1500w or 1800w Amp to power dual 700w subs?

[sicone22]

My system is no where near pro, but I also monitor voltage at my amp inputs as well. The smart 3 is nice, as when you fire it up and start the vehicle, it’s not 100%. After a few minutes it comes up to 100%. Let’s things warm up and get going, I’d assume. That’s explained in the manual or some video I watched.

it does a self health check then charges the rails. It is very IC driven with the different ohm load same ratings means it needs to cut voltage at 1ohm because it will naturally want to put out 6k at 1ohm if it does 3k at 2 ohm

 

[planet audio 10+ year member]

Well I'll give Taramps a shot! The last amp I bought was an OG Planet Audio over 20 years ago before Boss Audio bought, raped, and discarded their bloody carcass (Im still pissed about that).

So, these new amps that are small, cheap and still put out high power are new to me. A 1500w amp for $600 used to be cheap lol. I did try the skar audio 1200w amp and sdr-12 500w subs. They were loud and put out power, but it definitely wasnt clean power and they didn't sound very good at all to me.

After that fail I tried looking at the other new brands and the updates on established brands, but the internet is a cesspool of fanboys and idiots so I have no clue what is good nowadays. So I just went with the tried and true brands and went to custom sounds and bought the Rockford Power T012D4 subs and JL 1500w amp. It looks like the amp is overpriced nowadays. The subs were $299 a piece, I don't think they were overpriced. I think they should compare to Alpine R's which are a little cheaper, and JL 12w6's which are way more expensive.

Anyways, thanks for the help and having actual knowledgeable info about the amps lol.

 

[sicone22]

So this is how I tuned my smart 3 and md5000 to my dc level 4. Gain at zero. Volume at 30 (3/4 for my ram). I believe it was a -10db tone @40hz? Smart 3 comes with a clip meter. Slowly turn the gain up, until it goes flashing yellow. Red light is a hard clip, you don’t want that. Then turn down just a scoshe, and you’re tuned. If anyone wants to add any steps I missed, please do

should really scope your source unit and find your true max clean volume level, however your way certainly works but you may be leaving some on the table. 40hz at 0db is the safest but -5 is fine, -10 can be pushing it depending on music choice.

 

[sicone22]

Well I'll give Taramps a shot! The last amp I bought was an OG Planet Audio over 20 years ago before Boss Audio bought, raped, and discarded their bloody carcass (Im still pissed about that).

So, these new amps that are small, cheap and still put out high power are new to me. A 1500w amp for $600 used to be cheap lol. I did try the skar audio 1200w amp and sdr-12 500w subs. They were loud and put out power, but it definitely wasnt clean power and they didn't sound very good at all to me.

After that fail I tried looking at the other new brands and the updates on established brands, but the internet is a cesspool of fanboys and idiots so I have no clue what is good nowadays. So I just went with the tried and true brands and went to custom sounds and bought the Rockford Power T012D4 subs and JL 1500w amp. It looks like the amp is overpriced nowadays. The subs were $299 a piece, I don't think they were overpriced. I think they should compare to Alpine R's which are a little cheaper, and JL 12w6's which are way more expensive.

Anyways, thanks for the help and having actual knowledgeable info about the amps lol.

taramps customer service is top notch i must say from my expierence with them. skars are meant to do one thing, be loud. their preamp section is not what i would call quality, as you heard.

JL is clean, does put down power and sounds fantastic, i do not see a reason to run it on RF Ts, p3s sure and absolutely on w6s, not saying ts are not a great driver and the rd will sound great on them i personally agree with the others as it is not needed and can save a few(hundred) bucks and be right on par. My opinion again is to run a "bigger" amp at a higher load and it will last, extremely efficent and room for growth instead of having to change everything, it is minimal. Just cause it can doesn't mean you have to. Can always tune a amplifier down but can only go up so high.

 

[planet audio 10+ year member]

JL is clean, does put down power and sounds fantastic, i do not see a reason to run it on RF Ts, p3s sure and absolutely on w6s, not saying ts are not a great driver and the rd will sound great on them i personally agree with the others as it is not needed and can save a few(hundred) bucks and be right on par.

Are the p3s better than the T0s?

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Sundown SFB, it has the best warranty for when you clueless noobs blow it up.

 

[Marve_Lous]

I just got the JL RD1500 ($450 open box) and it’s a beast! Currently it’s only pushing one Alpine X 12”, but I had to keep the bass boost off, and my HU sub EQ at 0 (goes to +10db). And I’m using 4 gauge ofc right now (just ordered 0 gauge welding cable). And it’s more efficient than the Taramps and easier on your electrical system because it’s overbuilt. I honestly think it’d push your subs with ease, but with the correct electrical the Taramps would be fine as well. Just remember keep the bass boost off and adjust your HU sub EQ, especially if you go with the Taramps.

 

[JakeW]

Remember any bass boost creates disotortion, and bass on the eq should be kept at zero. I’ve also been told 0 gauge welding cable is compare to 2awg ofc, where’s as 2/0 welding cable would be comparable to 1/0 ofc.

I just got the JL RD1500 ($450 open box) and it’s a beast! Currently it’s only pushing one Alpine X 12”, but I had to keep the bass boost off, and my HU sub EQ at 0 (goes to +10db). And I’m using 4 gauge ofc right now (just ordered 0 gauge welding cable). And it’s more efficient than the Taramps and easier on your electrical system because it’s overbuilt. I honestly think it’d push your subs with ease, but with the correct electrical the Taramps would be fine as well. Just remember keep the bass boost off and adjust your HU sub EQ, especially if you go with the Taramps.

 

[JakeW]

It’s so funny you say that, cause literally 16-18 years ago my buddy had 2 18” jl in his trunk, model unknown. Also amp unknown but he said maaaaaybe they had 300-400rms each and that thing was sooooo loud. And amps were so expensive for 1000w+. So when I built my system now, 3000w smart 3 for $280, his mind was blown

Well I'll give Taramps a shot! The last amp I bought was an OG Planet Audio over 20 years ago before Boss Audio bought, raped, and discarded their bloody carcass (Im still pissed about that).

So, these new amps that are small, cheap and still put out high power are new to me. A 1500w amp for $600 used to be cheap lol. I did try the skar audio 1200w amp and sdr-12 500w subs. They were loud and put out power, but it definitely wasnt clean power and they didn't sound very good at all to me.

After that fail I tried looking at the other new brands and the updates on established brands, but the internet is a cesspool of fanboys and idiots so I have no clue what is good nowadays. So I just went with the tried and true brands and went to custom sounds and bought the Rockford Power T012D4 subs and JL 1500w amp. It looks like the amp is overpriced nowadays. The subs were $299 a piece, I don't think they were overpriced. I think they should compare to Alpine R's which are a little cheaper, and JL 12w6's which are way more expensive.

Anyways, thanks for the help and having actual knowledgeable info about the amps lol.

 

[Marve_Lous]

Remember any bass boost creates disotortion, and bass on the eq should be kept at zero. I’ve also been told 0 gauge welding cable is compare to 2awg ofc, where’s as 2/0 welding cable would be comparable to 1/0 ofc.

Well then it should work perfectly because the RD1500 recommends 2 awg wire anyway. And I’ve been told to never use the amp bass boost, but I should use the HU sub EQ. I had to with my Kicker KXA800.1 for this X to move, but I turned it up and THEN set my gain so I still had a clean signal.

 

[Marve_Lous]

Are the p3s better than the T0s?

T0s are their "Power" series, and P3s are their "Punch" series. Their Power series is their top tier so the T0s "should" be better quality.

 

[planet audio 10+ year member]

T0s are their "Power" series, and P3s are their "Punch" series. Their Power series is their top tier so the T0s "should" be better quality.

Yea I was curious because I've never owned or heard Rockford's for the real world test. I was an alpine R and planet audio guy. I was curious because it's the top end punch vs the bottom end Power. But an in depth comparison of specs and features shows the T0 being a little better than the P3 on paper.

But, what about the P3 15" vs the T0 12"? The T0 is still the higher end sub, but the P3 15" have 25% more cone surface to push more air.

 

[Marve_Lous]

Yea I was curious because I've never owned or heard Rockford's for the real world test. I was an alpine R and planet audio guy. I was curious because it's the top end punch vs the bottom end Power. But an in depth comparison of specs and features shows the T0 being a little better than the P3 on paper.

But, what about the P3 15" vs the T0 12"? The T0 is still the higher end sub, but the P3 15" have 25% more cone surface to push more air.

If you have the room I'd personally go with the 15 in a proper custom ported box. Like I said earlier, I currently have an Alpine X 12, but I just ordered a SSA ICON 15; however in my case the ICON will handle more wattage, and will pair better with my RD1500. The P3 15 and T0 12 in proper ported boxes will probably be quite comparable, and you may not even notice a difference. Depending on what music you listen to the majority of the time should impact your decision as well. For me, it's mainly hip-hop (a lot of it screwed) so I went for a 15 because they can get a little lower than 12s. So if you want to save room, and listen to a variety of music you won't be disappointed with the 12.

 

[planet audio 10+ year member]

If you have the room I'd personally go with the 15 in a proper custom ported box. Like I said earlier, I currently have an Alpine X 12, but I just ordered a SSA ICON 15; however in my case the ICON will handle more wattage, and will pair better with my RD1500. The P3 15 and T0 12 in proper ported boxes will probably be quite comparable, and you may not even notice a difference. Depending on what music you listen to the majority of the time should impact your decision as well. For me, it's mainly hip-hop (a lot of it screwed) so I went for a 15 because they can get a little lower than 12s. So if you want to save room, and listen to a variety of music you won't be disappointed with the 12.

Yea I listen to mainly heavy metal and rock, with a sprinkle of Rap on top. I'll stick with the 12s. Custom sounds is going to build a custom box specifically for my 2104 Fusion and those T0 subs. I usually go sealed bc of my music choices, but they said those subs would be wasted in a sealed box. They said the T0 subs, paired with a proper custom high output box, can get incredibly loud while still being able to retain a large percentage of the tight full bass that a sealed box provides.

That's what custom sounds said anyways. Idk.

 

[Marve_Lous]

Yea I listen to mainly heavy metal and rock, with a sprinkle of Rap on top. I'll stick with the 12s. Custom sounds is going to build a custom box specifically for my 2104 Fusion and those T0 subs. I usually go sealed bc of my music choices, but they said those subs would be wasted in a sealed box. They said the T0 subs, paired with a proper custom high output box, can get incredibly loud while still being able to retain a large percentage of the tight full bass that a sealed box provides.

That's what custom sounds said anyways. Idk.

Well good luck! I hope it all turns out great! There’s nothing better than getting in your car, blasting your favorite tunes, and they sound amazing