the woofers you have. Mono-blocks are normally the type of amp that I look for when it comes to powering two twelves as it is simply an amp that offers complete power to both subwoofers, equally and consistently. As long as you are getting it at a reasonable price I would go for it. The way I have always seen it, if you pay a modest amount for your amp you are getting a quality piece of equipment. As for wiring, with that amp I would SUGGEST 4 gauge or higher. Definitely through the firewall as some have said as well. The steering boot works very well and is something you already have. Hope you enjoy your new woofers as soon as possible!!

Ty so very much and ty again all of you for educating me and future dsmers on how subwoofers and amplifiers work, the acronyms involved in the operation and theory of them. I learned a lot.

I purchased the orion for 209 dollars. With full warranty. I also got an 8gauge subwoofer/amp wire kit which has all the wires I need for installation. The only thing I need todo now is run the wires.

Any pictures of how you ran your wires would be helpful.
The previous owner had the rca and remoe cables under center console and through the backseats.

 

[spadepro22]

there is a lot of confusing information floating around here, lets look at the basics.

If you were to run this amp, Amazon.com: Pioneer GM-D8500M Class-D Mono Amplifier with 1200 Watts Max. Power: Car Electronics with the following ratings,

mono subwoofer amplifier with 1200-watt max power capability
delivers continuous 300 watts x 1 at 4 ohms, 600 watts x 1 at 2 ohms
and use the two pioneer subs you have, in parallel, the results would be as follows,

the amp can deliver 600 watts rms to one channel at 2 ohms. By wiring the subs in parallel you will effectively drop your resistance 'seen' by the amp down to 2 ohms. Dont believe me?

Here is the equation:

(r1*r2)/(r1+r2) in our case r1=r2= 4 ohms... Doing the math---> (16)/(8) = 2 ohms

now, with that configuration we have a rated 600 rms watts available, that wattage will be divided equally between the two loads (woofers) to bring the grand total to 300 rms watts per woofer. Considering that you have a peak watt rating of 800 watts per woofer, that 300 watts isnt going to hurt your 800 watt peak power woofer. Simply put, that amp will work fine for your setup.

A source rating from an amp tells you how much the amp could provide, given its load demands it. The load (woofer) rating of rms is the nominal or continuous power required to run the woofer, not the amount of power that will kill it. Running an nominal (again nominal = rms) rating higher than the nominal rating is ok, if you do not exceed the maximum rating.

Simply put, if you had a single 4 ohm, 200 watt rms, 800 watt max woofer and an amp with a 300 watt rms, 800 watt max, 4 ohm channel, you could wire that woofer to that channel and never have a problem.

Conversely, if you had a single 4 ohm, 200 watt rms, 800 watt max woofer and an amp with a 600 watt rms, 1200 watt max, 4 ohm channel, you would smoke that woofer.

On a side note, you should never knowingly wire a setup in a manor that can create a fault to ground. Doing so is asking for a potential fault and possible failure of your electrical components being powered by the wire in question.

Do us all a favor, wire it right the first time, go through the firewall! You will be much happier in the long run!

thank you. Somebodys know what there talking about, and it under the $200 he was talking about in a earlier post

all these "peak" wattage numbers need to stop, they are numbers the companies pulls out there a$s... use RMS, most brands have an agreement to measure it the same exact way with what i assume is the same tools....
i just ignore max numbers....

i would run them off a nice ~400wrms at 4ohm one channel amp wired in series... there's no point in buying a cheap wally world amp when you will eventually upgrade the subs


i am not sure if i already said this in another thread but, your neon-eclipse looks way better without the stickers

Thats what I was saying if you read my post

 

[Leonthefaded]

I think this thread needs to be stickied or something there was ALOT of useful info